Sixty years ago, on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“the Act”)—the most significant piece of civil rights legislation in our Nation’s history since Reconstruction. The Act outlawed segregation in business establishments, public schools, and other public places and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment. The Act also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Despite the significant social, economic, and racial progress made since passage of the Act, efforts to roll back our country’s promise of equal opportunity and fundamental rights persist.

Today, President Biden will speak at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Act and highlight his deep commitment to advancing civil rights for all Americans. Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has acted to ensure the promise of the Act is a reality for all communities. The Administration has made historic investments to build capacity for robust and proactive enforcement of civil rights laws, securing more than $2 billion in total funding for Offices of Civil Rights across the federal government. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, annual funding for federal civil rights offices has increased by 23 percent.

President Biden also issued two first-of-their-kind Executive Orders to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities because he recognizes that—although the ideal of equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy—our laws, public policies, and institutions too often exacerbate disparities or deny equal opportunity to individuals and communities. Over the past three and a half years, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken bold action to ensure the full and fair participation of all communities in American life and has delivered results through a whole-of-government equity agenda to redress systemic barriers, reduce burdens, and close unjust gaps.

To mark the Act’s anniversary, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released Racial Discrimination in Contemporary America, an issue brief that describes evidence of ongoing racial bias faced by renters, workers, and business owners that contributes to disparities in housing, employment, and lending. CEA’s findings underscore that differential treatment by race remains pervasive, even in modern-day American society, and has a meaningful economic impact on the lives of everyday people across the country. Today, reinforcing the importance of the Biden-Harris Administration’s equity agenda, the Chief Economist of the White House Investing In America Cabinet also published a blog post describing how investing in equity empowers workers, boosts productivity, and fosters stronger economic growth.

Additionally, today, the White House and EEOC hosted a convening to commemorate Title VII of the Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment. Participants discussed the legacy and importance of Title VII in advancing equality in workplaces, including closing gender-based employment disparities, and the work ahead to ensure the promise of Title VII for all.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to upholding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ensuring that all communities live with dignity, are free from discrimination, and have equal access to opportunity in the foundational pillars of American public life—education, housing, and employment.

Advancing educational equity and tackling segregation in America’s schools

Every student deserves access to a high-quality public education that is free from segregation, social isolation, and inequality. In May, on the 70^th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to support school diversity and advance the goal that all students have access to a world-class education.

Upholding the civil rights of students. On the 60^th anniversary of the Act, the Department of Education’s (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a fact sheet to provide information about schools’ federal civil rights obligations under Title VI of the Act to promptly and effectively address alleged acts of discrimination, including harassment based on race, color, or national origin. This resource adds to the many other Title VI policy resources that OCR has released during this Administration. For example, in May 2023, OCR and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division published a Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline, which describes how ED and DOJ, under Title VI and Title IV, resolved investigations involving discrimination against Black, Latino, and/or Native American students in schools’ use of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, school-based arrests, referrals to law enforcement, involuntary discipline transfers, informal removals, and other disciplinary actions. OCR also published guidance in July 2022 to help public elementary and secondary schools support students with disabilities and avoid the discriminatory use of student discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Ensuring America’s classrooms serve every student. In September 2023, OCR appointed a Coordinator to address the rising number of book bans across the country that seek to erase history from our classrooms. In a blog post published today, the Coordinator discussed how book bans, which disproportionately target works written by or about members of the LGBTQI+ community and people of color, may create a hostile school environment and violate federal civil rights laws. In August 2023, OCR released a Dear Colleague Letter on Race and School Programming that clarifies the circumstances under which schools can—consistent with Title VI of the Act and its implementing regulations—develop programs or engage in activities that promote racially inclusive school communities. OCR also published a fact sheet in January 2023 to assist school communities in understanding that diversity, equity, and inclusion training and similar activities in most circumstances are consistent with Title VI.

Investing in school diversity efforts. In 2023, ED released a report on the state of school diversity in the U.S., showing that schools that are isolated along racial or socioeconomic lines often have less access to critical resources and funding. To help address this issue, the Administration secured a $15 million increase to the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), providing $139 million to establish magnet programs designed to further desegregate public schools by attracting students from different social, economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. In addition, ED awarded $14 million to help support local- and state-driven voluntary efforts to foster more diverse school communities through the first-ever Fostering Diverse Schools Demonstration Program. ED also issued a new rule requiring, among other things, many Charter School Program applicants to assure that proposed charter schools would not negatively affect any desegregation efforts in the communities in which charters are to be located.

Protecting students from predatory higher education practices. Today, OCR and ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) entered into an intra-agency agreement as part of ED’s ongoing efforts to address predatory and discriminatory practices in higher education. Specifically, the agreement outlines how OCR and FSA will share information and coordinate enforcement related to investigations or compliance reviews that involve allegations of racial or national origin discrimination in matters related to recruitment, admissions, and financial aid.

Fighting for equal access to higher education. In June 2024, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, which struck down affirmative action in college admissions practices, Secretary Cardona issued a statement reaffirming the Administration’s commitment to fighting for educational opportunity for all of our Nation’s students. In August 2023, ED and DOJ jointly issued a Dear Colleague Letter and a Questions and Answers resource to help colleges and universities understand the Supreme Court’s decision as they continue to pursue campuses that are racially diverse and include students with a range of viewpoints, talents, backgrounds, and experiences.

Addressing systemic discrimination and reducing gaps in America’s housing market

A safe, affordable, and fairly-priced home in a neighborhood with access to opportunities should be available to all Americans.There are more Black and Latino homeowners today than when President Biden took office—reducing homeownership gaps and driving significant gains in wealth in communities of color.

