Civil Rights

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Civil Rights

• Mechanics of Justice

An Introduction to Civil Rights
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Major Themes
Some General and Specific Questions

• What are a citizens rights and obligations?
• In the U. S., who is granted citizenship why?
• Historically, who gets excluded from full
  citizenship why?
• If majority rules in a democratic society, what
  recourse does the minority have? How do minority
  groups get heard?
• How does discrimination manifest itself?
  (e.g. the right to drink from a fountain, to
  vote, for those with disabilities to have full
  access to a building)

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A Few Key Civil Rights Constituencies

• African American
• Arab American
• Asian American
• Disabled American
• Gays and Lesbians
• Hispanic/Latino
• Native American
• Prisoner Rights
• Womens Rights
• and othersincluding religious groups

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What are Civil Rights?

• Civil Rights
• refer to the positive acts governments take to
  protect against arbitrary or discriminatory
  treatment by a government or individuals.

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Forms of Civil Rights Activism

• Direct Action sit-ins, boycotts, and picket
  lines
• Legal Action discrimination lawsuits, Supreme
  Court rulings (Brown decision)
• Legislative/Political Action voting, running for
  office, legislative rulings (e.g. Civil Rights
  Act of 1964)
• Cultural Expression freedom songs, plays,
  poetry, film, and visual arts

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Civic Nationalism

• Civic Nationalism
• a belief in the fundamental equality of human
  beings, in every individuals inalienable right
  to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
  and in a democratic government that derives its
  legitimacy from the peoples consent.

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Racial Nationalism

• Racial Nationalism a belief that
• conceives of America in ethnoracial terms, as a
  people held together by common blood and skin
  color and by an inherited fitness for
  self-government.
• from the perspective of this racialized ideal,
  Africans, Asians, nonwhite Latin Americans, and,
  in the 1920s, southern and eastern Europeans did
  not belong to the republic and could never be
  accepted as full-fledged members.

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Part II Civil Rights Collective Memory
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African-American Civil Rights History
Moving Beyond the Myths

• Teaching the complexities of civil rights history
  in light of the powerful collective memories.
• Learning to see yourself in the history of the
  civil rights struggle.
• The movement ultimately succeeded as the result
  of courageous, ordinary Americans at the
  grassroots level
• --rather than simply the efforts of legendary
  leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.

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Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

• Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the
  American Civil War, declared all
• "slaves within any State, or designated part of
  a State ... then ... in rebellion, ... shall be
  then, thenceforward, and forever free."

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The Civil War Amendments

• 13th Amendment a banned all forms of slavery and
  involuntary servitude
• 14th Amendment a guarantees equal protection of
  the laws and due process to all citizens
• 15th Amendment a specifically gives blacks the
  right to vote

Womens rights were not addressed in these
Amendments!
Shortly after ratification the Southern states
devised ways around these amendments by passing
laws that restricted opportunities for Black
Americans.
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Intent of the 15th Amendment

• To avoid the intent of the 15th Amendment
  Southerners moved to exclude the African American
  voter with
• Poll taxes
• Literacy Test
• Whites only primaries
• Grandfather clause

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Homer Adolph Plessy (7/8ths white 1/8th black)
  boarded a train in New Orleans and sat in the
  whites only car.
• Plessy was arrested when he refused to sit in the
  colored car.
• Plessy sued arguing that the 14th Amendment made
  racial segregation illegal.

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Separate But Equal Doctrine

• The Supreme Court ruled in Plessy that the
  Louisiana law was constitutional and that
  separate but equal facilities for blacks did not
  violate the Equal Protection Clause.
• The high court Plessy ruling added credibility
  use of Jim Crow laws.
• By 1914 every Southern state had passed laws that
  created two separate societies--one black, the
  other white.

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Black Codes

• Southern states passed laws (Black Codes) that
  prohibited Black Americans from
• Voting
• Sitting on juries
• Or appearing in public places

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Jim Crow Laws

• During Jim Crow years, state laws mandated racial
  separation in
• schools
• parks
• playgrounds
• restaurants
• hotels
• public transportation
• theatres
• restrooms, etc.
• These laws remained in effect throughout the
  1960s Civil Rights Movement.

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Organizations Form to Push for Equality

• Formation of NAACP (1909)
• National Association for the Advancement of
  Colored Peoples
• The NAACP set up a legal defense fund (LDF) to
  pursue equality in the nations courts.

