Chapter 5

Civil Rights

Civil Rights

The Struggle for Civil Rights

Struggle for Civil Rights

• Civil rights: rights guaranteed to all American citizens by law; usually refers to social freedoms and equal treatment under the law.– All American citizens have civil rights (not merely minority

groups).

• Often understood in terms of groups whose civil rights were recognized by the U.S. government only after legal and political actions secured them.

Struggle for Civil Rights

• Formal, legal inequalities existed uncomfortably with America’s value of equality for all since the nation’s founding.

• Full benefits of citizenship were limited.– Race, sex, age, wealth, national origin most clearly

Struggle for Civil Rights

• The concept of “equal rights” poses complicated legal and policy questions.

– Does treating people in the exact same manner mean we are treating them equally?

– How do we address real differences, as with biological distinctions between men and women, and preserve fairness?

– How do we address past legally mandated discrimination in policy?

Struggle for Civil Rights

• Discrimination: use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion

• Formal, legal discrimination against blacks and women was contested, but persisted.– Abolitionist movement– Suffrage movement

Struggle for Civil Rights

• The subjugation of blacks and women was political, economic, and social in nature.

• Voting, property ownership, employment, and social/public opportunities were sharply limited compared to white and male counterparts.

• White women had significantly more legal rights than black men or black women.– Supreme Court held white women’s rights existed through

her father, husband, or trustee.

The Civil War Amendments to the Constitution

The Civil War Amendments to the Constitution

Thirteenth Amendment: abolished slavery

Fourteenth Amendment: guaranteed equal protection under the law

Fifteenth Amendment: guaranteed voting rights for black men

Separate But Equal

• The Supreme Court initially interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment very narrowly.

– Ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional for targeting private actions.

– Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld the concept of separate but equal

Organizing for Equality

Organizing for Equality

• NAACP– Raised funds for legal challenges to Jim Crow– Helped bring northern blacks into political system

• NAWSA and National Women’s Party– Brought suffrage onto the public agenda

• Securing formal rights required 100+ years of challenges to discriminatory laws.– Organizational, strategic efforts– Courts, public opinion, and lawmakers all levels

Experiences with Integration

• Integrated WWII military shapes the civil rights movements in the United States.– Black American troops desegregated in1948– Latinos (largely Mexican American) served in integrated

units.

• Black and Latino soldiers return to United States– Feel vested, earned, proven “full Americans”– Expect/prefer integration, equal protection now– Broadens public support/demand for civil rights

Social Protest and Congressional Action

Brown v. Board (1954)

• Unanimous Supreme Court decision

• Landmark because overturns Plessy separate but equal doctrine that sanctioned segregation

• Determined separate but equal in schooling inherently unequal because predicated on the idea of racial superiority

Civil Rights After Brown

• Government discrimination on the basis of race must pass strict scrutiny legal standard.– Is the program a compelling state interest?– Is it as narrowly tailored as possible?

Peaceful Civil Rights Demonstrations, 1954–68

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Made interference with the right to vote on the basis of race a federal issue

• Bans literacy tests• Pre-clearance requirements for specific states and

regions due to extensive record of disenfranchisement policies and/or attempts

Impact of Voting Rights Act on Registration

Women and Gender Discrimination

Women and Civil Rights

• Women and Gender Discrimination– Equal Rights Amendment– Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992)– United States v. Virginia (1996)– Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Have Women Achieved Equal Rights?

CHAPTER 5

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Politics

1960

% of members of Congress and state legislatures

39%Women

1970 39%Women

1980 42%Women

1990 45%Women

200048%Women

201056%Women

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, census.gov; Center for American Women and Politics, cawp.rutgers.edu (accessed 7/18/12).

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

1960 Congress 4%Women

1970 Congress 2% Women

1980 State Legislatures 11% Congress 2% Women

1990 State Legislatures 17% Congress 6% Women

2000 State Legislatures 23% Congress 13% Women

2010 State Legislatures 25% Congress 17% Women

Politics

% of members of Congress and state legislatures

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, census.gov; Center for American Women and Politics, cawp.rutgers.edu (accessed 7/18/12).

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, census.gov; Center for American Women and Politics, cawp.rutgers.edu (accessed 7/18/12).

