TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Maybe when Johnson said "it is not just Negroes but all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry," he really meant all of us, including himself. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. President Lyndon B. Johnson led the national effort to pass the Act. On July 02, 1964 , Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited against people discriminating against another because of their skin color , so everybody was treated equally. Lyndon B Johnson for kids - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Many years passed with minimal action taken to enforce civil rights. "He had been a congressman, beginning in 1937, for eleven years, and for eleven years he had voted against every civil rights bill against not only legislation aimed at ending the poll tax and segregation in the armed services but even against legislation aimed at ending lynching: a one hundred percent record," Caro wrote. Within four years, black voter turnout had tripled, and the number of black voters in the South was almost as high as that of white voters. Johnson's opinion on the issue of civil rights put him at odds with other white, southern Democrats. Says Beto ORourke said hes grateful that people are burning or desecrating the American flag. Term. Both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson worked to see the Act written into law. President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill on July 2, 1964. That Sunday morning, the KKK placed a bomb under the stairs outside the black church. English: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, look on. One famous figure who violently opposed desegregation was Alabama Governor George Wallace, who used his to support segregation. The Senate equally challenged the act. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272. Summary: On June 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. degrees in English and History from the University and an M.A. Let this anniversary of the Civil Rights Act serve as a reminder to all of us to continue striving every day for the equality of all Americans, under the law and in our everyday lives. ", Says U.S. Rep. John Carter "hasnt held a town hall in five years. Text for H.R.230 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States whose visionary leadership secured passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, Social Security Amendments Act (Medicare) of 1965, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Higher Education Act of 1965, and Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act made the U.S. government accountable to its black citizens and a true democracy for the first. He signed it with the support of various leaders and groups in the Civil Rights Movement, including the NAACP, SNCC, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Lewis. By 1939, Lyndon Johnson was being called "the best New Dealer from Texas" by some on Capitol Hill. In the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. The turmoil through the South prompted the president to take action. Dirksen ultimately ended the filibuster, guiding the bill through a series of compromise discussions that eventually made it palatable for the majority. On July 2, 1977, Hollywood composer Bill Conti scores a #1 pop hit with the single Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky). Bill Conti was a relative unknown in Hollywood when he began work on Rocky, but so was Sylvester Stallone. Says Beto ORourke "voted against" Hurricane Harvey "tax relief. The Long Battle Towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rise Up: The Movement That Changed America. On July 2, 1964 he gave a televised address to the nation after signing the measure. President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law, July 2, 1964. Lyndon B Johnson for kids - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Summary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964 ending the power of the Jim Crow laws racial segregation and discrimination. He began working different political channels in and out of Congress to make it a reality. 73, enacted April 11, 1968) is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.. "Lyndon Johnson was the advocate for the most significant civil rights legislative record since the nation's founding," said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy. In this photograph taken by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the East Room of the White House. Jefferson described it as 'the ark of our safety.' It is from the exercise of this right that all our other rights flow. The law's provisions created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to address race and sex discrimination in employment and a Community Relations Service to help local communities solve racial disputes; authorized . When Republicans say they're the Party of Lincoln, they don't mean they're the party ofdeporting black people to West Africa, or the party ofopposing black suffrage, or the party ofallowing states the authority to bar freedmen from migrating there, all options Lincoln considered. Let us close the springs of racial poison. ", Says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants Americas sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine., In Ohio, there are 75,000 acres of farmland, fertile farmland, that are all now being poured down with acid rain., Muslims by the millions are converting to Christianity.. Create an account to start this course today. The Voting Rights Act made the U.S. government accountable to its black citizens and a true democracy for the first time. The VRA prohibited discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests and poll taxes. The night that Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his special assistant Bill Moyers was surprised to find the president looking melancholy in his bedroom. 