Six Things I did not know about the Civil Rights Act

I really liked this article because it spoke to a few facts I was unaware of about the Civil Rights Act.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/10/politics/civil-rights-act-interesting-facts/

1.       More Republicans voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act than Democrats

2.       A fiscal conservative became an unsung hero in helping the Act pass

3.       Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. met for the first and only time during Senate debate on the act

4.       The act didn't help just black Americans

5.       A segregationist congressman's attempt to kill the bill backfired

6.       The 1964 law didn't do much to address discrimination at the ballot box

My favorite tidbit is #2. It refers to Representative William McCulloch, a Republican from Ohio. The article says McCulloch opposed funding education and was an advocate for gun rights and school prayer. He had very conservative views. However, his own ancestors opposed slavery before the Civil War according to the article and McCulloch believed in the Constitution’s protection of all people saying, “The Constitution doesn't say that whites alone shall have our most basic rights, but that we all shall have them.”

Then he was key in getting the Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act approved. These are actions I would not have thought would come from a person such as him.  The article also revealed that the district McCulloch represented is the same district currently being represented by House Speaker John Boehner!  I find it fascinating that we have two people with similar values from the same party with very different work ethics in government. McCulloch supported President Kennedy, working with him to uphold the constitution and sincerely caring about the American people. Boehner outright declared he would do everything in his power to thwart the success of President Obama and actively works against the administration for no real apparent reason other being obnoxious. 

I can’t help but wonder, what in their experiences and background would lead these two men with similar values, to act in such dissimilar ways when it comes to serving in public office?