TODAY IN HISTORY: Signing of Civil Rights Act (April 11, 1968)

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson made history by signing the 1968 Civil Rights Act into law.

This was a landmark part of legislation in the United States that provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin and made it a federal crime to “by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone … by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin.”

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is commonly known as the Fair Housing Act and was meant as a follow‑up to the Act of 1964. It prohibits discrimination concerning the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. 

Title X, commonly known as the Anti-Riot Act, makes it a felony to “travel in interstate commerce…with the intent to incite, promote, encourage, participate in and carry on a riot.” 

See President Johnson’s remarks about the significance of the Act below:  

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