What Is the Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal law that bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin at work, and based on race, color, religion, or national origin in hotels, restaurants, and other public places. It also bars discrimination by any program that takes federal money, including schools, hospitals, and police departments. President Lyndon Johnson signed it on July 2, 1964, and the National Archives calls it “the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction” (National Archives).
The law is still in force, but how hard the government enforces it changed in 2025. Much of it now depends on people filing their own complaints on time.
Key facts
- It passed after the longest continuous debate in Senate history, a 60-day filibuster (Senate Historical Office).
- Title VII bars job discrimination by employers with 15 or more workers (42 U.S.C. 2000e).
- In fiscal 2025, 29,338 of 88,201 charges filed with the EEOC alleged race discrimination (EEOC).
- An April 2025 order told every federal agency to deprioritize disparate-impact cases (Federal Register).
- In January 2026, the EEOC voted 2-1 to rescind its 2024 harassment guidance (EEOC).
The act has 11 parts, called titles, and three of them do most of the work today: Title II covers businesses open to the public, Title VI covers anyone who takes federal money, and Title VII covers employers. Title VII also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce it. Congress has amended the act several times, and later laws such as the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 filled gaps it left.
If You Face Discrimination
The deadlines are short, and missing one can end a claim. Open the situation closest to yours.
Find your situation
Each one lists what to do, where to file, and the deadline.
I was fired, not hired, harassed, or paid less at work
- Write down what happened, when, who was involved, and who saw it. Keep copies of emails, schedules, and pay stubs.
- File a charge through the EEOC public portal, or call 1-800-669-4000 (TTY 1-800-669-6820).
- If your employer has fewer than 15 workers, contact your state civil rights agency, because many state laws reach smaller employers.
Title VII covers race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. A charge is due within 180 days, or 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a similar law (EEOC). You usually must file with the EEOC before you can sue.
A restaurant, hotel, or theater turned me away
- Write down the date, the place, and what staff said. Save receipts or confirmations.
- Report it to the Justice Department at civilrights.justice.gov.
- Check your state or city public accommodations law, which may cover more and allow damages.
Title II covers race, color, religion, and national origin in places open to the public. A court can order the business to stop, but the federal law does not pay damages (42 U.S.C. 2000a-3). Disability is covered by the ADA, not Title II.
A school, hospital, or agency that gets federal money treated me unfairly
- Put your complaint in writing to the school or agency first, and keep a copy.
- File with the federal agency that funds it. For schools, that is the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights at ed.gov. For police and courts, it is the Justice Department at civilrights.justice.gov.
Title VI covers race, color, and national origin. Complaints to the Justice Department are due within 180 days (28 CFR 42.107). Since December 2025, the Justice Department's rules reach only intentional discrimination.
A landlord or lender treated me differently
- Save the listing, messages, and any application you submitted.
- File with the Department of Housing and Urban Development at hud.gov.
Housing is covered by the Fair Housing Act, passed in 1968 as Title VIII of that year's Civil Rights Act, not the 1964 law. A HUD complaint is due within one year.
General information, not legal advice. State and local laws often cover more people and more kinds of discrimination.
The Longest Debate in Senate History
President John F. Kennedy proposed the bill in 1963, and after his assassination, President Johnson urged Congress to pass it in his memory. “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights,” Johnson told a joint session. “It is time now to write the next chapter, and to write it in the books of law” (Senate Historical Office).
The House passed the bill on February 10, 1964. To keep it away from Judiciary Committee chairman James Eastland of Mississippi, an opponent, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield put it straight on the Senate calendar. On March 9, southern senators began their filibuster. Ending it took 67 votes, two-thirds of the Senate, which meant Republican votes were needed.
Democratic whip Hubert Humphrey worked with Republican leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois to rewrite the provisions Dirksen objected to. Dirksen then carried his party with a speech calling integration “an idea whose time has come.” On June 10, the Senate voted 71 to 29 for cloture. The Senate passed the bill 73 to 27, the House accepted the Senate version on July 2, and Johnson signed it that day in a nationally televised broadcast, joined by Martin Luther King Jr.