28 Feb 2023 03:50:57 In addition, the act included what is commonly known today as Title IX, which specifically prohibits workplace discrimination, and Title VII, which created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In the Civil Rights Act of 1965, we affirmed through law for every citizen in this land the most basic right of democracy--the right of a citizen to vote in an election in his country. On city buses, African Americans were relegated to the back section; if there was no room left in the white section, they had to stand so that whites could sit. All Rights Reserved. On July 2, 1964, Lyndon B Johnson sat down in front of an audience including luminaries like Martin Luther King, and signed the Civil Rights Act into law. Read more: Clifford Alexander, Jr., "Black Memoirs of the White House--LBJ," American Visions, February-March, 1995, 42-43. Embedded video for President Lyndon Johnson: Remarks upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill, 1964, Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s), Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900), Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945), Contemporary United States (1968 to the present), Votes for Women Digital Education Package, President Lyndon Johnson: Remarks upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill, 1964. The Supreme Court ruled against those lawsuits in each case it heard. As the strength of the civil rights movement grew, John F. Kennedy made passage of a new civil rights bill one of the platforms of his successful 1960 presidential campaign. Native Americans hold a significant place in White House history. In 1937 ran for the House of Representatives in Texas on his New Deal platform. Similarly, desegregation was a slow process that did not necessarily go smoothly. A reader guided us to excerpts of an interview with historian Robert Caro, who has written volumes on Johnsons life, presented on the Library of Congress blog Feb. 15, 2013. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the number of these schools increased significantly in response to the federal order to desegregate. The resolution had originally been presented to Congress on June 7, but it soon read more, On July 2, 1944, as part of the British and American strategy to lay mines in the Danube River by dropping them from the air, American aircraft also drop bombs and leaflets on German-occupied Budapest. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. In the Senate, Johnson's two strongest allies were Senator Hubert Humphrey, a Democrat from Minnesota, and Minority Leader Everett Dirkson, a Republican from Illinois. For example, in Virginia, most public schools did not begin desegregation until 1968 after the Supreme Court ruled in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, which forced the state to enact a plan to officially and effectively desegregate. ", Says "black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans. Despite Johnson's strong coalition, the Civil Rights Act still struggled to pass Congress, largely due to vehement opposition from Southern Democrats. The attacks were on national television, sparking public outrage. 20006, Florida I feel like its a lifeline. Thoughthe Fair Housing Actnever fulfilled its promise to end residential segregation, it was another part of a massive effort to live up to the ideals America's founders only halfheartedly believed in -- a record surpassed only by Abraham Lincoln. On November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson was sworn in as President. Be a comfortable person so there is no strain in being with you. But when the two aligned, when compassion and ambition finally are pointing in the same direction, then Lyndon Johnson becomes a force for racial justice, unequalled certainly since Lincoln. The House introduced 100 amendments, all designed to weaken the bill. Local officers were not eager to investigate their deaths, even resisting aid from federal authorities. On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 also made it a federal crime to "by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone by reason of their race, color, religion or national origin." President Lyndon Johnson meets in the White House Cabinet Room with top military and defense advisers on Oct. 31, 1968 in Washington. But if government assistance were all it took to earn the permanent loyalty of generations of voters then old white people on Medicare would be staunch Democrats. Lyndon B. Johnson Civil Rights. Besides simply refusing to commit to outright desegregation, another way that public schools got around integrating was by increasing the number of ''segregation academies'' in the South. Although they are not officially all white, these schools are still mostly white today. Lyndon Johnson said the word "nigger" a lot. In 1807, the U.S. read more, On July 2, 1937, the Lockheed aircraft carrying American aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan is reported missing near Howland Island in the Pacific. Black students were forced to attend small schools with few teachers. Because these were not public schools, they were not forced to integrate by the Brown ruling. By the time Johnson entered the Senate in 1948, however, he had moved strategically to the. President Lyndon B. Johnson, upon signing the Civil Rights Act. Became president after Kennedy's assassination and reelected in 1964; Democrat; signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, promoted his "Great Society" plan, part of which included the "war on poverty", Medicare and Medicaid established; Vietnam: Gulf of Tonkin . Forty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a bill that changed the face of America . LBJ was a champion of civil rights. Bush: History & Location, President George H.W. Born around 1768 near Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh won early notice as a brave warrior. