Civil Rights and Legislation

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4/20-4/24 Weekly Planner

In addition to reading today's post, please make sure you:

1. Complete the Khan Academy modules on balancing majority and minority rights (video, article, 4 question self-check)

READING: 129-159 in Edwards

UNIT THREE Identification Terms 

Today's Question: How has Congress impacted civil rights and the push for equality?

Learning Standards:

PMI-3.A: Explain how the government has responded to social movements.

PMI-3.A.1: The government can respond to social movements through court rulings and/or policies, as in:

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared that race-based school segregation violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause 
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 
• Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965

CON-6.A: Explain how the Supreme Court has at times allowed the restriction of the civil rights of minority groups and at other times has protected those rights.

CON-6.A.1: Decisions demonstrating that minority rights have been restricted at times and protected at other times include:

• State laws and Supreme Court holdings restricting African American access to the same restaurants, hotels, schools, etc., as the majority white population based on the “separate but equal” doctrine 
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared that race-based school segregation violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause 
• The Supreme Court upholding the rights of the majority in cases that limit and prohibit majority-minority districting 

Civil Rights & Congress

In addition to finding remedy in the courts, civil rights legislation has also helped promote equality. Today, we will examine several of the more important acts and look at the impact they have had.

Perhaps the most significant piece of civil rights legislation passed by Congress is the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Read this CNN article on the 50th anniversary of the bill's passage.




Major Provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act:

1.Banned discrimination in places of public accommodation based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

2. Banned discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

3. Tied federal funding for public schools to compliance with Brown v. Board.

4. Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to help investigate and file lawsuits based on discrimination.

5. Banned federal funds to any government assisted program that discriminates.


Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US, 1964: upholds Congress's ability to prohibit discrimination based on the interstate commerce clause.


As important and comprehensive as the 1964 Civil Rights Act was, it did not go far enough to protect voting rights for African Americans. This was remedied a year later with passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Major Provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act:
1. Prohibits any form of literacy tests.

2. Allows federal examiners (government officials) to help with voter registration and monitor elections

3. A "pre-clearance" from the Justice Department on any changes that might discriminate against voters (weakened in Shelby County v. Holder, 2013)


Was the 1965 Voting Rights Act successful?

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court limited Section V of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.





What impact did the 1964 CRA and 1965 VRA have on political parties?

Do current proposals requiring photo identification for voting limit voting rights?


Other important pieces of legislation:

Title IX of the Educational Act of 1972: prohibits any form of sexual discrimination or sexual harassment in education; most common controversy involves athletics and gender equity

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990: modeled after the 1964 CRA, the ADA prohibits discrimination based on mental or physical disabilities and promotes equality of opportunity. Criticized as an unfunded mandate and a source of excessive litigation.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996: prohibits federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages performed at the state level; struck down in US v. Windsor, 2013.