What did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 do?
Signed into law by President Grant, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 banned discrimination by private individuals and organizations. Though the act contained heavy fines against and imprisonment for violators, it was rarely enforced, and was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883 in the Civil Rights Cases. The cases were brought by African Americans who faced discrimination in hotels, theaters, and other settings. The Court decided the Fourteenth Amendment only prohibited discrimination by the state, not individuals. This meant individual business owners were free to discriminate on whatever basis they wanted.
