barbour6

STRUGGLE for EQUAL RIGHTS

Rights v. Liberties

Group discrimination majorities vs. minorities How to remedy the situation is primary

focus of chapter—and what methods have been used.

Activism

The historical examples in this chapter can also be used to understand different forms of political activism—what specific means have been used to gain group rights and stop discrimination.

Inequality

When can the law treat people differently?

Why do we treat people differently? Why do we deny rights? Different kinds of equality

Inequality

Discrimination

1. Intimidation

2. “Majority” rule

3. legislation

Inequality

Possible solutions—what do they do?

1. Affirmative action

2. Courts

3. Interest groups

4. Lobbying

5. Protests/Take to the Streets

RIGHTS DENIED

African-Americans

Following the Civil War, the nation adopted three constitutional amendments that dealt with the status of the recently freed slaves.

Slavery legacy (history lesson)

African-Americans The 13th Amendment abolished slavery The 14th Amendment provided that no state

shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The 15th Amendment guaranteed that the right to vote shall not be denied on “account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

African-Americans Despite these amendments, a system of

racial discrimination, referred to as Jim Crow, flourished.

In 1883, the Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. The act prohibited discrimination in the provision of public accommodations.

African-Americans

Then in 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court ruled that the 14th Amendment required only “separate-but-equal” facilities. It became apparent, however, that this meant only separate; things were never equal.

African-American Education Plessy and attempts to overturn Brown v. Board (1954)

Lawyers in Brown case (Thurgood

Marshall in middle).

Supreme Court Justice Marshall

African-Americans In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education,

the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public education is unconstitutional.

The following year, the Court, in Brown II, ruled that schools must dismantle segregated systems with “all deliberate speed.”

African-Americans

Confronted with great resistance, the Court in 1969 ordered an end to dual school systems “at once.”

Despite the Court’s mandate, integrated public schools remain an elusive goal in many areas, especially the inner cities.

African-Americans

Schools are segregated now more than ever—much has to do with housing patterns. Segregation still exists.

Public school financing is also askew—do you know why?

Civil Rights Movement

Frustrated by the continuing practice of discrimination, civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King instituted public protests. Marches and sit-ins like the Montgomery bus boycott, attracted much attention, especially as the police began to react with greater force.

Martin Luther King


In response to the growing protest, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, made it illegal to discriminate in the provision of public accommodations on the basis of race.

Separate facilities


Mindful of the Supreme Court’s previously narrow interpretations of the 14th Amendment, the 1964 act was based on the congressional power to control interstate commerce.

Voting Rights

Despite the 15th Amendment’s guarantee of the right to vote, many blacks were routinely barred from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Voting Rights The Voting Rights Act suspended tests and

devices that had been used to disenfranchise blacks, and it allowed the attorney general to send registrars to the states for the purpose of enrolling black applicants.

The Voting Rights Act, including provisions that barred the use of literacy tests, was extended in 1982 for 25 years.


Two kinds of discrimination Changing the rules—fighting de jure and

de facto discrimination Civil Rights Movement history

Civil Rights

De jure discrimination Discrimination arising

from or supported by law

E.g., segregated restrooms

Easier to combat Overcome with

procedural policies

De facto discrimination Discrimination that is

the result of tradition or habit

E.g., neighborhoods in northern cities

Harder to combat Overcome with

substantive policies


African-American strategies

1. Protests

2. Nonviolent resistance

3. Courts

4. Busing

5. Affirmative action

March on Washington, 1963


African-American strategies

1. Boycotts

2. Voter education

3. Elections and candidates


Northern racial strategies

1. De facto discrimination

2. Resist substantive remedies

3. Housing discrimination


Southern racial strategies

1. KKK/intimidation

2. Black Codes

3. De jure discrimination

KKK—driving around town and intimidating

Lynching

RIGHTS DENIED--ETHNICITY

Native-Americans

Native-Americans and the U.S. Government

History/Genocide Political strategies

Hispanic-Americans

Diversity English-only movement Immigration controversy Political strategies

Asian Americans

Diversity Discrimination Political strategies

RIGHTS DENIED—WOMEN

Women’s Rights

Unlike blacks, women have always held citizenship, but for a long time they possessed almost no political rights; the law recognized them as subservient to their husbands.

Women’s Rights

The first women’s movement was composed of dedicated abolitionists, many of whom hoped that the 15th Amendment would also include provisions guaranteeing women the right to vote.

Women’s Rights

Although the 15th Amendment did not include women, political action, including demonstrations and mass protests, continued until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.

