Equality and Civil Rights
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Transcript of Equality and Civil Rights
Equality and Civil RightsEquality and Civil Rights
Civil liberties: freedoms guaranteed to the individual requiring federal restraint Tension: freedom & order
Civil rights: powers & privileges that are guaranteed by government to individuals in groups and which cannot be taken away by government or any other source Tension: equality & freedom
Equality and Civil RightsEquality and Civil Rights
Origins of concern lay in pattern of discrimination against African Americans, even after 13th-15th Amendments
We discriminate all of the time, but we hope the discrimination is based on appropriate criteria rather than on race, sex, ethnic origin, etc.
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal… Constitution contained 3 references to slavery:
Article I, Sect. 2: Representatives and direct taxes shall be…determined by adding…3/5ths of all other persons
Article I, Sect. 9: The migration and importation of persons….shall not be prohibited prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed…
Article III, Sect. 2: No person held to service or labor in one state…be discharged from such service or labor
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination 1861-1865:Civil War fought in part over slavery 1865: 13th Amendment prohibited slavery 1868: 14th Amendment extends citizenship to all
persons born or naturalized in U.S.; no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law...nor deny to any person ... equal protection of the laws
1870:15th Amendment extends voting rights to all citizens and prohibits denial on basis of race, color, or prior condition of servitude
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination 13th-15th Amendments authorized Congress to
enforce amendments with legislation 1875: Congress passed the Civil Rights Act
prohibiting discrimination in public places (inns, trains, etc.)
1876 Supreme Court ruled that freedom of assembly was not protected by 14th Amend. and that 15th Amend. did not guarantee vote (only stipulated reasons that could not be used to deny the vote)
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination 1876: Presidential election between Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden was contested; Southern Democrats conceded in exchange for removal of federal troops from southern states
Hayes kept promise and removed troops; social patterns of segregation restored
1877 Georgia introduced the poll tax
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1883: Supreme Court found Civil Rights Act unconstitutional; Congress could only correct state laws that discriminated against blacks Private associations are off limits (set own rules)
1896: Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court upheld state laws imposing racial segregation in public facilities and established the doctrine of separate but equal
1899: separate but equal doctrine applied to public schools
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1909: W.E. B. DuBois & others founded NAACP 1938: Supreme Court ruled that Lloyd Gaines had to
be admitted to Missouri’s (all white) law school as a comparable school for blacks did not exist
1947: President Truman ordered desegregation of the armed services
1954: Brown v. Bd. of Education Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal had no place in education; attacked principle at core of equal protection clause
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama and city boycott organized
1957: Martin Luther King, Jr. organizes So. Christian Leadership Conference & advocates civil disobedience
1963: King delivers “I have a dream” speech in Washington, D.C. http://www.stanford.edu/group/King
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1964 Congress passed Civil Rights Act Private lodgings, restaurants, sports arenas, etc.
cannot discriminate on the basis of race Employers of 15 or more people cannot
discriminate on the basis of race (applied to state and local governments in 1972)
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1964: Civil Rights Act challenged; Supreme Court rules in Katzenbach v. McClung that commerce clause enables Congress to regulate interstate commerce and, thus, to make racial discrimination illegal in any business participating in commerce
1964: 24th Amendment banned poll taxes 1965: President Johnson issues Executive Order
11246 required affirmative action by government contractors to redress discrimination
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1968: Fair Housing Act banned discrimination in housing
1968: Riots broke out in 168 cities protesting King assassination
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1969: Supreme Court orders desegregation of public schools immediately
1971: Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Cnty Schools Supreme Court identifies remedies such as busing, racial quotas, pairing school districts to achieve integration & distinguishes between de jure and de facto segregation
SegregationSegregation
De Jure segregation Comes about because of legislation or court
decisions (acts of government) De Facto segregation
Comes about from different social or economic circumstances
Affirmative ActionAffirmative Action
Establishes remedies to overcome past discrimination Raises question whether outcome is related to
opportunity Raises question whether to focus on historical de
jure segregation only Opponents charge Reverse Discrimination Court has equivocated as public opinion shifts
Equality and Civil RightsEquality and Civil Rights
Equality of Opportunity: each person has the same opportunity to succeed in life
Equality of Outcome: government to design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is achieved
Equality of outcome was originally conceived to be a temporary adjustment to compensate for historical pattern of discrimination against African Americans
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1974: Milliken v. Bradley limits busing to school districts with history of discrimination
1976: Regents of U. C. Davis v. Bakke Supreme Court considered reverse discrimination and found racial quotas unconstitutional but allowed race to be one of several factors in admission
1979 and 1980: Affirmative Action plans in employment upheld; later restricted to narrow area where history of discrimination proven
Overview of Race DiscriminationOverview of Race Discrimination
1995: Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena placed restriction on affirmative action in highway contracts
1996: California passed Proposition 209 prohibiting affirmative action in employment and college admissions throughout the state
Equal Protection of the lawEqual Protection of the law
Supreme Court has established different standards for evaluating discrimination in state laws Rational basis (lowest level) Heightened scrutiny (middle level; gender) Strict scrutiny (suspect classes including race,
ethnic origin, religion)
HispanicsHispanics
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended Mexican-American War and guaranteed citizenship and land rights to Mexican-Americans
Social practices ignored treaty despite participation of Hispanics in military efforts
Mexican American Legal Defense (MALDEF) & Cesar Chavez are examples of civil rights efforts
Focus has been on legislative districts and gaining representation in state legislatures & Congress
Native AmericansNative Americans Historically, Native Americans were concentrated in
tribes with which the Federal Government had treaties; treaties complex but also abrogated
U.S. government accused of genocide--deliberate elimination of a population
Native Americans were not granted U.S.citizenship until 1924
Native Americans Rights Fund (1970) has sought recognition of tribes and fishing, land & other rights--may conflict with water rights in California
Disabled AmericansDisabled Americans
1990: Americans with Disability Act requires access to public buildings and make other accommodations in employment. Act covers physical and mental disabilities as well as AIDS
Gays and LesbiansGays and Lesbians
Rights are largely determined by state laws U.S. Supreme Court has been reluctant to interfere
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) Supreme Court upheld Georgia statute prohibiting sodomy, even in privacy of one’s own home
Hawaii Supreme Court (1993) found that equal protection of the laws extended to homosexual marriages although constitution amended in 1998
Gays and LesbiansGays and Lesbians
Congress (1996) passed Defense of Marriage Act in response to Hawaii Supreme Court decision Article IV, Sect. 1 of U.S. Constitution stipulates: Full
faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.
Congress’s action exempted homosexual marriages…
Romer v. Evans (1996) found Colorado’s law invalidating local ordinances supporting homosexuals unconstitutional
Women’s MovementWomen’s Movement
1908: Supreme Court upholds Oregon law limiting number of hours women can work
1920: 19th Amendment passed allowing women to vote
1923: Equal Rights Amendment proposed 1963: Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for equal
work, where equal work is defined as same job
Women’s MovementWomen’s Movement
1964: Title VII of Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment on basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex
1972: ERA passes Congress 1982: ERA dies, lacking ratification of 3 states
race: suspect class; requires compelling state interest
sex: requires only important state interest