Quotes Donald Trump as saying, “I’ll tell you the funniest thing. Johnson wanted to become president but he calculated that he could Not surprisingly, the longest solo filibuster in history was an anti–civil rights monologue. Many Democrats from non-Southern states supported the bill and helped end the debate. It’s true that Democrats hold the longest filibuster in Senate history over the legislation, but it was led by a group of southern Democrats, not all Democrats, and lasted 60 days, not 75. When lawmakers want to delay legislation from moving forward, they filibuster. Nor were anti-lynching measures the only bills to fall victim to the filibuster. Longest Filibuster: Strom ThurmondThe longest filibuster in the U.S. senate took place in 1957 when Strom Thurmond filibustered in an attempt to block passage of the 1957 civil rights bill. In Philadelphia, the former mayor and virulent racist Frank Rizzo was transferred to a storage facility. 7152. Most senators didn’t want to legitimize Jim Crow’s favorite procedural tactic. The Senate filibuster—the rule that allows a minority of senators to block nearly every piece of legislation—may not have the literal weight of stone or metal. More From The Battle for the Constitution, consider nearly 200 anti-lynching measures, Senate passed a resolution formally apologizing to lynching victims for its inaction, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul used a parliamentary delaying trick to hold up an anti-lynching bill. Southern Democrats held the longest filibuster in Senate history over the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The filibuster is a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to block or delay action on a bill or other measure. It was signed into law July 2, 1964. Sen. Huey P. Long spent 15 hours and 30 minutes arguing against passage of a New Deal bill that would have given jobs to political enemies in Louisiana. Americans were murdered, unjustly imprisoned, denied the right to vote, and treated by their own country as subhuman—all because of the Senate’s unique and often venerated procedure. In fact, and somewhat ironically, it was precisely because the filibuster was such an effective tool for defending segregation, and because segregationists in turn became the filibuster’s staunchest defenders, that obstruction on other issues was relatively rare. Thurmond, subsisting on throat lozenges, malted milk tablets and a steak sandwich, spoke 24 hours and 18 minutes before concluding with the line, "I expect to vote against the bill.". To ensure that this never happened, southern senators executed what can best be described as a ballet of obstruction. Says President Trump posted a combative tweet to EA Sports about Colin Kaepernick. Consider what happened in the early 1920s, when the Massachusetts Republican Henry Cabot Lodge introduced a bill to combat lynching. Senators have done everything from reading Shakespeare to reciting the Constitution to […] They never received a vote. In a careless effort to remove what he thought was redundant language, he cut the “previous question motion,” which would have allowed a majority of lawmakers to end debate and force a vote on a bill. … You know, I’m inspecting. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and provided protection of voting rights, banned discrimination in public facilities and established equal employment opportunity.