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Congress and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress. Working with leaders like MLK and the NAACP leadership, Kennedy had been performing political gymnastics publicly and privately to get this act passed. Many Southern states continued as they had done following the Brown decision in 1954; desegregation could happen slowly (if at all) because the court had not specified a timeline. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! What are the dimensions of the White House? As longtime Jet correspondent Simeon Booker wrote in his memoirShocks the Conscience, early in his presidency, Johnson once lectured Booker after he authored a critical article for Jet Magazine, telling Booker he should "thank" Johnson for all he'd done for black people. 2 By Ted Gittinger and Allen Fisher In an address to a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, President Lyndon Johnson requested quick action on a civil rights bill. During the Civil Rights Movement, leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis fought for the Act, along with many others. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools. President Lyndon B. Johnson supposedly made a crude racist remark about his party's voter base. They became known as segregation academies. Of course Lyndon Baines Johnson's name quickly popped up. Although that document had proclaimed that "all men are created equal," such freedom had eluded most Americans of African descent until the Thirteenth Amendment . The Supreme Court essentially declared Jim Crow segregation constitutional with the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1895. President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with at least 75 pens, which he gave to members of Congress who supported the bill as well as civil rights leaders, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "During his first 20 years in Congress," Obama said, "he opposed every civil rights bill that came up for a vote, once calling the push for federal legislation a farce and a shame.". This act ended an era of segregation that had been in place since the end of Reconstruction and which was made Constitutional by the Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was legal so long as facilities were ''separate but equal.''. Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn as the president, November 22, 1963. In the speech he said, This is a proud triumph. 1 / 10. Buying into the stereotype that blacks were afraid of snakes (who isn't afraid of snakes?) The nation will be marking the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. Johnson lifted racist immigration restrictions designed to preserve a white majority -- and by extension white supremacy. Justify your opinion. Question For LBJ's first 20 years on the hill he was a committed segregationist. Says 60 percent of Austins "waterways are found to be contaminated with fecal matter and deemed unsafe to swim. It also gave stronger enforcement to the desegregation of schools and voting rights. Why would President Johnson feel the need to specify that people would be equal in certain places like in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and other places that provide service to the public.? This is historical material frozen in time. . By email, Betty Koed, an associate historian for the Senate, said that according to information compiled by the Senate Library, in "the rare cases when" such "bills came to a roll call vote, it appears that" Johnson "consistently voted against" them or voted to stop consideration. ), Obama said that during Johnsons "first 20 years in Congress, he opposed every civil rights measure that came up for a vote.". Be an old-shoe, old-hat kind of individual. He genuinely believed in the act, stating once that ''we believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Just pretend youre a goddamn piece of furniture.". USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Next "Lyndon B. Johnson, while in Congress for 20 years, voted against EVERY SINGLE civil rights bill put before him," she wrote. Despite the new legal requirements for civil rights, the new law did not necessarily change cultural norms. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272. Read about the impact of the act on American society and politics. District of Columbia First he. 1 / 10. Digital IDs were given to residents in East Palestine, Ohio, to track long term health problems like difficulty breathing before the Feb. 3 train derailment. In November 1963, Johnson became President after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. However, becoming President in 1963 was not how he imagined. When Caro asked segregationist Georgia Democrat Herman Talmadge how he felt when Johnson, signing the Civil Rights Act, said"we shall overcome," Talmadge said "sick.". particularly in the run-up to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This boycott started after Rosa Parks was famously arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white man and ended with the Supreme Court ruling that segregation in public transportation was unconstitutional. After making it out of committee, they debated it for nine days. In addition, several members of Congress worked to get it passed, specifically Senator Hubert Humphrey, Minority Leader Everett Dirkson, Representative Emanuel Celler, and Representative William McCullough. Fernsehansprache von Prsident Lyndon B. Johnson bei der Unterzeichnung des Civil Rights Acts (2. Known as H.R. When Parker said he would, Johnson grew angry and said, "As long as you are black, and youre gonna be black till the day you die, no ones gonna call you by your goddamn name. