ARTICLE

Rand Paul and the Civil Rights Act: Was He Right?

MAY 26, 2010

[Sheldon Richman, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, discusses the recent controversy over Rand Paul's statements about the civil rights. Richman is editor of The Freeman]

Fresh from his victory in last week’s Kentucky Republican senatorial primary, Rand Paul found himself caught in a whirlwind when MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow asked whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act properly outlawed racial segregation at privately owned lunch counters. Speaking circuitously if not evasively, Mr. Paul finally said:

“[O]ne of the things freedom requires is that we allow people to be boorish and uncivilized. But that doesn’t mean we approve of it.”