If you look to Kennedy’s 1963 civil rights speech, you’ll note that the civil rights act was very much a bismarckian reform in that it as much a response to fear of violent revolt for equal rights as it was a benevolent act to improve the status of a minority group.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Volokh Conspiracy » Public Opinion, Anti-Discrimination Law, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964] Reference