Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964, after the longest filibuster in Senate history was broken by a coalition of Northern Democrats and Republicans. It had been proposed by President John Kennedy in 1963 in response to the civil rights movement. Title II banned discrimination in hotels, restaurants, theaters, and other public accommodations, which the Supreme Court upheld under the Commerce Clause in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States later that year.

Title VI bars discrimination by race, color, or national origin in any program receiving federal money, giving agencies power to cut off funds, which became a key tool for desegregating Southern schools and hospitals. Title VII bans employment discrimination by employers with 15 or more workers and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sex was added to Title VII during House debate, and the Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020 that firing someone for being gay or transgender is sex discrimination.

The law has been amended and interpreted many times. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 allowed jury trials and damages and wrote disparate impact into Title VII. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard in 2023 the Supreme Court held that race-conscious college admissions violate Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause, and in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services in 2025 it unanimously held that workers from majority groups face no extra burden to prove discrimination. Debates now center on diversity programs, disparate impact, and how far the law protects sexual orientation and gender identity.