Women’s Rights

The long and difficult fight for the right to vote drained much of the vitality from the women’s movement, and it was not revived until the “second wave” in the 1960s.

Women’s Rights

Sex discrimination has persisted in American society partly because of a strong sense of paternalism. Laws that discriminate against women have been traditionally justified as measures designed to protect them.

Women’s Rights

Plus, men do not want to lose control of what little control they think they still have—especially white males (who seem to think they run the country).

Women’s Rights

Gender discrimination has not received the same strict scrutiny as racial and ethnic discrimination. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 1996 opinion in U.S. v. Virginia suggested that the Court will, in the future, apply the strict scrutiny test to cases of gender discrimination.

Women’s Rights

Women are becoming a larger part of the workforce. In fact, since 1987, over half of all women with children under the age of one are in the workforce or actively seeking a job.

Women’s Rights Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women’s

wages still lag behind those of men.

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, the federal government has been slow to enforce these provisions.

Women’s Rights As women have entered the workforce in

greater numbers, the issue of sexual harassment has taken on more importance.

Initially, lower courts found that quid pro quo harassment (instances when a supervisor demands sexual favors in exchange for some employment advantage) violated the Civil Rights Act.

Women’s Rights In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that the

act barred not just quid pro quo actions but also the creation of an offensive or hostile workplace.

Although not every instance of offensive behavior constitutes sexual harassment, a pattern of behavior that includes such things as requests for sexual favors, sexual innuendos, or sexual insults creates conditions that the Civil Rights Act prohibits.

Women’s Rights

Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals who claim sexual harassment do not need to show psychological injury, only that the work environment was such that a reasonable person would find it hostile or abusive.

Gender Gender discrimination today

Pay inequity Glass ceiling Sexual harassment Pregnancy discrimination

Gender

Women in contemporary politicsUnderrepresented in governmentIncreasing number of women candidatesRepresentation is on the riseAre women treated fairly?

For use with Keeping the Republic. Copyright © 2006 by CQ Press.

MORE RIGHTS DENIED

Rights Denied

Age Disability Citizenship Sexual Orientation

STUDY QUESTIONS

Study Questions

As we better off as a country if: --different ethnic and racial groups mix--different ethnic and racial groups do not mix

Explain your answer.

Study Questions Whose role is it to achieve racial balance in

the nation? Should the government implement plans that do it? Should the government leave the people alone?

Why do we (as a society) actually deny rights to certain people? What is to be gained? Who (what groups) benefit from keeping others oppressed?

Study Questions

Why were Africans initially captured and brought to the United States? Why didn't the Southern plantation owners use regular wage laborers, instead of slaves, to do their work?

Study Questions What happened to the freed slaves after the

American Civil War? What was their citizenship status? What kinds of jobs did they hold?

What were the Jim Crow laws and why were they instituted?

Why were there so many lynchings of blacks during Reconstruction? What was the purpose?

Study Questions

Explain and discuss the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Why was education so important for African Americans?

Study Questions Explain poll taxes and literacy tests. What were these

things used for? Overall, why did Southerners want to deny blacks the right to vote?

By 1900, Southerners (and some Northerners) had created separate facilities for blacks and whites. Were these separate facilities equal? Would that have made a difference?

Study Questions Discuss (briefly) and evaluate the civil rights

movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Why was that movement necessary and what was accomplished?

Explain and discuss the significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Why is voting so critical for rights?

Study Questions

Briefly discuss the history of women's battles for the rights denied to them on the basis of gender. Opposition to women's rights comes from what groups and interests? Why?

Study Questions

How do we know when social or political inequality exists? What does it mean to be "equal?" Are equity and equality the same things?

Study Questions

What is the current status of the gay rights movement? What victories have been gained? What still needs to be achieved? How likely is it that gays and lesbians will continue to obtain more rights in the future?

Study Questions

What are the similarities between the African American and women's civil rights movements? What are the differences? In what ways have the movements helped one another? Are there any instances where one might have hindered the ability of the other to achieve its goals?

Study Questions

What was the intent of the Equal Rights Amendment? Why did it fail? How, if at all, would the status of women be different today if the ERA were ratified?

Study Questions Discuss the political representation of

African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and women. How much political representation do these groups have? What gains have been made in increasing political representation? Why might these groups still have to struggle to increase political representation?

Terms

black codes NAACP reverse discrimination Boycott poll tax Plessy v. Ferguson

Terms

Busing Reconstruction Abolitionists Equal Rights Amendment Segregation Jim Crow laws

Terms

grandfather clause sexual harassment de facto discrimination literacy tests affirmative action

Terms

de jure discrimination Brown v. Board of Education Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Dred Scott case