Civil Rights Legislations

The Civil Rights Movement worked to bring monumental change to the US. The work of activists in protests, marches, and sit-ins highlighted the injustice of segregation and discrimination and helped public opinion turn in favor of change. That change was codified into law largely through Civil Rights Legislation and acts of Congress, although some victories were won in the courts or achieved by executive action. Learn about the most important Civil Rights legislation here.

Civil Rights Legislation and Acts

Civil Rights legislation are acts passed by Congress so that they become laws. These acts concern ensuring people's Civil Rights, or the legal rights they are granted by being citizens of a country, through the US Constitution.

You might ask why Civil Rights legislation is necessary if they are designed to simply protect the rights people already have. Unfortunately, discrimination has been a reality throughout US history, and people were oftentimes denied their rights. This was most pronounced in the Jim Crow, segregated South, where African Americans were excluded from many public places and provided with inferior schools and facilities.

Therefore, Civil Rights Acts were needed to end discriminatory practices by closing loopholes and forcing segregationists to comply, effectively ensuring all people's Civil Rights were, in fact, protected.

Fig 1 - Civil Rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy to encourage passage of Civil Rights legislation.

Civil Rights Legislation Timeline

See when some of the most important Civil Rights legislation was passed in the Civil Rights legislation timeline below.

Fig 2 - Civil Rights Legislation Timeline, Made by the author Adam McConnaughhay, a StudySmarter original.

Civil Rights Legislation and the Movement for Civil Rights

Civil Rights legislation was passed in large degree due to the impact of the Civil Rights Movement. There was a virtuous cycle created where leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., on the one hand put pressure on lawmakers to act, while on the other the lack of action or violent reaction by authorities increased public support for legislation to address the problems.

Therefore, while Civil Rights Legislation Acts were actions of Congress, they cannot be separated from the Civil Rights Movement and the actions of the countless activists who participated in marches, rallies, protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and other direct actions, many of them facing violence, jail, or even death.

Civil Rights Legislation Examples

Congress passed numerous Civil Rights Acts. Below is a summary of some of the most important Civil Rights legislation examples.

Civil Rights Legislation and Acts that Targeted Jim Crow Segregation

The most monumental Civil Rights legislation were the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed to address the racial discrimination against African Americans. Another important Civil Rights legislation was the Fair Housing Act of 1968. While these laws targeted all forms of discrimination, they were passed through Congress explicitly to address racial discrimination. Learn about them briefly in the sections that follow and consult the full summary of each to learn more.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

This Civil Rights legislation is, along with the Voting Rights Act, considered the most important achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin in most public places, and it also outlawed discriminatory hiring. It also contained provisions to end discriminatory voting restrictions and to enforce the desegregation of public schools.

Activists from Civil Rights organizations, such as the NAACP, had long advocated for such a law. As the Civil Rights Movement gained steam, most notably with the shocking images of police repression of peaceful protestors during the Birmingham Campaign of Spring 1963, it became increasingly clear to supporters of the movement that legislation was required to forcibly end segregation.

Therefore, a Civil Rights Act was proposed by John F. Kennedy in June 1963. The March on Washington of August 1963 had among its goals encouraging passage of the bill. However, southern Democrats in Congress opposed it. It successfully passed the House of Representatives, but southern Democrats delayed passage of the bill with a filibuster for 75 days in the Senate.

Fig 3 - Kennedy addresses the nation, calling for the passage of the Civil Rights Act

After Kennedy's assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson pressured for passage of the bill as a testament to Kennedy's legacy. After intense negotiations, including personal lobbying to some senators by Johnson, the filibuster was finally overcome, and the bill passed. Johnson signed it into law on July 2, 1964.

Fig 4 - Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with King and others looking on

Voting Rights Act of 1965

While the 1964 Civil Rights legislation had included provisions to end discrimination in voter registration, the vote was still denied to many African Americans in the South through loopholes and underhanded tactics by state and local government, who make laws concerning elections.

These tactics included literacy tests, which were often arbitrary or designed to be near impossible to pass. For example, in some places, to register to vote, African Americans were asked to recite the entire Constitution from memory, while whites were given much easier tests.

Poll taxes and property ownership requirements were other tactics used to prevent African Americans from voting. In many states, there were grandfather clauses that exempted people from meeting these requirements if their grandfathers had voted. However, most African Americans' grandfathers had been slaves, so these provisions were clearly meant to target them while allowing whites who could not meet the requirements to vote.

For this reason, Civil Rights activists advocated for a Voting Rights Act. The Selma to Montgomery March was organized to put pressure on the Johnson administration to get behind the law. Like in Birmingham before, images of brutal police repression of peaceful protestors brought the bill widespread public support, and it passed Congress. Johnson signed the bill into law on August 6, 1965.

Fig 5 - Johnson meets with King and Rosa Parks after the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Fair Housing Act of 1968

The two earlier Civil Rights legislation acts had done much to ensure legal equality, however, economic equality was more difficult to achieve. Also, while legal discrimination and segregation was now outlawed, de facto segregation largely remained in place. King and other Civil Rights leaders began advocating for more to be done on social and economic justice, and King's SCLS organized the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.

While Civil Rights legislation was difficult to craft in a way that promoted economic equality or fought de facto segregation, one significant effort was made in the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

This law was actually part of a larger Civil Rights Act of 1968, with Title VII of that law concerning housing lending it the name of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 it is largely known by. This Civil Rights legislation was meant as a follow up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and sought to address the exclusion of minorities from white neighborhoods.

