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MPR News Presents

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush on 50th anniversary of Civil Rights Act

Obama, Bush
Presidents Barack Obama, left, and George W. Bush, right, speak at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in April 2014.
Courtesy LBJ Presidential Library

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Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush gave the keynote addresses at a 2014 event held at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Then-president Obama said we’re still involved in the debate over equality and opportunity, but we should not be trapped by our own history. Obama said we can’t be complacent and said equality and opportunity requires the “vigilance of our citizens.”

He added that “the lesson of the civil rights movement is that with enough effort, empathy, perseverance and courage, people who love their country can change it.”

Former President George W. Bush said “the civil rights movement required the spiritual and moral leadership of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It required the courage and sacrifice of protesters, who walked toward water hoses and dogs and police batons. But in the end, it also required a legislative strategist of uncommon determination and skill to translate the demands of conscience into law.”

Bush also said “equal opportunity is a unifying national purpose. But it is not a national condition. It must be purposely and carefully built by every generation for the next generation… it is the continuing work of the civil rights movement.”

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 2014. Current and former presidents and civil rights legends gathered at the LBJ President Library for a Civil Rights Summit April 8-10, 2014.

Georgia Congressman and longtime civil rights activist John Lewis introduced President Barack Obama. The opening remarks were by historian Mark Updegrove of the LBJ Foundation and former director of the LBJ Presidential Library.