**TITLE VI AT 57: COMMEMORATING THE PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL  RIGHTS ACT OF 1964**

##### **July 2, 2021**

 

Today marks the fifty-seventh anniversary of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964, a landmark law passed at the height of the modern civil  rights movement and in the midst of entrenched racial discrimination and  massive resistance to desegregation. The law came a century after our country  fought a war to end slavery, whose vestiges were then codified by Jim Crow and  conserved by the de jure protection of separate but unequal spaces. Put simply,  the Civil Rights Act’s passage in 1964 was not an end to the struggle, it was a  new beginning.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into  law, and the building that houses the Department of Education is named after  him—a reminder that the civil rights movement has deep roots in America’s  schoolhouses and campuses.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act is especially important  within OCR and the Department, as it applies to elementary, secondary, and  postsecondary schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,  and U.S. territories. The law prohibits recipients of Federal financial  assistance from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin both in  and outside of the classroom. 

For almost six decades, OCR has enforced Title VI and its implementing  regulations in instances where recipients’ unlawful discrimination has  taken the form of different treatment of individuals and disparate impact on  groups of people. This work is fully part of broader efforts in OCR and across  the Department to ensure equal opportunity for students who experience  overlapping forms of discrimination based on race, color, national origin,  disability, age, and sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. As  Secretary Cardona says, all means all, and we are laser focused on standing  with every single student.

The words—“free from discrimination”—are both a foundation  and a minimum of what our nation’s students deserve and should expect from  their educational experience. And yet the fight to protect that foundation is  as important now as it ever has been. While progress has been made, we know  from OCR’s Civil Rights Data Collection that stark racial and ethnic  disparities remain in the administration  of school discipline, for example, and that far too many schools are  racially isolated, inequitably resourced, and do not offer equal access to  programs that allow students to succeed. 

As President Biden stated in his *Executive  Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities  Through the Federal Government*, “advancing equity, civil rights, racial  justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our  Government.” It is a solemn responsibility, and I am proud to be part of a  Department that is wholly committed to its execution, in letter and spirit.  Here are some highlights from OCR’s ongoing work to advance racial equity: 
            - **COVID-19’s Impacts on       Students and Schools.** In June, we issued *Education       in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students*,       which explores how the impacts of COVID-19 are falling disproportionately       on students who went into the pandemic with the fewest educational       opportunities. Many students who experience the pandemic’s harshest       effects are from marginalized and underserved communities, with early       research showing disparities based on race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identity,       and other factors.
            - **Discipline in PreK-12       Schools.** We are currently soliciting       information from the public on the administration of school discipline       to determine what type of guidance to schools is necessary to ensure the       nondiscriminatory application of discipline practices—please consider       sharing your insights. This request follows our earlier national       convening on examining disparities in school discipline hosted by OCR       and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which       focused on strategies for addressing disparities in school discipline and       promoting positive school climates.
            - **Harassment of Asian       American and Pacific Islander Students.** In May, during Asian American and Pacific Islander       Heritage Month, we issued a Dear       Educator Letter to remind schools of their obligation to address       harassment of students because on their race, color, or national origin,       including harassment of Asian American and Pacific Islander students. OCR       also released a fact sheet, Confronting       COVID-19-Related Harassment in Schools, jointly with DOJ, to provide       students and families information about the role that ED and DOJ play in       protecting students’ civil rights.  
            - **Civil Rights and School       Reopening**.       OCR’s Questions and Answers on Civil Rights and School       Reopening in the COVID-19 Environment addresses       schools’ responsibilities to respond to  harassment based on race,       color, and national origin, including during remote instruction, to ensure       against discriminatory use of discipline, and the responsibility of school       districts to ensure against significant racial disparities in access to       particular education resources or patterns of racial inequality across a       variety of resources, highlighting OCR’s earlier guidance       on resource comparability. 

As we take time today to mark the anniversary of the Civil  Rights Act, we also honor the heroes, both known and unknown, who fought for  the rights that the law enshrines. And we acknowledge that the fight continues;  that the promise of equal opportunity, while closer than it was 57 or 157 years  ago, remains unfulfilled. Until it is, OCR stands ready to enforce the law and  protect our students from discrimination.

Suzanne B. Goldberg  Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights  Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and  Outreach  Office for Civil Rights  U.S. Department of Education