# Civil Rights Act of 1964 *United States federal civil rights statute (Pub. L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241)* The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, is a federal statute signed into law on July 2, 1964.[^1][^2] It bars discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Its titles cover unequal voter-registration rules, segregation in schools and public accommodations, and discrimination in employment.[^3] [[Title VI]], codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, bars discrimination on grounds of race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance.[^4] [[Title VII]], codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., is the employment title.[^5][^6] President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act. Hubert H. Humphrey, who floor-managed the bill,[^1] was present at the signing ceremony.[^2] Title VII is the statute under which the [[United States Department of Justice]] sued [[Minnesota]] on January 14, 2026. The Department's Office of Public Affairs issued release No. 26-21 that day, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^7] The complaint in [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]] (D. Minn.) is brought under Title VII. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times, including subdivision 3(c), which requires an agency to explain its reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^8] ## Background In the *Civil Rights Cases* of 1883, the Supreme Court held that Congress lacked power to reach private-sector discrimination. That ruling left the Civil Rights Act of 1875 with little protective force.[^3] During the New Deal of the 1930s, the Court's majority came to accept broader federal regulation of private commerce under the Commerce Clause. That shift opened a route for federal civil rights statutes covering both public and private discrimination.[^3] President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, the first federal anti-discrimination order, and created the Fair Employment Practices Committee. President Harry Truman appointed the President's Committee on Civil Rights. Truman also issued Executive Orders 9980 and 9981, which addressed fair employment and desegregation in the federal workforce and the armed forces.[^3] President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 on September 9, 1957.[^3] For the 1964 act, Congress relied chiefly on three sources of authority: * its commerce power under Article I, Section 8; * the equal-protection guarantee of the 14th Amendment; * the voting-rights guarantee of the 15th Amendment.[^3] ## Legislative history President John F. Kennedy proposed the legislation in June 1963. On June 11, 1963, he met Republican leaders before addressing the nation that evening. Two days later, [[Senate Minority Leader]] Everett Dirksen and Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield both backed the bill, except its public-accommodations provisions. On June 19, Kennedy sent the bill to Congress in its original form.[^3] In the [[United States House of Representatives]], the bill went to the Judiciary Committee, chaired by New York Democrat Emanuel Celler. After hearings, the committee strengthened the bill in four ways: * it added a ban on racial discrimination in employment; * it added stronger protection for black voters; * it extended desegregation to every publicly owned facility; * it added authority for the attorney general to sue to protect constitutional and statutory rights.[^3] Lobbying for the bill was coordinated by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of 70 liberal and labor organizations.[^3] Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and President Johnson then advanced the bill. The House approved it on February 10, 1964, by a final vote of 290–130. The [[United States Senate]] approved it on June 19, 1964, by 73–27, after a 72-day filibuster.[^3] The House then accepted a later Senate amendment, and Johnson signed the act at the White House on July 2, 1964.[^3][^2] The enacted text appears in the Statutes at Large at 78 Stat. 241.[^1] ## Aftermath The bill split both major parties, although majorities of each voted for it.[^3] * **Republicans.** Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, the [[Republican Party (United States)]]'s 1964 presidential candidate, voted against the bill. He named Title II as the reason, stating that it violated individual liberty and states' rights.[^3] * **Southern senators of both parties.** Southern Democrats and Republicans led the unsuccessful filibuster. Among them were Albert Gore Sr. (D-TN), J. William Fulbright (D-AR) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) of the [[Democratic Party (United States)]].[^3] * **Length of the filibuster.** The same Wikipedia article measures the filibuster as 60 working days in its Aftermath section and as 72 days in its lead.[^3] * **1964 election.** Johnson won the 1964 election. Five Southern states moved to the Republican column that year, and by the 1990s the South had become a Republican stronghold.[^3] ## Titles - **Title I** forbade applying voter-registration requirements unequally. It left literacy tests in place; the Voting Rights Act of 1965 later eliminated them.[^3] - **Title II** barred discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters and other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce. Private clubs were exempt.[^3] - **Title III** barred state and local governments from excluding people from public facilities on grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.[^3] - **Title IV** required desegregation of public schools and authorized the U.S. Attorney General to bring enforcement suits.[^3] - **Title V** added powers, rules, and procedures to the Civil Rights Commission created under the 1957 act.[^3] - **Title VI** bars discrimination on grounds of race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance (42 U.S.C. § 2000d).[^4] - **Title VII** governs employment and is codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.[^5][^6][^9] ## Major amendments From 1965 to 1972, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could only investigate discrimination claims. When it found reasonable cause, it referred cases to the Justice Department for litigation.[^3] Congress passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1972. That act amended Title VII to let the Commission bring enforcement suits itself.[^3][^6] ## United States Supreme Court cases **Title II.** In *Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States* (1964), the Court upheld the act's application to private businesses under Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce.[^3] **Title VI.** In *Lau v. Nichols* (1974), the Court found that the San Francisco school district violated the rights of non-English-speaking students under the act. The district had placed them in regular classes without any accommodation.[^3] Later Title VI cases include [[Alexander v. Sandoval]] (2001) and *Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard* (2023).[^3] **Title VII.** Title VII cases include [[Griggs v. Duke Power]] (1971). In *Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp.* (1971), the Court held that an employer could not reject a female applicant for having a preschool-age child unless it applied the same rule to male applicants.[^3] In [[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]], 605 U.S. 303 (2025), the Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs." It rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^10] ## Influence The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 borrowed the 1964 act's structure. The ADA's Title I, on employment, follows Title VII. Its Title III, on public accommodations, follows Title II and adds to the list of covered establishments.[^3] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Hubert H. Humphrey, who floor-managed the bill, is recorded as present when President Johnson signed it on July 2, 1964.[^1][^2] - The United States Department of Justice is the plaintiff in No. 0:26-cv-00273. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^7][^8] ### What - The complaint in United States v. State of Minnesota is brought under Title VII.[^8] - It cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times, including the subdivision 3(c) requirement that an agency explain its reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^8] - The Department's release on the filing is titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*.[^7] ### When - A Minnesota fair-employment statute, recorded as "MN FEPA," passed in 1955.[^11] The Time Table row describes this as ten years before the federal act; the federal act was signed in 1964.[^11][^2] - The Department filed the complaint and issued release No. 26-21 on January 14, 2026.[^7][^8] ### Where - The act was signed at the White House.[^3] - The 2026 complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Congress, *Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241* (July 2, 1964) — original session law and its Statutes at Large citation; Humphrey floor-managed the bill. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-78/pdf/STATUTE-78-Pg241.pdf [^2]: National Archives, *Civil Rights Act (1964), Milestone Documents* (July 2, 1964) — Johnson signed the act; Humphrey present at the signing ceremony (Time Table row TL-0149). https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Civil Rights Act of 1964* (revid 1380230827, retrieved Oct. 26, 2026) — scope, background, legislative history, votes, aftermath, titles, amendments, case law and influence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964 [^4]: Legal Information Institute, *42 U.S.C. § 2000d* (Title VI) — prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2000d [^5]: Legal Information Institute, *42 U.S.C. Chapter 21, Subchapter VI* (Title VII) — codified text of the federal equal-employment provisions. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/chapter-21/subchapter-VI [^6]: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, *Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964* — agency text of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964 [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — filing of the suit; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^8]: United States, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII action citing Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964* — Title VII codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-vii [^10]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — Title VII disparate treatment draws no majority/minority-plaintiff distinction; "background circumstances" rule rejected. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights* — cited by Time Table row TL-0067 for the 1955 passage of "MN FEPA." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Department_of_Human_Rights