The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Because of the Greensboro Sit-In and other protests it inspired, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Passage of the Act ended the application of 'Jim Crow' laws, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court held that racial segregation purported to be 'separate but equal' was constitutional."
-United States Senate Committee on Judiciary Website
-United States Senate Committee on Judiciary Website
"Whenever the Attorney General receives a complaint in writing signed by an individual to the effect that he is being deprived of or threatened with the loss of his right to the equal protection of the laws, on account of his race, color, religion, or national origin, by being denied equal utilization of any public facility which is owned, operated, or managed by or on behalf of any State or subdivision thereof, ... the Attorney General is authorized to institute for or in the name of the United States a civil action in any appropriate district court of the United States against such parties..."
- Section 301A, Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was made to enforce the 15th Amendment. It emphasized that regardless of color or race, any citizen was entitled to vote and could not be denied this right.
"No voting qualifications or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote."
-Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sec. 2 |
"To assure that the right of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or abridged on account of race or color, no citizen shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his failure to comply with any test or device in any State..."
-Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sec.4A |
"The Congress finds that the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting (i) precludes persons of limited means from voting or imposes unreasonable financial hardship upon such person as a precondition to their exercise of the franchise, (ii) does not bear a reasonable relationship to any legitimate State interest in the conduct of elections, and (iii) in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color. Upon the basis of these findings, Congress declares that the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some area by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting."
-Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sec. 10
-Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sec. 10
Fair Housing Act of 1968
"The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin."
-F.E.M.A website, Fair Housing Act of 1968
"It shall be unlawful for any person or other entity whose business includes engaging in residential real estate-related transactions to discriminate against any person in making available such a transaction, or in the terms or conditions of such a transaction, because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin."
-Fair Housing Act of 1968, Sec. 805(a) |
"After December 31, 1968, it shall be unlawful to deny any person access to or membership or participation in any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization, or facility relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings, or to discriminate against him in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation, on account of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin."
-Fair Housing Act of 1968, Sec. 806 |