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
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…
