Click on the audio player above to hear this segment.

October 3rd marked the 50th anniversary since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 into law, one of the lesser celebrated pillars of the civil rights era.

The law opened America's doors to Asians, Africans, and Latinos, and ended the preferential treatment European immigrants had received. 

Johnson's civil rights mission often gets lost in the failure of the Vietnam War. But he worked to welcome Mexican-Americans into his administration and the Democratic Party.

Takeaway Host John Hockenberry explains here. Click on the player above to hear this audio essay.

Archival material for this segment comes courtesy of the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin Texas.  It was provided to The Takeaway by independent producer Steve Atlas.  His radio documentary, "We Knew JFK," can be heard here.