Combatting racial bias in home appraisals. The President’s first-of-its-kind Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) has made critical progress towards rooting out racial bias in the home appraisal process, with major actions to empower consumers with new tools to address appraisal bias; leverage data to identify trends and crack down on biased appraisers; and support a well-trained and more representative appraiser profession. Last month, federal agencies approved a new rule to ensure that algorithmic valuation tools are unbiased and transparent, and earlier this year, agencies took action to help enable borrowers to request a re-assessment of the appraised value of their property if they believe that the appraisal was inaccurate or biased. While critical work remains, new data show that the “appraisal gap”—the likelihood that homes in communities of color are undervalued compared to homes in majority-white communities—has been cut by more than 40% since the Biden-Harris Administration took action.

Expanding opportunities for homeownership. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has taken steps to break down systemic barriers to homeownership, including by changing the way student loan debt is calculated in FHA underwriting, so that qualified people with student loan debt are not at an unfair disadvantage when seeking an FHA-insured mortgage; changing its policy so that people with a consistent record of on-time rental payments have a better chance of being approved for an FHA mortgage; and implementing a historic cut in FHA’s mortgage insurance premiums to make homeownership more accessible and affordable for working families. Since the start of the Administration, approximately 250,000 Black homeowners have bought a home using an FHA mortgage according to the most recent data. In addition, the percentage of FHA mortgages insured to Black and Latino borrowers outpaced the overall housing market. As a percentage of its business, FHA serves Black borrowers at triple the rate of the rest of the market. During her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour, Vice President Harris and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also announced the awarding of nearly $40 million in funding to expand housing counseling services for underserved communities in order to help bridge the racial homeownership gap and foster the next generation of homeowners.

Enforcing fair housing laws. This past spring, HUD awarded $26 million in funding to state and local fair housing enforcement agencies under its Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and awarded $30 million in grants to fair housing organizations across the country under its Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). This funding will support efforts to address violations of the Fair Housing Act and end discrimination in housing and to inform the public, housing providers, and local governments about their rights and responsibilities under both the Fair Housing Act and state and local fair housing laws. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity also recently released two guidance documents addressing the application of the Fair Housing Act to two important areas in which potentially discriminatory activity is occurring: the tenant screening process and the advertising of housing opportunities through online platforms that use targeted ads.

Ensuring equal opportunity and fighting back against employment discrimination in America’s workplaces

America’s workers should have access to well-paying jobs in workplaces free from discrimination and harassment. Established by Title VII of the Act, EEOC plays a critical role in combatting employment discrimination and has a strong record of settlements of employment discrimination disputes under the Biden-Harris Administration. In FY 2023, EEOC recovered a record $665 million for workers subjected to discrimination in private, state and local government, and federal workplaces.

Expanding protections for workers. In 2022, the President signed into law the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act, providing basic, long overdue protections that promote safe, healthy workplaces free from discrimination for pregnant and postpartum workers. In April, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule to expand overtime protections for millions of lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt employees from federal overtime pay requirements. Through this rule, the Administration extended overtime pay protections to one million workers earning less than $43,888 per year this July and will extend protections to an additional three million workers making less than $58,656 per year starting in January. Earlier this month, DOL also announced a proposed rule to protect millions of workers in indoor and outdoor work settings from the significant health risks of extreme heat.

Strengthening protections against sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. President Biden signed into law new protections to support survivors and address sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace. The bipartisan Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act empower survivors by giving them a choice to go to court instead of being forced into arbitration, and the Speak Out Act enables survivors to speak out about workplace sexual assault and harassment. EEOC also issued new enforcement guidance to clarify legal standards for preventing and addressing harassment in the workplace.

Promoting fair wages for all workers. In January, on the 15th Anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to advance pay equity and ensure fairness for all workers. The Federal Government leads the way as the nation’s largest employer with over 2.2 million workers. The Office of Personnel Management issued a final rule to ensure that more than 80 federal agencies will no longer consider an individual’s non-federal current or past pay when determining the salaries of federal employees. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issued a proposal that would prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from considering past pay for personnel working on or in connection with a government contract and would require contractors and subcontractors to disclose expected salary ranges in job postings, which are policies that promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the federal contractor workforce and reduce pay gaps. In addition, DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued new guidance to help federal contractors and subcontractors and their current and prospective employees understand when reliance on an applicant’s compensation history for hiring or pay decisions may result in unlawful discrimination.

Increasing access to good jobs. To ensure that the Federal Government is a model equal opportunity employer, President Biden signed Executive Orders directing federal agencies to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in their personnel practices and expanding Registered Apprenticeships in the federal workforce to create equitable, transparent, and transferable career-development pathways to federal jobs. The Roadmap to Support Good Jobs outlines the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to connecting people to good jobs; ensuring a skilled, diverse workforce for our transformational investments; boosting education and training efforts to ensure every community can meet its foundational labor needs; and creating high quality, family-sustaining jobs. This includes investing over $700 million in gold standard earn-and-learn Registered Apprenticeship programs in diverse industries and over $200 million in Strengthening Community College grants, supporting quality workforce programs around the country, including in underserved communities. Additionally, under the President’s landmark Investing in America agenda, the Department of Commerce launched the Million Women in Construction Initiative, which calls on chip manufacturers, construction companies, and unions to bring one million women into the construction industry over the next decade, roughly doubling women’s representation in the industry.

Delivering historic results for America’s workers. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, women’s labor force participation is the highest it has ever been, and the gender pay gap is the narrowest it has ever been on record. The Administration, powered by a historic economic recovery, has created 5 million jobs for Latino workers, resulting in a near record low Latino unemployment rate. Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have created 2.3 million jobs for Black workers—significantly narrowing the Black-white employment gap by the end of 2023—and achieved the lowest Black unemployment rate on record going back more than 50 years.

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