Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a United States law that bans discrimination because of a person's color, race, national origin, religion, or sex. The act primarily protects the rights of blacks and other minorities. It is one of the nation's strongest civil rights laws.

The rights protected by the act include a person's freedom to seek employment; vote; and use hotels, parks, restaurants, and other public places. An individual who is discriminated against by an employer can file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which was established by the act. The EEOC will take the complaint to court. The U.S. Department of Justice handles other complaints of discrimination. Before the law was passed, people had to take such complaints to court themselves, but few could afford to do so.

The Civil Rights Act also forbids discrimination by any program that receives money from the federal government. The government may cut off financing for a program that does not end discriminatory policies or practices. In addition, the act authorizes the Office of Education (now the Department of Education) to direct school desegregation programs in areas specified by the government. The government can sue any school system that refuses to desegregate, or any system whose desegregation program it considers inadequate.

Excerpt from the "Civil Rights Act of 1964" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999