A nationwide survey by two major Jewish organizations of civil rights legislation enacted this year by the states disclosed that greater progress had been made from January I through mid-July than in any comparable period in history. All areas of the country, other than the deep South, contributed significantly to this record.
The survey was conducted by the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. It established that discrimination in housing was a major civil rights concern of the state legislatures. Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New York and New Hampshire enacted laws prohibiting discrimination in private housing. They thus joined the four states that had previously passed such measures: Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Both Massachusetts and Connecticut strengthened their statutes on housing. Bills on housing discrimination are still pending in several other states, including New Jersey.
This year thus far has also been important for the enactment of fair employment laws. Here the activity was centered in the mid-west, since most eastern and far-western states already have FEP laws. Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri passed fully enforceable fair employment practice laws, while Idaho made discrimination in employment a crime.
Indiana strengthened its FEP law, which at this point is not a fully enforceable statute, by including subpoena powers. In Illinois, the enactment of a fully enforceable FEP law fulfilled more than 16 years of legislative effort in this field. Missouri is particularly significant because it is a southern border state. There are now 20 states with fully enforceable FEP laws.
In the field of public accommodation, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wyoming joined the 24 other states which now ban discrimination in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement. Still another type of civil rights law, a fair education opportunities act, scored this year when Pennsylvania adopted such a statute. Nevada and West Virginia, two states whose past legislatures have paid scant attention to civil rights, took important first steps by creating human relations commissions with authority to investigate charges of discrimination and prejudice.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
