The intent of this executive order was to affirm the government's commitment to equal opportunity for all qualified persons, and to take positive action to efforts to realize true equality for all. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded John F. Kennedy after his assassination and continued his commitment to affirmative action. Shortly after becoming president, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited the discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provided the federal government with the power to enforce desegregation. The following year Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for southern blacks to register to vote. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and other such requirements used to restrict blacks from voting were made illegal.
Affirmative action continued to be debated with California attempting again to put a statewide ban on it. "In 2003 in two cases involving the University of Michigan, the Court ruled that the university could not use racial quotas or a point system to boost minority enrollment in its undergraduate school, but in a companion case it ruled that the law school could take into account race in vaguer ways to ensure academic diversity"" (Warshal, 1). The Supreme Court agreed in late February of 2012 to revisit affirmative action in college admissions, suggesting the 2003 ruling that narrowly permitted race conscious policies in public higher education may face tough scrutiny from today's more conservative court. The reversal of liberal and conservative positions concerning the morality behind racial discrimination is clear evidence of the influence of racial factors. Years ago the liberal thought to favor and end to all forms of racial discrimination was a staple, whereas conservatives excused it practice and opposed radical change. Now, any emphasis on non-discrimination as a principle is likely to come from a conservative, and liberals outright avoid the term.