In a series of speeches in the summer of 1963, President Kennedy laid the groundwork for a civil rights bill following mass protests in African American communities and subsequent violent responses. In November 1963, shortly after committing to push the civil rights act through, he was assassinated. While Kennedy had consistently championed equal rights, little was known about the commitment of his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Despite this uncertainty, any turmoil within the Civil Rights Movement caused by Kennedy’s assassination was brief: On November 27, Johnson called for the passage of the civil rights act as a monument to Kennedy. 

Finally, in 1964, Congress passed the respective Public Law. The provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination based on sex, as well as race, in hiring, promoting, and dismissals. In the final legislation, Section 703 (a) made it unlawful for an employer to "fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." The final bill also allowed sex to be a consideration, where sex is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job. Title VII of the act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It outlawed segregation in all publicly supported facilities and certain establishments serving the public. It strengthened protections of equality in voting and education. It required policies of racial equality in every institution that accepted even a dollar of federal assistance.