Civil Rights Act of 1964

Historical Background

Title VI and the 1964 Civil Rights Act in its entirety can best be understood in historical context. It represents one in a long series of federal actions, some judicial and others legislative in origin, intended to secure the civil rights of African Americans. These measures flow in part from the Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford, in which the Court found Blacks to be without constitutional protections, as they had not been considered citizens at the time of the Constitution's adoption. After the Civil War, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments were adopted to bar slavery and ensure the equal protection of the laws. Post–Civil War civil rights acts were also passed in 1866, 1871, and 1875 to ensure former slaves the right to contract, to sue to enforce their rights, and enjoy other rights enjoyed by Whites, including access to public facilities and accommodations. The constitutionality of these civil rights acts was challenged, in a series of cases before the Supreme Court in 1883. The Court narrowed the applicability of some of these civil rights acts, finding that segregation and discrimination engaged in by private citizens was not illegal. As a result, a variety of segregatory codes adopted after the Civil War were allowed to persist in the South.

It was not until 1896 that the Supreme Court would again examine racially exclusionary policies, finding constitutional (in Plessy v. Ferguson) a segregated system of public transportation on the theory that “separate but equal treatment” satisfied the commands of the Constitution. Over the next 50 years, private plaintiffs, most notably represented by the National Association for Advancement of Colored People, began to attack various forms of state-encouraged or state-permitted segregation on the basis of race. This coordinated litigation culminated in the landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring state-sanctioned segregation in public education to be inherently unequal and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Dismantling segregated education, or other discriminatory practices in voting, public accommodations, and employment, however, was neither a quick nor an easy task, especially when the burden of bringing such actions fell primarily on private individuals and organizations.

The 1950s and 1960s witnessed the reemer-gence of a civil rights movement, born out of the frustration with the conditions in society and the pace of real change. Public protests and demonstrations in places such as Little Rock and Selma, as well as Oxford and Birmingham, sought to gain recognition of rights recently won or still being contended for, as Blacks sought admission to the mainstream of American society. Among these demonstrations was the “March on Washington,” where on August 28, 1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. That fall, negotiations were concluded between President John F. Kennedy's White House and congressional leaders regarding a final proposed version of a sweeping civil rights bill that would be enacted using the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause. The bill was hammered out only about a month before Kennedy [Page 164]was assassinated. Lyndon Johnson, upon assuming the presidency, pursued the passage of an even more comprehensive civil rights act, the passage of which was threatened by a Senate filibuster and a highly contentious and prolonged debate. Finally, on July 2, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, providing a catalyst for reforming schools and promoting equality in American society.

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