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The Push for Equality1890-1954

• The Progressive Era (1889-1920) saw many reforms
  in
• Child labor laws
• Monopolies
• and prejudice
• However, the Supreme Court legitimized the
  principle of "separate but equal" in its ruling
  Plessy v. Ferguson

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Major Strategies of African American Movement

1. Social Justice Non-violent struggle for
   desegregation of public facilities and schools.
   (1955-1964)
2. Voting Rights--Political Empowerment (1963-1965)
3. Economic Justice Shift to Militancy and Racial
   Separatism (1965-1970 to Present)

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Litigating for Equality

• The Court ruled in Sweatt vs. Painter that it
  would be impossible for the State of Texas to
  provide an equal legal education in a separate
  setting.
• In 1950, the Court ruled in favor of Mr. Sweatt
  and forced the University of Texas Law School to
  admit him.
• In Sweatt vs. Painter the Supreme Court struck
  down the system of "separate but equal" in
  graduate school education and paved the way for
  the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of
  Education in 1954.

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Brown vs. Board of Education

• Linda Carol Brown, was not allowed to attend a
  school four blocks from her house because it was
  for white students.
• Instead, she had to walk twenty-one blocks to the
  nearest all-black school.
• Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
  (1954) decision struck down the "separate but
  equal" doctrine.

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Brown vs. Board of Education

• The NAACP argued
• the intellectual, financial and psychological
  damage that affected Black Americans precluded
  any finding of equality under the separate but
  equal policy.

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With All Deliberate Speed

• The Court struggled over a remedy.
• A year later, in Brown II the Court ruled that
  segregated systems must be dismantled with all
  deliberate speed.
• Long costly battle to end segregation.
• Brown vs. Board decision sparked the development
  of the modern civil rights movement.

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The Triumph of Non-Violent Protest

• 1955, Rosa Parks challenges segregation in public
  transportation
• A new young preacher in Montgomery selected to
  lead the challenge against the segregated bus
  system.
• After a year, boycott succeeded.

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Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC)

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
• founded the SCLC in 1957.
• group used non-violent means such as
• Freedom-rides, sit-ins boycotts used to open
  segregated lunch counters, waiting rooms, public
  swimming pools other public places.
• Often local police attacked the peaceful
  protestors or chose not to defend them.

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Non-Violent Protests

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• advocated a nonviolent approach to forcing social
  change.
• modeled his philosophy on that of Gandhi
• who successfully employed the nonviolent approach
  in a revolt against the British in India shortly
  after World War II.

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The March on Washington

• August 1963
• 250,000 people marched peacefully on Washington
• show of support for President Kennedys request
  that Congress ban discrimination in public
  accommodation.

• King delivered his I Have a Dream speech.

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Outlawed voter discrimination
• Barred discrimination in public accommodations
• Authorized US Justice Dept to initiate lawsuits
  to desegregate schools public facilities
• Allowed federal government to withhold funds from
  discriminatory state and local programs
• Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race,
  color, religion, national origin or sex
• Created the Equal Employment Opportunity
  Commission (EEOC) to monitor and enforce bans on
  employment discrimination

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Impact of the 64 Civil Rights Act

• Southerners argued that the Act violated the
  Constitution and was an unwarranted use of
  federal power.
• The Court ruled that state imposed (de jure)
  segregation must be eliminated at once.
• However, a full decade after Brown, less than 1
  of African American children in the South
  attended integrated schools.
• Over time, these rulings and laws opened up
  numerous occupations to minorities but especially
  to women.

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Social Justice 1954-1963

• 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
• 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott
• 1957 Little Rock High School Case
• 1960-1963 Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides
• 1963 The March on Washington
• Biggest Victory Civil Rights Act of 1964

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Sample Questions from a Literacy Test

• State of Louisiana
• One wrong answer denotes failure of the test. (10
  min)
• Draw a line around the number or letter of this
  sentence.
• Draw a line under the last word in this line.
• Cross out the longest word in this line.
• Draw a line around the shortest word in this
  line.
• Circle the first, first letter of the alphabet in
  this line.
• In the space below draw three circles, one inside
  the other.
• Above the letter X make a small cross.
• Draw a line through the letter below that comes
  earliest in the alphabet. ZVSEDGMKYTPHC
• Draw a line through the letter below that comes
  last in the alphabet. ZVSEDGMKYTPHC
• In the space below write the word noise backwards
  and place a dot over what would be its second
  letter should it have been written forward.
• Give your age in days.

