Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Paved The Path For Fair Housing

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a name synonymous with civil rights who, along with his followers, led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Through the efforts of the civil rights movement, Dr. King and others were able to get the attention of our nation resulting in President John F. Kennedy, in a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, urging the nation to ” take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race.”  Shortly after his address to the nation, President Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address rights in many areas such as voting, public accommodations, school desegregation but not housing at the time.  Even though President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, his efforts beforehand still resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when, then President, Lyndon Johnson, signed into law on July 2, 1964.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for integration of schools and made employment discrimination illegal, however, it did not address housing.

Four years later came the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which is also referred to, and more commonly known, as the “Fair Housing Act of 1968″, which expanded the original civil rights act to include prohibiting discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin or sex.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law on April 11, 1968, one week after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. resources and information…

 

 

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and His Impact On Fair Housing

mlkToday, as we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I wanted to focus on the dramatic change for the good that was brought about in the area of housing as a result of the efforts of Dr. King and the movement he started.

Through the efforts of the civil rights movement, Dr. King and others were able to get the attention of our nation resulting in President John F. Kennedy, in a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, urging the nation to ” take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race.”  Shortly after his address to the nation, President Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address rights in many areas such as voting, public accommodations, school desegregation but not housing at the time.  Even though President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, his efforts beforehand still resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when, then President, Lyndon Johnson, signed into law on July 2, 1964. Continue reading “Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and His Impact On Fair Housing

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remembered

Four years ago on the day we celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I wrote the article below on a personal blog. This morning while doing some research on Dr. King I ran across this article which I had almost forgotten I had written, read it and decided even though some of the data in it is a little dated with regard to current events, it is worthy of publishing again to pay honor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reprinted from January 19, 2009…

mlk

Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the very influential, prominent leader and icon of the American Civil Rights movement.

One of the most important accomplishments of Dr King and the Civil Rights movement was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was signed into law on July 2, 1964, and prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for integration of schools and made employment discrimination illegal. It did not, however, make discrimination in housing illegal which Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement continued to work toward.

Finally, on April 11, 1968 discrimination in housing became illegal when Continue reading “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remembered