Civil Rights

On today’s date in 1957 the U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 after an attempt to kill the act by a famous filibuster by Strom Thurmond, which lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes, the longest conducted by a single Senator. The bill put into place important protections for voters rights.

Over fifty years later, defending civil rights is still a big issue in the United States. The Colorado Civil Rights Division works to protect individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, and at places of public accommodation. They have brochures on fair employment practices, a guide on avoiding questions which may be discriminatory when conducting an interview, information on housing discrimination, along with a consumer tip page on predatory lending.