Chapter 5

Civil Rights:Civil Rights:Equal ProtectionEqual Protection

Civil RightsCivil Rights• All rights rooted in the Fourteenth

Amendments’ guarantee of equal protection under the law

• what the government must do to ensure equal protection

• what the government must do to ensure freedom from discrimination

The Constitution and The Constitution and SlaverySlavery

• In apportioning congressional representation based on population, the constitution refers to free persons and “other persons” (or slaves)

• For purposes of representation, a slave was equal to 3/5 of a free person

• Supreme Court confirms constitutionality of slavery in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1847)

The Civil War The Civil War AmendmentsAmendments• 13th Amendment (1865) – neither slavery

nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States

• 14th Amendment (1868) – all persons born or naturalized in the United State are citizens– states cannot abridge the privileges or

immunities of citizens– all persons (whether or not they are citizens)

are entitled to due process– all persons are entitled to equal protection

• 15th Amendment (1870) – the right to vote shall not be denied because of race, color or previous condition of servitude

Key Points of the Civil Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to Rights Acts of 1865 to

18751875• The First Civil Rights Act

– extended citizenship to anyone born in the United States

– gave African Americans full equality before the law

– authorized the president to enforce the act through use of force

Key Points of the Civil Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to Rights Acts of 1865 to

18751875• The Enforcement Act of 1870

– set out specific penalties for interfering with the right to vote

• The Anti-Ku Klux Klan Act (1872)– made it a federal crime to deprive an

individual of his or her rights

Key Points of the Civil Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to Rights Acts of 1865 to

18751875• The Second Civil Rights Act (1875)

– everyone is entitled to equal enjoyment of public accommodation and places of public amusement

– imposed penalties for violators

The Civil Rights Act The Civil Rights Act were nullified through…were nullified through…• The Civil Rights Cases (1883)

– the Supreme Court rules that the 14th amendment only prevents official discriminatory acts by states, not by private individuals

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)– stated that segregation did not violate the 14th

amendment – established the separate-but-equal doctrine– paved the way constitutionally for a system of

racial segregation developed, especially in the South

Barriers to voting by Barriers to voting by African AmericansAfrican Americans

• the white primary – a state primary election in which only whites may vote– allowed because Southern politicians claimed

political parties were private entities– was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944 (Smith

v. Allwright)• grandfather clause – restricting voting to

individuals who could prove that their grandfathers had voter prior to 1867– was used to exempt whites from poll taxes– was used to exempt whites from literacy tests

Barriers to voting by Barriers to voting by African Americans African Americans

(cont.)(cont.)• poll taxes – required the payment of a fee to vote– intended to disenfranchise poor African

Americans– was outlawed in national elections by the 24th

amendment– was outlawed in all elections by the Supreme

Court in 1966• literacy tests -- required potential voters to

read, recite or interpret complicated texts – intended to disenfranchise African Americans

Ending Legal Ending Legal SegregationSegregation

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) – Supreme Court rules public school segregation violates the 14th amendment– overturns Plessy v. Ferguson

• Brown v. Board of Education (1955) – orders desegregation “with all deliberate speed”

• Court –ordered busing – transporting African American children to white schools and white children to African American schools

Modern Civil Rights Modern Civil Rights LegislationLegislation

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 – forbade discrimination on the basis of race,

color, religion, gender and national origin in• voter registration• public accommodations• public schools

– expanded the power of the Civil Rights Commission

– withheld funds from programs administered in a discriminatory way

– established the right to equality of opportunity in employment (created the EEOC)

Modern Civil Rights Modern Civil Rights LegislationLegislation (cont.)(cont.)

• Civil Rights Act of 1968– forbade discrimination in housing

• Voting Rights Act of 1965– outlawed discriminatory voter registration tests– authorized federal registration and

administration of voting where discrimination took place

– resulted in massive voter registration drives of African Americans in the South

Women’s Struggle for Women’s Struggle for Equal RightsEqual Rights

• Women’s Suffrage Movement– was connected to the abolition movement– suffragists organized the first women’s right

convention at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848– established women’s suffrage associations– finally won passage of the Nineteenth

Amendment in 1920

Women’s Struggle for Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights (cont.)Equal Rights (cont.)

• The Modern Women’s Movement– spurred in by the publication of Betty Friedan’s The

Feminine Mystique ( 1963)– connected to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s– argued for ratification of the Equal Rights

Amendment– failed to win the necessary states for ratification– has targeted gender discrimination by challenging

policies and laws in federal courts– has advocated and encouraged an increasingly

prominent role for women in government and politics

““The right of citizensThe right of citizensof the United States to vote shall of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the not be denied or abridged by the

United StatesUnited Statesor by any State on account of sex.”or by any State on account of sex.”

Gender Based Gender Based Discrimination in the Discrimination in the

Work PlaceWork Place• gender discrimination – any practice,

policy or procedure that denies equality of treatment to an individual or group because of gender

• prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• applies even to “protective policies,” policies designed to protect women of child-bearing age

Gender Based Gender Based Discrimination in the Discrimination in the Work Place (cont.)Work Place (cont.)

• sexual harassment – unwanted physical or verbal conduct or abuse of a sexual nature that– interferes with a recipient’s job performance OR– creates a hostile environment OR– carries and implicit or explicit threat of adverse

employment consequences• wage discrimination – women earn 76 cents for

every $1.00 earned by men• the glass ceiling – the phenomenon of women

holding few of the top positions in professions or businesses