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. ", --In his 1948 speech in Austin kicking off his Senate campaign, Johnson declared he was against Trumans attempt to end the poll tax because, Johnson said, "it is the province of the state to run its own elections." As Eric Foner recounts in Reconstruction, the Civil War wasn't yet over, but some Union generals believed blacks, having existed as a coerced labor class in America for more than a century, would nevertheless need to be taught to work "for a living rather than relying upon the government for support.". "His experiences in rural Texas may have stretched his moral imagination. The act prohibited discrimination in public facilities and the workplace based on race, color, gender, nationality, or religion. Johnson privately acknowledged that signing the Civil Rights Act would lose the Democrats the south for a generation, but he knew that it had to be done. Various lawsuits were filed in opposition to forced desegregation, claiming that Congress did not have that sort of authority over the American people. The civil-rights movement had the extraordinary figure of Lyndon Johnson. Having opposed many similar bills in the past, Johnson was bombarded by scrutiny claiming that he signed the act only to appeal . We have . The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, the landmark Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination and segregation regardless of race or c. Learn about Lyndon B. Johnsons Civil Rights Act of 1964, how it was passed, and what it did. It was here that MLK delivered his famous ''I Have a Dream'' speech. 727-821-9494. stated on April 10, 2014 in speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library: During Lyndon B. Johnsons first 20 years in Congress, "he opposed every civil rights measure that came up for a vote.". One thing that made Johnson successful in the House and especially in the Senate was his ability to read the room and form coalitions of Representatives that could cross party lines. The explosion killed four of them. he'd drive to gas stations with one in his trunk and try to trick black attendants into opening it. According to Johnson biographer Robert Caro, Johnson would calibrate his pronunciations by region, using "nigra" with some southern legislators and "negra" with others. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was a cornerstone of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" (McLaughlin, 1975). The Civil Rights Act made it possible for Johnson to smash Jim Crow. On June 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Read the latest blog posts from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Check out the most popular infographics and videos, View the photo of the day and other galleries, Tune in to White House events and statements as they happen, See the lineup of artists and performers at the White House, Eisenhower Executive Office Building Tour. All we can offer is a commitment to justice in word and deed, that must be honored but from which we will all occasionally fall short. The President notes the discrepancies between the freedoms outlined in the Constitution and the reality of life in America before praising the Civil Rights Bill for outlawing such differences. The pair were attempting to fly around the world when they lost their bearings during the most challenging leg of read more, On July 2, 1917, several weeks after King Constantine I abdicates his throne in Athens under pressure from the Allies, Greece declares war on the Central Powers, ending three years of neutrality by entering World War I alongside Britain, France, Russia and Italy. : 1964. Definition. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson provided an avenue for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed or national origin and made it a federal crime to "by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone by reason The Civil Rights Act fought tough opposition in the House and a lengthy, heated debate in the Senate before being approved in July 1964. Many Southerners, both in the KKK and not, were resistant to integration, sometimes violently so, like in the case of three murdered civil rights workers during Mississippi's Freedom Summer. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with at least 75 pens, which he handed out to congressional supporters of the bill such as Hubert Humphrey and Everett. In the House, he worked with Representative Emanuel Celler, a New York Democrat, and William McCullough, an Ohio Republican. Despite civil rights becoming law, it did not change attitudes in the South. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which laid the groundwork for U.S. immigration policy today. My fellow Americans: President Lyndon B Johnson discusses the Voting Rights Act with civil rights campaigner . According to Johnson biographer Robert Caro, allowing states the authority to bar freedmen from migrating there. On July 2, 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. On June 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. His speech appears below. . Cecil Stoughton, White House Press Office The real battle was waiting in the Senate, however, where concerns focused on the bill's expansion of federal powers and its potential to anger constituents who might retaliate in the voting booth. He was energetic, shrewd, and hugely ambitious. READ MORE:The Long Battle Towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was about parents being able to decide where to send their children to school., Says Ken Paxton "shut down the worlds largest human trafficking marketplace. Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson went before the American people to announce the signing of one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history: the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Throughout his career, Johnson supported the quest of African-Americans for political and civil rights. A master of the art of practical politics, Lyndon Johnson came into the White House after the tragedy of President John F. Kennedys assassination in 1963. After fighting multiple hostile amendments, the House approved the bill with bipartisan support. He also worked to help pass the first civil rights law in 82 years, the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The filibuster brought the bill and Senate to a near-stop as the debate raged. It was the single biggest piece of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, nearly 100 years earlier. This law brought education into the forefront of the national assault on poverty and represented a landmark commitment to equal access to quality education (Jeffrey, 1978). Washington, DC The act created the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission while discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, or gender was banned for employers and labor unions. Though Johnson had not initiated this legislation, he worked tirelessly to see it voted into law in Congress. But that wouldn't be true. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson provided an avenue for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed or national origin and made it a federal crime to "by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone by reason of their race, color, religion or national origin." Political Beliefs But Johnson's congressional track record was not fully representative of his . But he was ambitious, very ambitious, a young man in a hurry to plot his own escape from poverty and to chart his own political career. Johnson was a man of his time, and bore those flaws as surely as he sought to lead the country past them. Over 1,200 homicides. Their bodies were found on August 4 of the same summer. By throwing the full weight of the Presidency behind the movement for the first time, Johnson helped usher . He . Lyndon B. Johnson, in full Lyndon Baines Johnson, also called LBJ, (born August 27, 1908, Gillespie county, Texas, U.S.died January 22, 1973, San Antonio, Texas), 36th president of the United States (1963-69). was born in Texas and his first career was a teacher. Johnson also was against proposals against lynching "because the federal government," Johnson said, "has no more business enacting a law against one form of murder than against another. WATCH: Rise Up: The Movement That Changed Americaon HISTORY Vault, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/johnson-signs-civil-rights-act. L.B.J. The first significant blow that the Civil Rights Movement struck against Jim Crow was the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. After he was assassinated in November 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President and continued Kennedy's work, eventually resulting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. For the first time African Americans had positions in the Cabinet and on the Supreme Court. During his time in the Senate, he honed the skills for political maneuvering that would help get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. American Presidents & Vice Presidents: Study Guide & Homework Help, Lyndon B. Johnson: Character Traits & Qualities, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, Lyndon B. Jonson and the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Overview, The Background of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The History of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Civil Rights Act, The Impact of Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression, The Election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Events and Timeline, Franklin Roosevelt's Second Term as President, The USS George H.W. Over 200,000 demonstrators gathered on the National Mall that August. The same violent segregationist sentiment that spurred incidents like the Birmingham bombing was still active. On 22 November 1963, at approximately 2:38 p.m. (CST), Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the middle of Air Force One, raised his right hand, and inherited the agenda of an assassinated president. Stoughton was the first official White House photographer and covered the Kennedy administration to the early years of the Johnson administration. Click the card to flip . Leffler, Warren K., "Lyndon Baines Johnson signing Civil Rights Bill," 11 April 1968. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. The very day the Senate passed the bill, Johnson signed it in the Oval Office with MLK, John Lewis, and other significant leaders in the Civil Rights Movement as his special guests. Recordings of the president's phone conversations reveal his tireless campaign to wrangle lawmakers in favor of the controversial bill. In 1953, he became the youngest Senate Minority Leader in history. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
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