Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990 TAG: 9006120382
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Section 703 (a) states that "It shall be unlawful practice to discriminate . . . because of an individual's race, color, religion, sex [emphasis added], or national origin." The phrase is repeated throughout the act, in all contexts in which protected groups are numerated.
"Sex" was added on the House floor by Howard Smith of Virginia, chairman of the Rules Committee and a bitter opponent of civil rights. With the votes of other opponents, the addition was approved because, they believed, no one in his right mind would vote for the bill with such a stupid provision.
They lived to regret their action: The act became law of the land. Race-discrimination cases predominated in the early 1970s, but since then sex-discrimination cases brought under the act have proliferated, and the area of sexual harrassment, the subject of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guideline, has become particularly prominent.
Ms. Peters may repair to the nearest EEOC office if she thinks she is being discriminated against. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees her right to do so. PHILIP ASH BLACKSBURG
by CNB