Civil Rights Act of 1964

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a major federal civil rights act that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in public places, employment and education. The act also sought to prevent unequal application of voter registration requirements and to discourage racial segregation in schools. The act has been amended to expand its powers and give government agencies further enforcement authority.[1]

Background

After the Civil War, a trio of constitutional amendments, in addition to civil rights laws, were passed that expanded citizenship and voting rights for African-Americans. The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished and prohibited slavery and established a degree of citizenship for former slaves. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the nation's first civil rights law. It declared all males born in the United States to be citizens, "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, expanded citizenship further, granting it to all people “born or naturalized in the United States." The amendment also included the Equal Protection Clause, which provides that no state may deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.[2]

The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited voting rights discrimination on the basis of race. To enforce these amendments, Congress also passed the Enforcement Act in 1870. This act criminalized the obstruction of voting rights and provided for federal supervision of the electoral process. However, states continued to suppress black voters' rights. Southern states legalized disenfranchisement in the form of Jim Crow laws, literacy tests, property requirements and other laws designed to suppress the black vote.[2][3][4]

In 1957, Congress established a civil rights section of the U.S. Department of Justice and a Commission on Civil Rights to investigate discrimination. It also passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The act was intended to provide protection for the right to vote, but Jim Crow laws and other discriminatory practices persisted.[5]

Legislative history

President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation on civil rights, June 11, 1963.

On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised national address. In this speech, he proposed that Congress pass a more comprehensive civil rights bill. The speech was delivered following a series of civil rights protests and incidents, including the Birmingham campaign of May 1963 and Alabama Governor George Wallace's refusal to permit two black students to enroll in the University of Alabama.[6]

“ This nation was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. ... It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case. ... We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. ... One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. ... And this nation, for all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.[7] ”
—President John F. Kennedy

The Civil Rights Act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives in June 1963. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The bill cleared the House on February 10, 1964.[6]

The bill was introduced in the United States Senate in February 1964. It reached the floor for a vote on March 30, 1964. A group of 18 southern Democrats and one Republican launched a filibuster to block the bill's passage. The filibuster lasted 54 days, after which a substitute bill was introduced to attract more Republican support. This second bill was weaker than the first, but strong enough that the House would still support it.[8]

On June 10, 1964, the Senate voted 71-29 to end the filibuster. On June 19, the revised bill passed the Senate 73–27. The Senate version of the bill passed the House on July 2. President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill into law that day. In a speech delivered upon signing the Civil Rights Act, Johnson said the following:[8]

Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964
“ We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings—not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin. The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand—without rancor or hatred—how this all happened. But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it.[9][7] ”
—President Lyndon Johnson

Key features

February 10, 1964, roll call vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act is composed of several titles that bar or encourage specific actions.

  1. Title I bars unequal application of voter registration requirements, meaning that rules and procedures must be applied equally to all races. This did not, however, stop the use of literacy tests and other devices that were disproportionately used to deny African Americans the right to vote. Such tests were eliminated with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[10]
  2. Title II outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin in public accommodations, hotels and restaurants, and other public areas.[10]
  3. Title III prohibits local and state governments from denying access to public facilities based on race, color, religion or national origin.[10]
  4. Title IV encourages the desegregation of public schools and directs the attorney general to file suit against schools and districts that have denied equal protection of the law in education based on race, color, religion or national origin.[10]
  5. Title V expands the power of the Civil Rights Commission, a commission formed in 1957 to investigate and make recommendations to correct civil rights issues nationwide.[10]
  6. Title VI prohibits any government agency that receives federal funds from engaging in discrimination.[10]
  7. Tile VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin by covered employers. The act defines a covered employer as an employer "who has fifteen (15) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year," including federal, state, and local governments.[10]
  8. Title VIII requires the compilation of voting registration and other voter data in regions specified by the Civil Rights Commission.[10]
  9. Title IX allows civil rights cases to be moved to federal courts if the state courts have segregationist judges or all-white juries.[10]
  10. Title X created the Community Relations Service, an office intended to assist state and local governments and private groups prevent and resolve racial and other discrimination issues.[10]
  11. Title XI allows a defendant accused of contempt because of an issue arising in other titles the right to a jury trial.[10]

Title VII

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin by covered employers. The act defines a covered employer as an employer "who has fifteen (15) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year," including federal, state, and local governments.[10]

“ It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer … to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.[7] ”
—Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII does permit an employer to discriminate in hiring on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin if the trait is reasonably necessary to the operation of that business and there are no reasonable alternatives. However, an employer or customer preference is not recognized as sufficient to allow discrimination.[10]

Between the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and 1972, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission only had the power to investigate claims of discrimination. The commission could refer cases to the U.S. Department of Justice, but did not have the power to initiate litigation itself. In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. This act amended Title VII to give the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the authority to initiate litigation when they found discrimination in hiring.[6]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Civil Rights Foundation, "The Civil Rights Act of 1964," accessed November 11, 2015
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Archives.gov, "The Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11-27," accessed July 21, 2015
  3. ↑ PBS, "Enforcement Acts," accessed July 21, 2015
  4. ↑ JimCrowHistory.org, "Jim Crow Legislation Overview," accessed July 21, 2015
  5. ↑ Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home, "Civil Rights Act of 1957," accessed November 11, 2015
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cornell University Law School, "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission," accessed November 10, 2015
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, "History and Timeline," accessed November 11, 2015
  9. ↑ Miller Center, University of Virginia, "Lyndon Johnson–Remarks upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill (July 2, 1964)," accessed November 11, 2015
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 Our Documents, "Transcript of Civil Rights Act (1964)," accessed November 10, 2015
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