Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, , enacted April 9, 1866, was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. It was mainly intended, in the wake of the American Civil War, to protect the civil rights of persons of African descent born in or brought to the United States. This legislation was passed by Congress in 1865 and vetoed by U.S. President Andrew Johnson. In April 1866 Congress again passed the bill to support the Thirteenth Amendment. Johnson again vetoed it, but a two-thirds majority in each chamber overcame the veto to become law without presidential signature.
Abraham Akaka
The U.S. Civil Rights Commission was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and each state has an unpaid appointed advisory board on the commission, with term limits on their service. Hawaii had been represented on the advisory board prior to its admission to statehood on August 21, 1959. When new board members were appointed in 1962, Akaka was appointed chairman, at which point he became active on a national level, joining the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 1963 march on Washington, D.C. In 1965, Akaka provided flower leis worn by King and his advisors on the third Selma Civil Rights March.