Page 9 - The Civil Rights Division booklet

program to uncover discrimination. Our testers have fre-
quently uncovered blatant discrimination, such as entities that
refuse to rent to people of certain races or ethnicities.

The Housing and Civil Enforcement Section also has a dedi-
cated Fair Lending Unit. The unit works to ensure that all in-
dividuals have equal access to credit whether for a home, car
or other kind of consumer loan. For more information, visit
www.justice.gov/crt/housing.

Voting Rights

Voting is one of our nation’s most sacred rights, and a hall-
mark of our democracy. On February 3, 1870, the 15th
Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, prohibiting the
federal or state governments from denying or abridging the
right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of
servitude. But because of discriminatory state laws and prac-
tices, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully

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