Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 10
CIVIL RIGHTS ARE NOT STANDING STILL Although the House passed an anti-poll tax bill in the 81st Congress, none of the civil rights measures have passed the Senate. Nevertheless, the effect of keeping these bills before the Congress and before the country has stimulated the states to a degree of action undreamed of a few years ago; and both the courts and the Executive Branches of the state and Federal Governments have been moving ahead rapidly. Here are some of the highlights: 1. Seven legislatures have recently adopted Fair Employment Practice statutes, bringing to ten the total number of states with fair employment codes. 2. Two states have recently adopted legislation prohibiting segregation in their school systems. Wisconsin is one of them; the other is Indiana. New Jersey's new HARRY ARCHIVES NATIONAL LIBRARY Constitution prohibits segregation in schools. Together with New York, which has adopted a fair educational U.S. BOYERN NINT practice code, the states are rapidly recognizing their responsibility actively to prevent discrimination as long as they retain sole responsibility for public education. 3. The states have begun to take responsibility for eliminating discrimination in their own National Guard units. Eight states have voted this year to abolish segregation in the National Guard: Wisconsin, California, 'onnecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania. 4. Two states have moved to prevent discrimination in housing. Wisconsin adopted a statute to prohibit discrimination because of race or color, creed or national origin against veterans otherwise qualified for certain types of housing; and Connecticut outlawed segregation and discrimination in all publicly supported housing. 5. The Western states, which have had restrictive legislation for many years designed to limit the rights of Japanese- Americans, began to lift them. California, Oregon and Utah lifted restrictions on the ownership of land and the right to commercial hunting and fishing.

Relations