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Voting Rights 1964-1965

• 1964 Freedom Summer and founding of Mississippi
  Freedom Democratic Party
• 1965 The Selma Campaign
• Biggest Victory The Voting Rights Act of 1965

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Economic Justice 1965-early 1970s

• 1966 Southern Christian Leadership Conferences
  Chicago Campaign
• 1968 The Poor Peoples Campaign
• Late 1960s The Rise of the Black Panther Party
• Biggest victory Affirmative Action policies

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Other Groups Mobilize for Rights

• Denial of civil rights led many other
  disadvantaged groups to mobilize to achieve
  greater civil rights.
• Their efforts to achieve those rights have many
  parallels to the efforts made by African
  Americans.

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Native Americans

• Native American status under U.S. law is unique.
• Indian tribes under the Constitution are
  considered distinct governments.
• AIM (American Indian Movement) See handout

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Hispanic Americans

• Hispanic Americans borrowed tactics from the
  African American civil rights movement including
  sit ins, boycotts, marches, and activities that
  draw publicity.
• The Hispanic community also relied heavily on
  litigation strategies.
• See handout on Cesar Chavez

"One of the heroic figures of our time."Senator
Robert F. Kennedy Cesar Estrada Chavez founded
and led the first successful farm workers' union
in U.S. history.
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Gays and Lesbians

• Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
• Dont ask, dont tell
• Romer v. Evans (1996)
• Boy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale (2000)

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Percentage of adults ages 18-24 who have
completed high school by race Hispanic origin,
1980-97
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Affirmative Action

• policy designed to redress prior discrimination.
• Bakke v. Regents of the University of California
  (1978)
• Hopwood v. Texas (1996)
• Prop 209 (1996)

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Hopwood v.Texas (1996)

• Applications to the University of Texas Law
  School from black students dropped 42 percent in
  one year, and only 4 black and 26 Hispanic
  students are among the 468 students in the
  school's freshman class.
• Applications to the school's undergraduate
  program fell 26 percent for blacks and 23 percent
  for Hispanics.

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Continuity and Change

• It took over 100 years from the first shot of the
  Civil War until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
  the Voting Rights of 1965 for African Americans
  to begin to fully exercise their rights.
• Women only achieved the right to vote in 1920.
• Still no consensus in America about race and
  gender relations.
• Many argue that racism sexism are alive and
  well in America.

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Prompts
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hate.com prompts
Please respond thoroughly, thoughtfully
slogan-free to the following prompts.
Make several points for each item

(either bulleted or sentences)

1. Hate speech should not be protected under our
   freedoms of expression. Agree/Disagree? EXPLAIN
2. One should not draw attention to hate groupsjust
   leave them alone and they will eventually go
   away. Agree/Disagree? EXPLAIN
3. A government that does not act aggressively to
   eliminate hate groups is irresponsible guilty
   of neglecting its society. Agree/Disagree?
   EXPLAIN

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Womens Movement I prompts
Please respond thoroughly, thoughtfully
slogan-free to the following prompts.
Make several points for each
itembullets or sentences

1. What were some of the most significant
   contributions Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others
   made during the early years of the Women's
   Movement?
2. Describe the Declaration of Sentiments -- its
   spirit, design and purpose.
3. Discuss the factors, individuals and events that
   provided support, motivation and opportunity for
   the women's movement to gain momentum and
   credibility.

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Womens Movement II prompts
Please respond thoroughly, thoughtfully
slogan-free to the following prompts.
Make several points for each
itembullets or sentences

1. How did Betty Friedan, Title VII of the Civil
   Rights Act (64), the National Organization for
   Women (NOW) and Title IX, independently--and
   collectively--contribute to a new wave in the
   Womens Rights Movement? EXPLAIN
2. What was the ERA, and why did it fail to pass?
   If one could reintroduce it today would it meet
   the same fate? EXPLAIN
3. Choose four (4) issues from the list on pg.5, and
   discuss your teams views on those topics facing
   women today. EXPLAIN

