Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in hotels, restaurants, theaters, and other public accommodations.
The title prohibited businesses covered by the law from denying service or access because of race, color, religion, or national origin. It was central to the federal government’s effort to dismantle legally enforced segregation in public-facing businesses.
The Supreme Court upheld Congress’s authority to enact these public-accommodations rules in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States in 1964. That case confirmed that serving interstate travelers could bring a business within Congress’s commerce power.
Title II is often confused with Title VII, which addressed employment discrimination and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title IV concerned desegregation of public education, making the titles different despite their shared place in the same law.