Women’s Income as a Percentage of Men’s

Weekly earnings, by occupation, 2010

74%

Professional

Educators

Service

Office / Sales

Production

81% 74%

78%

81%Men: $1,568

Women: $923

Men: $1,065

Women: $862Men: $543

Women: $423

Men: $736

Women: $597

Men: $640

Women: $473

Latinos

Latinos and Civil Rights

• Education– Mendez v. Westminster (1947)– Bilingual education

• Immigration as Civil Rights Issue– California Proposition 187 (1994)– Arizona SB 1070 (2010)

• American citizens of Latino origin suspect class claims• Supreme Court upholds/strikes down parts (2012)

Asian Americans

Asian Americans and Civil Rights

• Asian Americans– 1870, Congress declares Chinese ineligible for citizenship– 1882, Chinese Exclusion Act– Japanese Internment

• 1942–1945, over 110,000 Japanese Americans (and authorized residents) forcibly relocated and held

• Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush authorized reparations payments to survivors and descendants.

American Indians and Civil Rights

• Native Americans– Tribe members are both American citizens and members of

sovereign tribal nations.– They may reside on reservations that may have different

laws than states where they are located.– Many state, federal, and even private programs require

proof of Native American ancestry.• Such authentication is not asked of any other group.

Ability, Age, and Civil Rights

• Disabled Americans– 1973 Rehabilitation Act– Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• The Elderly– Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967)– Gross v. FBL Financial Services (2009)

Gays and Lesbians

Gays, Lesbians, and Civil Rights

• Gays and Lesbians– Military policy: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT,1993)

• Repealed in 2011– Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)– Lawrence v. Texas (2003)– Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA, 2006)– As of 2012:

• 9 states legalized same-sex marriage.• 39 states prohibited same-sex marriage.

Affirmative Action

• Compensatory action to overcome the consequences of past discrimination

• Quotas (requisite number of x group) are illegal since Bakke (1978).

• Michigan 2003 cases, race cannot be determining factor but can be one of several

• Schools may opt not to use affirmative action.– Legal costs and other considerations

Affirmative Action

Public Opinion in Black and White

• Will a solution to problems between blacks and whites be found?– 1963, 55 percent of those polled said “yes.”– 2009, 56 percent of those polled said “yes.”

• 2009, ~75 percent of blacks and ~50 percent of whites still see racism as a problem in America.

Public Opinion in Black and White

Public Opinion in Black and White

Do you think African Americans:

a) achieved racial equality

b) will soon achieve racial equality

c) will not achieve racial equality in your lifetime

d) will never achieve racial equalityABC News/Washington Poll, Jan. 12–15, 2010.

Public Opinion Poll

Do you believe the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should be allowed to conduct ethnic profiling, or is this practice a threat to an individual’s civil rights?

a) Allowed, it is not a threat to individual’s civil rights.

b) Not allowed, it is a threat to individual’s civil rights.

c) Allowed, despite threat to individual civil rights, to protect the public and security interests.

Public Opinion Poll

Is it possible for schools to be “separate but equal,” where there is racial segregation but equal educational opportunity, in today’s society?

a) Yes

b) No

Public Opinion Poll

Should states and the federal government be allowed to ask people they suspect of being unauthorized immigrants to prove their legal status based on physical appearance?

a) Yes, it protects public and national interests.

b) No, it is a clearly discriminatory policy.

c) Yes, it is worth offending and/or inconveniencing some American citizens in order to identify those breaking immigration laws.

Public Opinion Poll

Should the federal and state governments recognize same-sex marriages, opposite-sex marriages, or get out of the business of authorizing and recognizing personal relationships altogether?

a) Recognize same- and opposite-sex marriages

b) Recognize opposite-sex marriage only

c) Recognize same-sex marriage only

d) Stop authorizing, licensing, or otherwise validating marital status for anyone

Public Opinion Poll

What did the election of President Barack Obama tell us about race in American society?

a) Racism is not a significant problem in American society any longer.

b) Racism is more problematic than ever; the reaction to his presidency was noticeably hostile.

c) Racism remains a problem, but only in some parts of the country.

d) Racism exists, but it now targets nonblack groups.

Chapter 5: Civil Rights

• Quizzes

• Flashcards

• Outlines

• Exercises

wwnorton.com/we-the-people

Following this slide, you will find additional images, figures, and tables from the textbook.

The Link to the Women’s Rights Movement

Organizing for Equality

Cause and Effect in the Civil Rights Movement

Social Protest and Congressional Action

The Civil Rights Act

The Universalization of Civil Rights

Immigrants and Civil Rights

Latinos

The Supreme Court and the Burden of Proof

Human Rights and International Politics

Housing

The Digital Divide