I was having a conversation on Twitter about the nature of the passage of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, which created the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.

The anti-discrimination provisions of this act were particularly interesting. Congressional conservatives, particularly in the Senate, worked to ensure that the anti-discrimination provisions of the bill would be as weak as possible. Nonetheless, activists — particularly black police officers — were able to use Title VI to push for federal oversight.

The timeline of how this happened in Chicago can be seen below (click & it will pop open).