The law was passed in the days after Marin Luther King's assassination and was pushed through Congress by Johnson in honor of King. He signed it into law on April 11, 1968. It outlawed discrimination in the sale or renting of housing based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.

This law is usually considered to be the last major achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. While outlawing discrimination in housing or the explicit exclusion of minorities from communities, economic inequality and social norms meant de facto segregation of communities has continued to varying degrees even into the present day, a fact that highlights the limits of what Civil Rights legislation can effectively achieve.

Other Significant Civil Rights Legislation Examples

While the Civil Rights legislation passed in the context of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s stand as the most significant in US history, they are far from the only Civil Rights Acts. It's worth noting as well that although those Civil Rights legislation acts were passed largely in the context of ending segregation towards African Americans, they also outlawed discrimination against other minorities.

Learn more about some other significant Civil Rights legislation examples below.

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

Since the colonization of what became the United States, Native Americans and indigenous peoples were discriminated against, had their tribal lands taken from them, and were largely neglected. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 sought to in part address this discrimination.

This law granted full citizenship to Native Americans. It was passed to address the traditional application of the 14th Amendment as not applying to Native Americans, and it was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924. It eliminated the requirement that they give up tribal citizenship and apply to become US citizens, immediately granting them citizen status. Many states still denied them the right to vote, although by 1957, these restrictions had been lifted.

Indian Civil Rights Act

Further action was taken concerning native rights during the larger Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The National Indian Youth Council was important in advocating for more Civil Rights legislation concerning Native Americans. As part of this effort, the 1968 Civil Rights Act, which included the Fair Housing Act, contained provisions that directly addressed Native American rights and became known as the Indian Civil Rights Act.

This Civil Rights legislation effectively extended nearly all the protections in the Bill of Rights and US Constitution to Native American tribes.

Education Amendment Act of 1972 aka Title IX

This piece of Civil Rights legislation was signed into law on June 23, 1972. It is also sometimes called the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 but is most commonly referred to by its most significant provision, Title IX. In the present day, this provision is often linked to college athletics and the funding of women's sports programs, although this was not a major concern in the passage of the bill at the time.

Title IX prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions receiving federal funds. The full law also extended the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which tried to end pay differences between men and women, to some professions and jobs that had not previously been covered.

Non-Legislative Actions on Civil Rights

While Civil Rights legislation acts, most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 stand out as the most powerful actions taken by the government to end discrimination, there were some significant actions taken outside of Congress in the form of executive orders and court cases. Learn about a few of these in the sections below.

Executive Order 9981

Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry Truman on July 26, 1948. It eliminated segregation and discrimination in the US armed forces. It was made in part to recognize the important role African Americans played in the Second World War.

Truman had proposed more broad Civil Rights legislation, but he failed to pass it through Congress. Therefore, he chose to use his executive authority to integrate the armed forces.

African American participation in the Korean War and Vietnam War helped contributed to more support for the Civil Rights Movement and eventual legislative action later, as veterans who had fought in the nation's wars returned home to be mistreated. Therefore, while its impact was limited to the armed forces, it was an important influence on the early growth of the Civil Rights Movement.

Brown v. Board of Education

This 1954 court case is considered one of the most important decisions regarding Civil Rights in US history. In it, the Warren Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It effectively overruled the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that allowed for "separate but equal" facilities.

The case was an important victory for the NAACP, and it effectively overturned the legal basis for segregation in public spaces. Pressure to enforce the decision contributed to the larger Civil Rights Movement and the decision helped provide a legal basis for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which further strengthened the decision and sought to integrate schools.

Fig 6 - Map showing places where schools were segregated in the US before the Brown decision.

Loving v. Virginia

The 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision held that laws prohibiting interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendment and were unconstitutional. Many states had such laws, which encouraged segregation, and the case effectively allowed people to marry who they chose. This case was also an important legal precedent for the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that protected same-sex marriage in the US.

Enforcing Civil Rights Legislation

Due to opposition to some Civil Rights legislation, especially in the Jim Crow South, enforcing Civil Rights legislation was important to ensuring the laws were properly enacted.

Especially problematic was the enforcement of desegregation of public schools. While the Brown decision had effectively outlawed the separate but equal doctrine, it provided no clear enforcement mechanisms. A second case did call for integration with "deliberate speed," but resistance continued.

In 1957, a group of African American students that became known as the Little Rock Nine, attempted to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The state's governor attempted to use the National Guard to prevent their entry, but President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to protect their entry. In 1963, President Kennedy also used federal troops to force the integration of the University of Alabama after Governor George Wallace attempted to prevent it.

Provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 concerned the enforcement of the desegregation of schools, denying federal funds to schools and other institutions that did not comply, and in the 1970s one element of enforcing this Civil Rights legislation was the use of busing students to integrated schools, which was controversial.

Fig 8 - Time Magazine cover featuring images from the forced integration of Little Rock Central High School.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also contained a number of provisions aimed at enforcing Civil Rights legislation, including a coverage formula that triggered the federal oversight of voter registration in places where discriminatory practices had been in place or less than 50% of eligible voters were registered. These areas were also subject to a requirement for preapproval for any changes to voting laws or the composition of voting districts.

The 2015 Supreme Court case of Shelby County v. Holder overturned the coverage formula in a controversial decision that many contend weaken the enforcement of Civil Rights legislation by making the provisions of the law requiring preapproval for changes to voting laws unenforceable.

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, created in 1957 also worked to enforce Civil Rights legislation and brought criminal suit against violations of Civil Rights legislation. It continues to be the main mechanism for enforcing Civil Rights legislation.