What Each Title Does Today
Most people meet the act through three titles: II, VI, and VII. The other titles set up enforcement tools or were overtaken by later laws.
The 11 titles of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The public accommodations title was challenged within months. The Heart of Atlanta Motel had 216 rooms two blocks from Peachtree Street, advertised on more than 50 billboards and highway signs, and drew about 75% of its guests from out of state. It refused to rent rooms to Black guests and said it intended to keep refusing. Its owner argued that Congress had no power to tell a private motel whom to serve. On December 14, 1964, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Title II under Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce (Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States).
From 1964 to 2026
The act has been widened by Congress and the courts more often than it has been narrowed, until 2025, when the executive branch changed how it is enforced.
- Signed into law Johnson signs it on July 2 after the 60-day filibuster.
- Griggs v. Duke Power Job tests that screen out Black workers must be tied to the job.
- Title VII expanded Coverage reaches employers with 15 or more workers.
- Civil Rights Act of 1991 Congress writes disparate impact into Title VII.
- Alexander v. Sandoval Private suits under Title VI need proof of intent.
- Bostock v. Clayton County Firing someone for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.
- Disparate-impact order Agencies told to deprioritize these cases; DOJ rewrites its Title VI rules.
- Harassment guidance rescinded The EEOC votes 2-1 to withdraw its 2024 guidance.
Key moments for the Civil Rights Act: 1964: Signed into law (Johnson signs it on July 2 after the 60-day filibuster.). 1971: Griggs v. Duke Power (Job tests that screen out Black workers must be tied to the job.). 1972: Title VII expanded (Coverage reaches employers with 15 or more workers.). 1991: Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Congress writes disparate impact into Title VII.). 2001: Alexander v. Sandoval (Private suits under Title VI need proof of intent.). 2020: Bostock v. Clayton County (Firing someone for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.). 2025: Disparate-impact order (Agencies told to deprioritize these cases; DOJ rewrites its Title VI rules.). 2026: Harassment guidance rescinded (The EEOC votes 2-1 to withdraw its 2024 guidance.).
1964: The House accepted the Senate’s bill on July 2, and Johnson signed it the same day (National Archives).
1971: In Griggs v. Duke Power Co., the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII “proscribes not only overt discrimination but also practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation.” A hiring test that shut out Black applicants had to be shown to relate to the job (Griggs). This is the idea later called disparate impact.
1972: Congress lowered Title VII’s threshold from 25 employees to 15 and extended it to state and local governments, the rules today (42 U.S.C. 2000e).
1991: Congress wrote the disparate-impact test into Title VII itself, in the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(k)).
2001: In Alexander v. Sandoval, the Court ruled 5-4 that private people cannot sue to enforce Title VI’s disparate-impact regulations, only intentional discrimination (Oyez). From then on, only federal agencies enforced those rules.
2020: In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Court held that “an employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender” violates Title VII (Bostock).
2025: Executive Order 14281 made it federal policy “to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible,” and the Justice Department removed disparate impact from its Title VI rules that December (Federal Register).
2026: On January 22, the EEOC voted 2-1 to rescind its 2024 harassment guidance (EEOC).
Discrimination Charges Filed Today
Retaliation for complaining is the most common Title VII claim, and race is the most common kind of discrimination alleged. A single charge can list more than one basis, so the bars add up to more than the total.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Retaliation | 36082 |
| Race | 29338 |
| Sex | 26941 |
| National origin | 7856 |
| Color | 6738 |
| Religion | 3710 |
Source: EEOC, Table E1a, Charge Receipts by Basis or Statute, FY 1997 to FY 2025. Retaliation counts Title VII retaliation only. Excludes charges filed only with state or local agencies.
The EEOC received 88,201 charges under all the laws it enforces in fiscal 2025. Race appeared in 33.3% of them and sex in 30.5%. These counts measure complaints filed, not proven discrimination, and they miss people who never file.
Where Enforcement Stands
Congress has not changed the act’s text since 1991. The 2025-26 changes are about which cases the government chooses to bring.
