The greatest victories are often forgotten because they created a world where the conditions over which the the victor triumphed are obsolete
Senator Kennedy was a great man who spent his life fighting for those who have no voice. His work on healthcare dominates current media coverage, and his fight for economic justice deserves much more coverage than it will get. But, just as importantly, we all need to recognize Senator Kennedy's enormous contributions to the fight for civil rights.
Ted Kennedy was born in an America where black kids and white kids couldn't serve in the army together, couldn't go to school together (in much of the country), couldn't marry each other (in much of the country), and where millions were denied jobs and opportunities because of the color of their skin.
Senator Kennedy died in a country with a black president. We still have racial issues today and lord knows this country has problems to overcome, but we have come so far. I'm a white guy and I'm marrying a black woman in 2 weeks - Ted Kennedy deserves our eternal grattitude for building a world where most people don't bat an eyelash at our President or at my marriage.
As a rich privileged white guy, Senator Kennedy could have looked on racial problems with indifference. His two brothers, John and Bobby, lost their lives in no small part due to the hatred they engendered in tackling a racist status quo. Especially after their loss, Teddy easily could have walked away from the fight for racial justice. He never did.
I interned for Senator Kennedy and one of the coolest moments of my internship was finding a speech where Martin Luther King endorsed Ted Kennedy as "a great young man" who always fought for civil rights, regardless of political consequences (I'm paraphrasing because this bad boy somehow isn't on the internet). But, aside from personal anecdotes, here is a sampling of his accomplishments on civil rights:
Ted Kennedy strongly supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which helped break Jim Crow's back. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was introduced by President Kennedy.
Kennedy voted for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which applied a nationwide prohibition against the denial or abridgment of the right to vote, banned literary tests, led to the end of the use of the poll tax, and targeted areas of the country with especially troubling voting rights records. Before the Voting Rights Act passed, the South had not had a black congressional representation since reconstruction. Today, the Congressional black caucus is a true caucus. Kennedy sponsored re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act
The 1965 Immigration Act (H/T to Aruujo).
Kennedy supported the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which extended anti-discrimination laws to housing.
Kennedy sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
Kennedy authored the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Kennedy twice voted against federal attempts to restrict marriage and strongly civil rightssupported gay marriage, long before it was politically fashionable to do so. Senator Kennedy knew that marriage is a civil right; he and his brothers fought and triumphed in ending discrimination against interracial marriage during a time when that issue was controversial. Senator Kennedy left all of us with a great burden to continue his work and end discrimination against gay marriage.
Teddy Kennedy, at his best, represented the best of America. In the words of his brother Bobby:
Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others...he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
In the words of his brother Bobby, let's all send forth more ripples in Teddy's memory.