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1 1 (December 8, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govenql0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional_______ Re Research Service Title VI and Peer-to-Peer Racial Harassment at School: Federal Appellate Decisions December 8, 2023 Section 601 of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. While that mandate applies broadly to federally funded programs of various types, one significant area that Title VI covers is schools. All public and most private colleges and universities receive federal financial assistance, as do all K-12 public school districts. Individuals subjected to racial discrimination by a recipient of federal funds may sue to enforce Section 601 in federal court. If a federally funded school, public or private, intentionally discriminates against a student because of their race, color, or national origin, the student may sue the school under Section 601 of Title VI. Reports of racial harassment at schools raise the question of what responsibilities a school has when students harass one another based on their race. As explained below, courts have determined that a school's inadequate response to peer-to-peer racial harassment can amount to race discrimination in violation of Title VI. While this Sidebar focuses on judicial enforcement of Title VI in the specific context of racial harassment, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is also entrusted with enforcing the statute in federally funded schools. OCR's administrative role in enforcing Title VI is explored in other CRS products; as a general matter, OCR's administrative standards may not always mirror the judicial standard for holding schools liable. Title VI Liability: Failing to Respond to Racial Harassment Although the text of Title VI does not explicitly address harassment, one potential claim of race discrimination under Title VI is that a school failed to respond adequately to racial harassment of students. Courts will sometimes consider a school's response to such harassment as amounting to race discrimination in violation of the statute. This basis of liability draws from Supreme Court cases interpreting another law that applies to certain recipients of federal funds, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Title IX bars sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and was modeled after Title VI. The Supreme Court has reasoned that Congress passed Title IX with the explicit understanding that it would be interpreted as Title VI was. As explained below, lower courts Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11087 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress