|
After Breathitt was elected governor, the state civil-rights bill was introduced to the General Assembly in 1964. Buried in committee, it was not voted on. "There was a great deal of racial prejudice existing at that time," said [[Julian Carroll]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Wheatley |first=Kevin |date=March 5, 2014 |title=Legislators Recall Martin Luther King Jr. March |newspaper=[[The State Journal (Frankfort)|State Journal]] |location=Frankfort, Kentucky |url=http://www.state-journal.com/local%20news/2014/03/05/legislators-recall-martin-luther-king-jr-march}}</ref> A rally in support of the bill attracted 10,000 Kentuckians and leaders and allies such as [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], [[Ralph Abernathy]], [[Jackie Robinson]], and [[Peter, Paul and Mary]]. At the urging of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], Breathitt led the [[National Governors Association]] in supporting the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. Johnson later appointed him to the "To Secure These Rights" commission, charged with implementing the act.
In January 1966, Breathitt signed "the most comprehensive civil rights act ever passed by any state south of the Ohio River in the history of this nation."<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Harrell |editor-first=Kenneth E. |date=1984 |titlesection=Derby Statement, Frankfort / May 4, 1967 |work title=The Public Papers of Governor Edward T. Breathitt, 1963–1967 |url={{google books|KbkeBgAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes|page=437}} |page=437 |publisher=Kentucky Historical Society |isbn=978-0-8131-0603-8}}</ref> Martin Luther King Jr. concurred with Breathitt's assessment of Kentucky's sweeping legislation, calling it "the strongest and most important comprehensive civil-rights bill passed by a Southern state."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=John |last2=Mier |first2=Maria |date=January 20, 2013 |title=Ky. voices: Kentucky led South in civil rights, what about now? |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |url=http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483201_ky-voices-state-led-south-in-civil.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Horace Randall |last1=Williams |first2=Ben |last2=Beard |titleentry=October 13, 1961 – Kentucky Civil Rights Commission Fights the Good Fight |worktitle=This Day in Civil Rights History |url={{google books|0jwWrG4V1XQC|plainurl=yes|page=311}} |page=311 |date=2009 |publisher=NewSouth Books |location=Montgomery, Alabama |isbn=978-1-58838-241-2}}</ref> Kentucky's 1966 Civil Rights Act ended racial discrimination in bathrooms, restaurants, swimming pools, and other public places throughout the state. Racial discrimination was prohibited in employment, and Kentucky cities were empowered to enact local laws against housing discrimination. The legislature repealed all "dead-letter" segregation laws (such as the 62-year-old [[Day Law]]) on the recommendation of Rep. Jesse Warders, a Louisville Republican and the only Black member of the General Assembly. The act gave the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights enforcement power to resolve discrimination complaints.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome! Kentucky Law Requires |website=Kentucky Commission on Human Rights |url=http://kchr.ky.gov/reports/Documents/Posters/PublicAccommodation_Poster.pdf |access-date=October 28, 2015}}</ref> Breathitt has said that the civil-rights legislation would have passed without him, and thought his opposition to [[strip mining]] had more to do with the decline of his political career than his support for civil rights.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Betsey |last1=Brinson |first2=Kenneth H. |last2=Williams |first3=Ned |last3=Breathitt |title=An Interview with Governor Ned Breathitt on Civil Rights: "The Most Significant Thing That I Have Ever Had a Part in." |journal=Register of the Kentucky Historical Society |date=January 2001 |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=5–51 |jstor=23384876}}</ref>
====1968 Louisville riots====
|