04-03-2019, 05:27 PM
(04-03-2019, 04:40 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: For reasons already stated? Pure democracy is not a desirable outcome. If you disagree then ask yourself when the Civil Rights Act would have actually earned a majority of the popular vote. The answer sure as hell isn't when it was enacted.
So much wrong here.
1. The Supreme Court is in place to avoid a tyranny of the majority.
2. Legislators passing laws to protect a minority is completely different from saying the minority should win popular elections.
3. By 1963, one year before the enactment of the Civil Rights Act, 85% of whites polled in a National Opinion Research Center survey endorsed the view that “Negroes should have as good a chance to get any kind of job” and rejected the position that “white people should have the first chance at any kind of job” (endorsed by only 15%). This contrasts with 55% who said that “white people should have the first chance” on the same question in 1942 and 51% who said so in 1944. Similarly, 73% of whites questioned in a 1963 NORC poll embraced the view that “Negroes should have the right to use the same parks, restaurants, and hotels, as white people.” The same 1963 study also showed that 79% of whites rejected the idea that transportation in streetcars and buses should be segregated, compared to 54% who had endorsed it in 1942 (both the 1942 and 1963 questions used the same wording). http://volokh.com/2010/05/24/public-opinion-anti-discrimination-law-and-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964/
The Civil Rights Act passed because it reflected public opinion. In fact Kennedy did not make any moves on civil rights early in his presidency because the south was solid Democrat. He was not forced to do anything until the photos from the nightmare in Birmingham made the national news and public opinion made him.
