Americas Democratic Republic

1
Americas Democratic Republic

• Ch. 5 Civil Rights

2
Introduction

• Civil rights Legal area providing the basic
  right to be free from unequal treatment based on
  certain protected characteristics (race, gender,
  disability, etc.) in settings such as employment,
  housing, and education.

3
Civil Rights Before the 20th Century

• Equality is not mentioned in the Constitution or
  Bill of Rights
• African Americans and women were not passive
  bystanders in the fight for equality
• Civil War Amendments (sometimes called the
  Reconstruction Amendments)

4
Civil Rights Before the 20th Century

• Undermining the Civil War Amendments
• Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
• Civil Rights Cases (1883)
• Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

5
Civil Rights Before the 20th Century

• Weakening the 15th Amendment
• Poll taxes
• Grandfather clause
• White primary

6
Civil Rights Before the 20th Century

• Women and the 15th Amendment
• Minor v. Happersett (1874)
• Abandoned legal challenges and turned to direct
  action
• 19th Amendment (1920)
• Banned discrimination in voting based on sex

7
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Changes in interpretation of the Constitution and
  interracial relations were shaped by the civil
  rights movement

8
The Civil Rights Movement

• After WWII, African Americans began to insist
  upon fairer treatment in America
• A major turning point in the civil rights
  struggle was Brown v. Board of Education of
  Topeka
• The most effective tool of the civil rights
  movement was nonviolent civil disobedience.

9
Major Civil Rights Legislation

• Civil Rights Act of 1964- Prohibits racial
  discrimination in different areas of life
  (housing, schools, voting, etc.)
• Voting Rights Act 1965-Allowed the Justice
  Department to take over elections in areas with a
  history of racial discrimination
• Executive order 11246-Also known as Affirmative
  Action, required federal contractors to take
  affirmative action in recruiting minority
  candidates
• Civil Rights Act of 1968-prohibited
  discrimination in the sale, rental and financing
  of housing

10
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Key Events
• 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
• 1957 Montgomery Bus Boycott
• 1960 Freedom Rides
• 1961 Sit-ins
• 1962 Integration of Ole Miss

11
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Key Events
• 1963
• Birmingham demonstrations
• Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church and murder
  of four girls
• Integration of University of Alabama
• March on Washington
• Murder of Medgar Evers
• Civil Rights bill sent to Congress
• Assassination of JFK

12
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Key Events
• 1964
• Passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Ended legal segregation in public accommodations
  and schools
• The Summer Project, also known as Freedom Summer
• Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and
  Michael Schwerner

13
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Key Events
• 1965
• Murder of Malcolm X
• Voter registration demonstrations
• Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson
• Bloody Sunday
• Murder of Rev. Jim Reeb and Viola Luizzo
• Selma March
• Passage of Voting Rights Act

14
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Key Events
• 1964 - 1967
• Urban rebellions (race riots) in large northern
  cities across the country
• White backlash
• 1968
• Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Murder of Robert F. Kennedy
• Passage of Civil Rights Act of 1968

15
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Affirmative Action
• Main goal of Civil Rights Movement was to remove
  artificial barriers
• Because of hundreds of years of discrimination,
  economic and social situation of many blacks
  remained stagnant
• Progress had to involve proactive governmental
  efforts

16
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Important Actions
• Richard Nixons Philadelphia Plan (1969)
• Regents v. Bakke (1978)

17
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Proponents of Affirmative Action
• Impact of past discrimination is so pervasive,
  removing artificial barriers is not enough
• United States diverse society requires tolerance
  and sense of community
• Those who are disadvantaged or discriminated
  against need successful role models in important
  societal institutions

18
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Opponents of Affirmative Action
• Violates the American principle of individualism
• Reverse discrimination
• Main beneficiaries of affirmative action are
  middle class
• Increases intergroup and interracial tension

19
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Supreme Court on Affirmative Action
• Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) reaffirmed Regents v.
  Bakke (1978)
• Quotas are illegal
• Race can be one of several factors

20
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial
Minorities

• Affirmative Action and federal constitutional law
• Regarding admissions to educational institutions,
  
• the goal of achieving a diverse student body is a
  compelling reason
• Race can only be one of several factors

21
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women

• Rights for women have changed more by changes in
  societys attitude than by a loose
  constructionist view of the 14th Amendments
  equal protection clause

22
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women

• Legal Considerations
• Craig v. Boren (1976)
• Intermediate scrutiny gender as a somewhat
  suspect classification

23
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women

• Abortion Rights
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
• Existence of a general right for women to decide
  to terminate a pregnancy
• Abortion from a legislative issue to a
  constitutional issue
• Reflected
• Changes in public opinion
• Inequities against women
• Pressure from interest groups

24
Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women

• Sexual Harassment
• Disagreement about the definition
• 1980 EEOC ruled that
• Sexual activity as a condition of employment
  violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
  working environment is against the law

25
Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella

• Elderly and Disabled
• Mandatory retirement barred
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967)
• Americans With Disabilities Act (1990)

26
Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella

• Gays and Lesbians
• Stonewall Rebellion 1969
• Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
• Upheld Georgias sodomy law
• Romer v. Evans (1996)
• State laws denying basic civil rights to gays and
  lesbians are unconstitutional
• Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
• Overturned Bowers v. Hardwick

27
Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella

• Gays and Lesbians
• Looming issues
• Gay marriage
• Defense of Marriage Act 1996
• Adoption of children by gays

28
Civil Rights in the Democratic Republic

• Civil rights issues have significantly altered
  the republican Constitution
• Absence of constitutional foundation guaranteeing
  civil rights made the fight much longer
• Advances have been uneven

29
Discussion Question

• Can government legislate how people think about
  one another? What factors in addition to
  anti-discrimination laws might be at work in
  changing how people think about racial minorities
  and other groups regularly discriminated against
  in the past?