50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

It has been 50 years since the Civil Acts Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. President John F. Kennedy first introduced the idea of the Civil Rights Act in 1963 during a televised speech. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very strong supporter of the bill. Kennedy and King would both be assassinated before the bill became law. The act made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; It ended school, work and public facility discrimination, and barred unequal application of voter registration requirements.

Here are the major features of the act according to The Dirksen Center

Title I—Voting Rights

Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements, but did not abolish literacy tests sometimes used to disqualify African Americans and poor white voters.

Title II—Public Accommodations

Outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce; exempted private clubs without defining "private," thereby allowing a loophole.

Title III—Desegregation of Public Facilities

Permitted Justice Department suits to secure desegregation of certain public facilities.

Title IV—Desegregation of Public Education

Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U. S. Attorney General to file suits to force desegregation, but did not authorize busing as a means to overcome segregation based on residence.

Title V—Civil Rights Commission

Addressed procedures for the Commission, broadened its duties, and extended its life through January 1968.

Title VI—Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs

Authorized but did not require withdrawal of federal funds from programs which practiced discrimination.

Title VII—Equal Employment Opportunity

Outlawed discrimination in employment in any business exceeding twenty five people and creates an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to review complaints, although it lacked meaningful enforcement powers.

Title VIII—Registration and Voting Statistics

Directed the Census Bureau to collect registration and voting statistics based on race, color and national origin but provided that individuals could not be compelled to disclose such information.

Title IX—Intervention and Removal of Cases

Made reviewable in high federal courts the action of federal district courts in remanding a civil rights case to state court and authorized the Attorney General to intervene in certain private suits.

Title X—Community Relations Service

Created the Service to aid communities in resolving disputes relating to discriminatory practices based on race, color, or national origin.

Title XI—Miscellaneous

SOURCE: Congress and the Nation, 1945-64 (Congressional Quarterly Service, 1965):  1638-41.