Most of us know about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that sets the
foundation for nondiscrimination.
The Civil Rights Act provides protections to people in many facets of
life in America.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
covers nondiscrimination in the programs, services, and activities you
provide as an LPA
that are funded with federal dollars.
It is important that you understand the protections that Title VI provides and
what your responsibilities as a recipient agency are
to ensure compliance with its requirements.
One of the cornerstones of the American democratic experience is the pursuit of
equality or nondiscrimination.
The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776,
espoused the principle of equality which has come to represent for many people
all over the world a moral standard that the United States should strive for,
protect, preserve, and defend.
In the United States
it has taken many federal legislations, executive orders, and other mandates,
as well as supreme court decisions to ensure that this principle is applied
equally to all people in the United States.
In the 1960s achieving legal equality for all was the main goal
of the Kennedy/Johnson Administration.
However, from the Lincoln Administration up to the Eisenhower Administration,
executive proclamations were brought forward to insure that public funds were
evenly distributed to all
and not used to sponsor racial discrimination.
These proclamations included prohibitions against racial
discrimination in the armed forces,
employment by contractors in federally-funded construction projects,
education, and federally assisted housing.
Despite these remedial efforts, racial discrimination continued to be widely
subsidized by federal funds.
Also, in spite of the aforementioned efforts,
there was no comprehensive legislation to outlaw racial discrimination or
assure nondiscrimination.
Largely due in part to the vigorous and vigilant demands for comprehensive
protection of civil rights in the 1960s,
President Kennedy saw the time as opportune to present a legislative
proposal aimed at providing legal equality for all in the United States.
He sought to create a legislative precedent by proposing the Civil Rights
Act of 1963,
which became the Civil Rights Act of 1964 upon passage, to make
discrimination in its numerous manifestations
an unlawful act in the United States.
In his speech to the american public on June 11, 1963
President Kennedy said:
"Now the time has come for this nation
to fulfill its promise.
The events in Birmingham and elsewhere
have so increased
the cries for equality
that no city or state
or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them"
With the untimely death of President Kennedy in November of 1963,
Vice President, later President Lyndon B. Johnson, picked up President Kennedy's
civil rights mantal
and worked diligently to make it a legislative reality.
After about a year of debate,
the landmark Civil Rights Bill was passed in the Senate and signed into law
on July 2, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson as the most
comprehensive piece of civil rights legislation.
The eleven titles included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964
can therefore be regarded as a nationwide offensive by the United
States Government against discrimination.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
discrimination in federally assisted programs and activities.
President Kennedy justified Title VI as follows:
"Simple justice requires that public funds to which all taxpayers of all
races contribute,
not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or
results in racial discrimination.
Direct discrimination by Federal, State, or local governments is prohibited by
the Constitution.
But indirect discrimination, through the use of Federal funds is just as
invidious;
and it should not be necessary to resort to the courts to prevent each individual
violation."
In the same light, Senator John Pastore added:
"Title VI is sound; it is morally right; it is legally right; it is constitutionally
right... It will guarantee that the money collected by colorblind tax
collectors will be distributed by Federal and State administrators who are
equally colorblind...
The title has a simple purpose - to eliminate discrimination in federally
financed programs."
In effect
Title VI is about the equitable distribution and use of federal funds.
Public funds for public benefit.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as originally enacted prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program
or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
Subsequent to 1964
Other legislation has been enacted to extend the scope of the
nondiscrimination coverage of Title VI to include discrimination on the basis
of sex, age, or disability.
You are required by Title VI and related statutes that you do not
discriminate in your programs, services, and activities as a condition for
receiving the federal assistance.
If it is found that federal funds are involved in any form of discrimination
in your LPA programs,
you risk jeopardizing all federal funds