Companion Guide to Video August 2012

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

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 

program’s services and activites 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 responsibilites 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 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 ensure 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.

Civil Rights

Title VI/Nondiscrimination

Background and Purpose

The historical context of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

is explained to help comply with Federal-aid program requirements
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

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 

precedence 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 and later 

President Lyndon B. Johnson picked up President 

Kennedy’s civil rights mantle 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 Johnson as the most comprehensive 

piece of civil rights legislation. 

The 11 titles included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

can therefore be regarded as a nationwide 

offensive by the U.S. government against 

discrimination. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964 prohibits discrimination in federally assisted 

programs and activities.

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.

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.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

Subsequent to 1964, other legislation had 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. 
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

-

The content of this 

document is not a 

substitute for 

information obtained 

from State departments 

of transportation, 

appropriate FHWA 

Division Offices, and 

applicable laws. 

Scenarios have been 

simplified for emphasis 

and do not necessarily 

reflect the actual range of 

requirements applicable 

to the scenario or this 

topic. This document

was created under 

contract number

DTFH63-12-F-00025 by 

the Federal Highway 

Administration, U.S. 

Department of 

Transportation, and is 

offered to the public to 

heighten and focus 

awareness of Federal-aid 

requirements within the 

local public agencies 

community and 

reinforces the 

importance of these 

necessary policies, 

procedures, and 

practices.

This companion resource 

is the script content for 

the video production of 

the same name. 

Additional Resources

• FHWA regulations on implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title23/23cfr200_main_02.tpl

• U.S. DOT regulations on implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title49/49cfr21_main_02.tpl

• Link to FHWA’s Office of Civil Rights Web site with important program and 

background information

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/

• FHWA guidance on Title VI program implementation and non-discrimination

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/program/tvi/htm

• U.S. Department of Justice guidance on implementation of Title VI

http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/coord/vimanual.pdf