CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1968 82 Stat. 696

This act capped the modern legislative program against racial discrimination that included the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. Title VIII of the act, which constitutes the nation's first comprehensive open housing law, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, and advertising of housing, and in membership in real estate brokerage organizations. Ironically, soon after Title VIII's enactment, the Supreme Court, in jones v. alfred h. mayer co. (1968), construed a remnant of the civil rights act of 1866 to outlaw private racial discrimination in housing. In dissent in Jones, Justice john m. harlan, joined by Justice byron r. white, relied in part on Title VIII's passage to challenge the need for the Court's decision. The 1968 act also contained criminal penalties to protect civil rights activity and comprehensive measures to protect rights of american indians. Different portions of the act, including antiriot provisions, represented a backlash against antiwar demonstrations, civil rights protest, and other forms of domestic unrest.

Like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1968 act survived a southern filibuster in the Senate. Efforts by House opponents to delay consideration of the bill backfired. The delay led to the bill's consideration in the aftermath of Dr. martin luther king, jr. 's assassination. Given that the bill passed the House by a small margin, the delay may have made all the difference.

Theodore Eisenberg
(1986)

Bibliography

Harvey, James C. 1973 Black Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration. Jackson, Miss.: University and College Press of Mississippi.