Are the republicans for or against the Civil Rights Act?

Answer 1

It depends on which Republicans, since not all members of their party hold the same views; and a lot depends on which region of the country you are asking about. It should also be noted that some of today's Republicans hold different views from those they held in the time of Abraham Lincoln. That said, you may be referring to comments made by Senator Rand Paul: in a TV interview several years ago, he made controversial remarks about the Civil Rights Act, saying he supported the theory of equal access, but believed private businesses should have the right to decide whom they would or would not serve. Some other Republicans have agreed that it should be left up to the business, rather than there being a national law. And in a similar vein, the Republicans on the Supreme Court were in the lead in the 2012 decision that basically gutted the protections the Voting Rights Act provided to minorities in the south.

But it would be unfair to stereotype all Republicans as anti-civil rights. When the Civil Rights Act was originally passed during President Lyndon Johnson's administration, both Republicans and Democrats worked to get it passed. But times were changing, and the Republican party was becoming more hospitable to voices that opposed civil rights; by the 1970s, the south had moved from largely being Democrats to being almost entirely Republican as a result. However, while the extremists in any party get more media attention, the majority of Republicans, especially national politicians and business-owners, understand the importance of being fair to everyone -- not just white people. While there are indeed some local Republicans who have made racist remarks or expressed views that oppose the Civil Rights Act, it is doubtful that any national Republican politician or candidate today would call for its repeal.