LAW

The Civil Rights Act is Only as Powerful as Will to Enforce Legislation

The law and willingness to enforce it go hand-in-hand, as the strength of the former is dependent upon the latter

Allison Wiltz M.S.
Momentum
Published in
8 min readAug 6, 2024

--

Woman throwing her hat | Photo by Aidi Tanndy via Pexels

Ida B. Wells once said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance," acknowledging that Black Americans' hard-fought freedom required sustained efforts. Whenever the country progresses toward racial equality by changing laws and policies, there is stiff resistance, which can only be mitigated if citizens are aware of threats to their liberty. Additionally, the government must engage in willful enforcement. For instance, on June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, along with two thousand troops, informing residents that "in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." Before their arrival, Texas had an insufficient number of Union troops to enforce the law, subjecting Black people living there to two additional years of enslavement. Consequently, it was important not just for President Lincoln to abolish slavery but for the policy of liberation to be enforced.

That dynamic is reminiscent of controversy surrounding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, widely considered one of the most transformative…

--

--

Momentum
Momentum

Published in Momentum

Momentum is a blog that captures and reflects the moment we find ourselves in, one where rampant anti-Black racism is leading to violence, trauma, protest, reflection, sorrow, and more. Momentum doesn’t look away when the news cycle shifts.

Allison Wiltz M.S.
Allison Wiltz M.S.

Written by Allison Wiltz M.S.

Black womanist scholar and doctoral candidate from New Orleans, LA with bylines @ Momentum, Oprah Daily, ZORA, Cultured #WEOC Founder. allisonthedailywriter.com