Civil Rights Act

   The Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically Title VII, changed the workplace and is still one of the major driving forces behind human resources in any organization today. 

 It was the year of John F. Kennedy's assassination.  Before the national tragedy he had proposed important legislation that was later strongly advocated by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson.  Johnson called on members of Congress to honor the beloved president’s memory by passing a civil rights bill to end racial discrimination and segregation.  Johnson claimed that the United States had talked for over one hundred years about equal rights. It was time to stop talking about it and put it into law. The House representatives voted in favor of a bill known as HR 7152. Finally, after months of arguing over the bill and non-compliance from southern republicans, on June 10, 1964 the filibuster ended.  This was also the first time in the senate where a vote ended a debate.   Nine days later the senate passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  This would completely change the human resources within workplaces across the nation.

Title VII is a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination in virtually every employment circumstance on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy or national origin. In general, Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The purpose of Title VII's protections is to "level the playing field" by forcing employers to consider only objective, job-related criteria in making employment decisions. Title VII must be considered when reviewing applications or resumes, when interviewing candidates, when testing job applicants and when considering employees for promotions, transfers or any other employment-related benefit or condition. Prior to this title and previous of 1964 human resources within the workplace were considered more or less Human capital. Human capitol is the idea that refers to a more narrow view; i.e., the...