Where Civil Rights Act Enforcement Stands
As of September 25, 2026
- Disparate impact under Title VII Law, in the statute
Workers can still bring these claims, because Congress wrote the test into the law in 1991. The 2025 order cannot remove it. (source)
- Federal disparate-impact enforcement Agency action
Executive Order 14281, signed April 23, 2025, told all agencies to deprioritize it and review pending cases and consent decrees. (source)
- Justice Department Title VI rules Agency action, final rule
Disparate-impact liability removed, effective December 10, 2025. Intentional discrimination is still covered. (source)
- EEOC harassment guidance Ended, rescinded
Withdrawn by a 2-1 vote on January 22, 2026. The laws against harassment are unchanged. (source)
- Bostock protection for gay and transgender workers Final ruling, still binding
The 2020 ruling has not been overturned. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in January 2026 that Supreme Court precedent "remain[s] firmly in place." (source)
- Federal contractor affirmative action Ended
Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246 on January 21, 2025. See our affirmative action page for the details.
Source: Executive Order 14281; 90 FR 57141 (DOJ Title VI rule); EEOC Commission Votes; 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(k); Bostock v. Clayton County; Alexander v. Sandoval
The full commission votes on guidance and on major lawsuits. Its public vote log shows no commission votes from February through October 2025, and three commissioners voting again from November 2025 onward (EEOC Commission Votes).
For contractor rules, see affirmative action. For workplace diversity programs, see DEI.
The Honest Disagreement
The case against disparate impact is made in Executive Order 14281 itself. It calls the theory “a key tool” of “a pernicious movement” and says it “all but requires individuals and businesses to consider race and engage in racial balancing to avoid potentially crippling legal liability.” The order argues that treating people equally means judging intent and individual conduct, not group outcomes, and that the theory “runs contrary to equal protection under the law” (Federal Register).
The case for it rests on the law’s own history. In Griggs, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a hiring rule “fair in form, but discriminatory in operation” breaks Title VII unless the employer shows “business necessity.” Congress agreed in 1991 and wrote that test into the statute, where a president cannot remove it.
The two sides agree that intentional discrimination is illegal. They disagree about whether a lopsided result, with no proof of intent, should be enough to make an employer or agency explain itself.
What the Civil Rights Act Does Not Cover
- Sex discrimination in public places. Title II covers race, color, religion, and national origin, not sex. State laws often fill this gap.
- Disability and age. Those come from later laws: the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
- Housing. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 covers it.
- Small employers. Title VII reaches employers with 15 or more workers. Many state laws cover smaller ones.
- Private clubs. Establishments “not in fact open to the public” are exempt from Title II.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Civil Rights Act still law?
Yes. The 1964 act is still in the U.S. Code, and Congress strengthened Title VII in 1972, when it reached employers with 15 or more workers, and in 1991, when it wrote the disparate-impact test into the law. What changed in 2025 is enforcement: an April 2025 executive order told agencies to deprioritize disparate-impact cases, and in December the Justice Department dropped disparate impact from its Title VI rules.
What is the difference between the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968?
The 1964 act covers jobs, public places, and federally funded programs. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 included the Fair Housing Act, its Title VIII, which bans discrimination when people rent or buy a home or get a mortgage.
Did President Kennedy start the Civil Rights Act?
Kennedy proposed the bill in 1963. After his assassination that November, his successor, Lyndon Johnson, strongly advocated it and signed it on July 2, 1964.
Did Democrats block the Civil Rights Act?
Southern Democrats opposed the bill, and southern senators led the 60-day filibuster against it. The cloture vote that ended the filibuster came from 44 Democrats and 27 Republicans, according to the Senate Historical Office.
What You Can Do
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Know your deadline. EEOC charges are due within 180 or 300 days, Title VI complaints to the Justice Department within 180 days, and HUD housing complaints within one year.
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Keep a written record. Dates, names, messages, and pay records are the evidence a complaint needs, especially now that more cases depend on proof of intent.
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Check your state law. Many state civil rights laws cover smaller employers, sex discrimination in public places, and outcomes-based claims that federal agencies no longer pursue.
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Ask your members of Congress where they stand. Only Congress can change the act’s text, and the disparate-impact test in Title VII exists because Congress wrote it there in 1991. Use our guide to writing your representatives.