The 20th century brought passage of the weak Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the more forceful Civil Rights Act of 1964. The civil rights movement of the 1960s reached fever pitch by 1968.

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Click on the two images below.

Discrimination in housing was another issue facing African Americans and other minorities. There was a national movement to change discriminatory housing practices.

Image of two men holding signs (one reads: 'This realtor discriminates' and the other 'CORE Congress of racial equality') as they sit on the steps of a real estate office. A police officer is speaking to another man who is holding a sign.

Source: Fair Housing protest, Seattle, 1964.

Congress realized there was a definite need for change. This photograph shows President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Title VIII, also known as the Fair Housing Act; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was given the power to enforce this act.

Image of President LBJ signing the Civil rights Act of 1968 at his desk. He is surrounded by several men assembled in three rows, watching him sign the document. There are cameramen kneeling in front, taking picture.

Source: 0912001, Library of Congress

Activity:

Have you ever seen this symbol? What does it mean? Where have you seen it?

Image of the Equal Housing Opportunity symbol.

Source: Equal Housing Opportunity Symbol, HUD

This signifies that the housing agent displaying this sign adheres to the Fair Housing Act, which found its roots in the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Read the summary below and answer the questions that follow in your notes.

The act explicitly defines a list of prohibited practices involving housing, including sales, rentals, advertising, and financing. Its primary prohibition makes it unlawful to refuse to sell, rent to, or negotiate with any person because of that person's race, color, religion, sex, familial status, handicap, or national origin.

  1. Do you think that this act is necessary today to provide everyone equal access to housing? Provide an example for your answer.

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Click here to compare your answer.

    The act may be necessary so that all people involved act fairly when giving people equal access to housing. A landlord may not want to rent to a family because of their race.Close Pop Up

  2. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 added extensive provisions that apply to discrimination against disabled persons and families with children 18 years of age and under. Why do you think this addition was necessary if the original act prohibited discriminatory housing practices against anyone with a "handicap"?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Click here to compare your answer.

    It may have been necessary to add the disabled because those affected might have had disabilities other than those traditionally recognized as disabilities. Close Pop Up

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Read the following statements and determine which of the civil rights acts they describe. Place the statements into the correct locations in the chart.