This year, 2014, should be a celebration of civil rights law. Fifty years ago the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. In my view, it was the most important piece of legislation of the 20th century. In the streets of Birmingham and in the backwoods of Mississippi, people literally died in order to see equal protection extended to all persons. That was a half century ago. The year 2014 should be a glorious celebration of those accomplishments. Instead, recent events have highlighted how far we have to go.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you are aware of the statements that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling made. I will not repeat them here. They don’t merit being repeated. Needless to say, they were despicable. They disparage African Americans, and all minorities, in a way that we do not tolerate in the United States. Unfortunately, such cognitive bias is not as rare as we would like to think. It is everywhere. United State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy once observed:
Prejudice, we are beginning to understand, rises not from malice or hostile animus alone. It may result as well from insensitivity caused by simple want of careful, rational reflection or from some instinctive mechanism to guard against people who appear to be different in some respects from ourselves.
At home in Tennessee, I wish I could report that we are doing better. Unfortunately, on the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Tennessee General Assembly took a step backwards. Instead of strengthening our civil rights laws, the Tennessee General Assembly recently passed a bill that significantly weakens civil rights protections in Tennessee. The legislation did away with certain remedies available to victims of civil rights abuses, and limited the amount of money they could receive in a draconian manner. For instance, under the current legislation, a victim of a rape in the work place could be limited to $25,000 in compensation in some instances.
In fifty years, we have made a lot of progress. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go.