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Debate Reflections
Write a thoughtful, reflective analysis of the
debate topic. Due in-class today. 1)What were
three of the strongest arguments for Proandfor
Con? EXPLAIN with detail 2) What were the three
most significant emerging ideas from your
research and/or the debate? EXPLAIN with
detail 3) To what extent did your debate
preparation and the discussion reinforce or
revise your views on the topic? EXPLAIN with
detail 4) Propose a plan to reach a compromise
and resolution with this increasingly divisive
issue. EXPLAIN with detail
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MLK Prompts
Please respond thoroughly thoughtfully to the
following prompts. Make
several points for each item
(either bulleted or
sentences)

1. Describe the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King,
   Jr.s speech. EXPLAIN w) DEPTH
2. Identify several (4-6) specific messages Dr. King
   presented. EXPLAIN w) DEPTH
3. What made this speech effective, in terms of
   summarizing, and reflecting upon, the movement?
   EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

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Malcolm X Documentary
Please follow the documentary closely for
discussion in your teams. Make note of the
following points.

1. Malcolms Background
2. Malcolms Spirited Approach
3. Investigations
4. Relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr.
5. Revelations in Mecca
6. Threats
7. Assassination
8. Legacy

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Malcolm X Prompts
Please respond thoroughly thoughtfully. Make
several points for each item
(either bulleted or sentences)

• In what way(s) ltat least threegt did Malcolm X
  differ from Martin Luther King, Jr. in his
  approach, tactics style in an effort to gain
  civil rights? EXPLAIN w) Details
• 2. Which leader might you have chosen to follow?
  EXPLAIN w) Details
• 3. Why did the U.S. government fear Malcolm X?
  EXPLAIN w) Details

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Gauging the Gangs Prompts
Please respond thoroughly thoughtfully to the
following prompts. Make
several points for each item
(either bulleted or
sentences)

1. Describe the issues. EXPLAIN w) DEPTH
2. This issue does have a resolution.
   Agree/Disagree? w) DEPTH
3. To what extent is racism at work here and why do
   you suppose it appears to span color boundaries?
   EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

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Asian Discrimination
Please respond thoroughly thoughtfully. Make
several points for each item
(either bulleted or sentences)

• Compare contrast the experiences of
  discrimination among various Asian
  cultures/nationalities.
  EXPLAIN w) DetailsBE SPECIFIC
• 2. Choose one of the areas of discrimination
  (pp. 3-5), and discuss why it may be the most
  damaging--citing specifics from each of the other
  areas as well. EXPLAIN w) Details
• NOTE This is a double-depth, extended response
  prompt

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Security Speculation Prompt
How best can a nation balance security with civil
liberties?

• Please explain in detail
• Make specific references
• Avoid sweeping generalizations slogans

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Unit Issues Projection Prompt
What are the short and long-term futures of race
relations within the U.S. and world?and what
needs to happen in order to bring about positive
change?

• Please explain in detail
• Make specific references
• Avoid sweeping generalizations slogans

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• EXAM

• FORMAT
• Multiple Choice
• Matching
• Short Answer

TOPICS Women Hispanic-American African American
Asian American Misc.
SOURCES PowerPoint Notes Handouts see board
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Immigration Reform Points

• Undocumented workers three-year work visas, which
  the plan dubs "Z" visas.
• renewable indefinitely
• 3,500 each time.

• Undocumented workers legal status with the visas
• Have to return to their home country, apply at a
  U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and
  pay a 10,000 fine.
• Require 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles
  of physical fencing be in place
• Electronic monitoring of the southern border
• More green cards available to skilled workers
• Limit visas for parents, children and siblings of
  U.S. citizens
• Prohibit temporary workers from bringing family
  members

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Electronic Monitoring

• Fiber-optic cable buried 8 to 20 inches
  underground serves as the sensor. Any pedestrian
  or vehicle that crosses the line would trip the
  signal, alerting a monitor to the exact location.

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Imus Suspended From CBS Radio, MSNBC pulls show
off the air
P G, Staples, GM, Sprint, American Express and
others have yanked ad commitments

Imus referred to members of the mostly black
Rutgers team as "nappy-headed hos."

The Rutgers womens basketball team blasted radio
host Don Imus Tuesday for racist and sexist
remarks that are deplorable, despicable and
abominable and agreed to meet with the embattled
radio host.
It was comedy. It wasnt a malicious rant. Im
not a racist. Ive demonstrated that in my words
and my work.- Don Imus
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• GALLERY

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Montana - Pennsylvania
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ACW

• 02.27.07

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BLACK PANTHERS
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