In this article, James J. Gallagher explains, in the context of education, that "civil rights" means the guarantee of equal opportunity and justice for all and the actions taken against those barriers that stand in the way of such equality. How does the issue of civil rights bear on an area of special education such as the education of gifted students? What is often overlooked is that school and our other life experiences allow us to build a pyramidal structure of knowledge and understandings that will enable us to handle more and more complex systems of ideas. In short, future mastery of important knowledge rests heavily on past knowledge, and that is why the early development of one's basic abilities is so important in education. In short, it is differential opportunities, practice, and motivation that appear to have been responsible for the differential proportions found in programs for gifted students. The unfairness leading to the disproportions lies primarily in the imbalance of opportunities and environment, not in the selection process itself. One step in the right direction would be the creation of early and continuing enrichment programs that are directed at minority youths in particular. [This article was reprinted from "Education of Gifted Students: A Civil Rights Issue?" by J. J. Gallagher, January 1995 "Phi Delta Kappan." Reprinted with permission of Phi Delta Kappa International, www.pdkingl.org. All rights reserved.]