It is a fair criticism (some would say a defect) of our legal system that legislation is not always as explicit as we would like it to be. Take California's Penal Code 187(a) which defines murder as:
"(a) Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought."
It turns out that "malice aforethought" is a term of art that requires no actual malice and not much forethought.
Anyway, if you look at the legislative history of the Civil Rights Act (and courts frequently look to legislative history when interpreting statutes), you'll see that its backers in Congress were concerned about racial segregation, which at the time according to practice separated white people from everyone else (mostly Blacks).
"(a) Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought."
It turns out that "malice aforethought" is a term of art that requires no actual malice and not much forethought.
Anyway, if you look at the legislative history of the Civil Rights Act (and courts frequently look to legislative history when interpreting statutes), you'll see that its backers in Congress were concerned about racial segregation, which at the time according to practice separated white people from everyone else (mostly Blacks).