Civil Rights

Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights

Civil Liberties: Guarantees of the safety

of persons, opinions, and property from the arbitrary acts of the government.

Example would be the Bill of Rights (1st amendment, 4th amendment, 6th amendment etc.)

Often times, people used their civil liberties to achieve their civil rights

Civil Rights:

The rights that belong to an individual by virtue of citizenship.

Fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the 13th, 14th Amendments, and 15th Amendments

Protection from discrimination, unfair practices, and repression

Who falls under protection of Civil

Rights?

Everyone; depending on the situation

Consider a woman seeking a promotion. It is not a right to earn the promotion because she is a woman.

But her Civil Rights protect her from being discriminated from receiving the promotion because she IS a woman.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall

exist except as punishment for a crime

13th Amendment

14th Amendment

Defines Citizenship all persons born or

naturalized in the US

• No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny the equal protection of the laws.

• (Maybe the most important amendment of any)

15th Amendment

the right to vote shall not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude

The Long Road of Civil Rights

Immediately after the Civil War, the North occupied the South

During this time of “Reconstruction” the South was FORCED to follow the laws passed in the North

However, federal troops withdraw from the South in 1877

Just because the South was occupied, does not

mean everything was fixed Government can’t realistically control an entire

populations opinion

The result is even though the Civil War was over, the battle for Civil Equality was just beginning

Did the Civil War really ever end?

Just because there are newly added rules to the Constitution

does not mean everyone follows them accordingly

Large part of the South looked for loopholes in these newly added amendments

Jim Crow Laws (loopholes) Segregation openly practiced Separate but equal doctrine applied White Primaries Poll Taxes, literacy tests Grandfather Clauses The creation of the Klan

Are passed laws different than enforced?

The Civil Rights Cases (1883)

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 forbade discrimination in inns, public conveyances, and places of public amusements.

The Court’s ruling: The 14th A. is intended to

prevent acts of STATE discrimination. PRIVATE individuals however can decide to deny service

Plessy v. Fergusson (1896)

Separate but equal – complies with the Equal Protection clause

Plessy 1/8 black, still denied the right to sit in White Car

Louisiana Supreme Court stated that the law separating the car does not have any notion of inferiority

Wide spread legal discrimination based on:

Private individuals deciding who to associate with

State services can be separate if they are technically equal

The Result of Civil Rights Cases and Plessy

Schools are the

target From 1909 to 1954, leaders

of the NAACP targeted public institutions such as colleges and schools

Why? Separate but equal incredibly obvious

Cases of schools not even offering a separate institution, libraries, or acceptable conditions.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board (1950)

McLaurin attended Oklahoma University Courts initially ruled in favor of

him attending, assumed the state would comply

Assigned him his own seat at the cafeteria, a desk at the library, and seat outside the classroom

Court ruled in favor of McLaurin, violated the 14th Amendment equal protection clause

1951: Oliver Brown sued Topeka, Kansas School

Board of Education to allow his 8 year old daughter to attend a white only school

Thurgood Marshall argued the case himself in front of the Supreme Court

In two rulings the court ruled ‘Separate but equal is inherently unequal’ Also stated a year later, ‘schools must desegregate

with deliberate speed’

Biggest Victory: Brown v. Board of Education

Obviously blacks were ecstatic, whites had

mixed reactions President Eisenhower actually disagreed with

the decision

Out of fear of violence, many states refused to actually allow students to go to white schools.

Goes to show the power the Supreme Court. If they make a ruling… do we have to follow

it?

Reaction to Brown? Not so speedy…

Fighting for Civil Rights: Griffin v.

County School Board (1964)

Prince Edward County, VA closed its public schools provided tax breaks to

private school families (all private schools were whites only)

Federal District court could take over the School Board’s taxing power and reopen the schools

Fighting for Civil Rights: Green v.

New Kent County (1968)

Schools must actively desegregate

Freedom of choice plans not effective measure of desegregation

Busing to achieve racial balance in schools

was an acceptable method of desegregation

Adopted nation-wide Riots in Boston

Fighting for Civil Rights: Swann v. Charlotte-Mechlenburg (1971)

Fighting for Civil Rights: Regents v.

Bakke (1978)

Challenge to UC Davis Med School’s Affirmative Action Policy Quotas are

unconstitutional Race can be used

as a factor in college admissions

Air Carrier Access Act of 1986

Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the provision of air transportation

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Protects persons with disabilities from

discrimination in many aspects of life, including employment, education, and access to public accommodations

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Title VII Prohibits employment discrimination based on race,

color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Examples of Civil Rights Legislation

Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act

Protecting persons in institutions (including residents in government-run nursing homes, and prisoners) from unconstitutional conditions

Equal Pay Act of 1963 Requires that employers pay all employees equally for equal

work, regardless of whether the employees are male or female.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act Prohibits employment discrimination against female workers

who are (or intend to become) pregnant -- including discrimination in hiring, failure to promote, and wrongful termination.

Legislation examples cont.