Civil Rights: A Historic Struggle for Equality

1. Chapter five: Civil Rights

2. AP Focus • History is only important to the point that it helps in understanding the political significance • Frequent AP question is about forms of political participation other than voting • “If voting is the only effective method of political participation, then how did African Americans achieve relative parity without the vote?”

3. AP Focus • Be able to list the barriers to minority political participation, and identify the specific policy change that removed the barrier • The struggle to achieve full political rights was not confined to African Americans. • Key factor in understanding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is that much of its provisions are based on the commerce clause • Be able to summarize the major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

4. AP Focus • Consider the negative and positive effects of affirmative action as well as the negative and positive effects of eliminating affirmative action.

5. Conceptions of Equality • Fourteenth Amendment – forbids the states from denying any person “the equal protection of the laws” • Recognize the difference between the due process clause and equal protection • Due process = fair trials / legal fairness • Equal protection = treated equally / based on demographics

6. Civil Rights and the SCOTUS • Government has the power to make reasonable classifications between person or groups • Denying vote to those under 18 • Higher excise tax on those who smoke • 14 year-olds can’t drive • Entitlement programs

7. Civil Rights and SCOTUS • Minimum or Rationale Basis Scrutiny – government need only show that the challenged qualification is rationally related to serving a legitimate state interest • Children • Mentally challenged • Homosexuals

8. Civil Rights and SCOTUS • Middle-tier scrutiny – government must show that the challenged classification serves an important state interest and the classification is at least substantially related to serving that interest

9. Classification that receive middle-tier scrutiny • Gender

10. Civil Rights and SCOTUS • Strict scrutiny = classification based on race and ethnic background is inherently suspect and must meet a strict scrutiny test • Government must show that the challenged classification shows a compelling state interest and is NECESSARY to serve that interest

11. Classifications that need strict scrutiny • Race • National origin • Religion • Voting

13. The Struggle for Racial Equality • The Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) • SCOTUS ruled that Black people were not citizens of the United States and therefore could not petition the court • National legislation could not limit the spread of slavery • Repealed the Northwest Ordinance and the Missouri Compromise

15. The Struggle for Racial Equality • Reconstruction Amendments • 13th Amendment • 14th Amendment • 15th Amendment

16. The Struggle for Racial Equality • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • Dispute over Louisiana law requiring “equal but separate accommodations” on railroad coaches • SCOTUS upheld “separate but equal” • “Separate but equal” sanctioned segregation and strengthened the states at the expense of the federal govt.

17. The Struggle for Racial Equality • Brown v. Board (1954) • (Earl) Warren Court • Court ruled that racially segregated schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment • Reversed “separate but equal” • Racially segregated schools are inherently unequal

18. The Struggle for Racial Equality • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Ended Jim Crow by making discrimination illegal in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other public accommodations • Prohibited discrimination in employment based on race, color, national origin, gender, religion • Created equal employment opportunity commission • Authorized DOJ to initiate lawsuits to desegregate public facilities including schools • Prohibited discrimination in employment

19. The Struggle for Racial Equality • SCOTUS upheld the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing segregation in places of public accommodation by ruling that such segregation involved interstate commerce

20. AP TIP • Brown v. Board and the Civil Rights Act of 1954 are often on the test • Brown used the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to reverse Plessy v. Ferguson • Civil Rights Act 1964 used the commerce clause

21. Struggle for African American Voting Rights • Poll taxes • Literacy tests • White primaries • 1960, only 29% of African Americans were registered compared to 61% of whites

22. Struggle for African American Voting Rights • Eliminating the poll tax • 24th Amendment (1964) prohibited poll taxes in federal elections • 1966 incorporated and voided poll taxes for state elections

23. Struggle for African American Voting Rights • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Outlawed literacy tests and other discriminatory practices • Provided federal oversight of voter registration in area with a history of discriminatory voting practices • Improved the registration disparity • 1965 only 70 African American elected officials in the 11 southern states • By 2000 the number was over 5,000

24. Struggle for African American Voting Rights • Racial Gerrymandering • Following the 1990 census, several state legislatures created oddly shaped districts designed to give minority group voters a numerical majority • Shaw v. Reno (1993) held that oddly shaped minority-majority districts would be held to a standard of Strict Scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause • Subsequent SCOTUS decisions have held that the use of race as a “predominant factor” in drawing districts is unconstitutional

26. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Original status of women • Although women were considered citizens they had NO political rights • Women were subjected to male-dominated system of family law. For example, women could not divorce their husbands, sign contacts, or dispose of property • Women were denied educational and career opportunities • 1873 SCOTUS “The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother"

27. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Seneca Falls Convention 1848 • Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott • Called for the abolition of legal, economic, and social discrimination against women

28. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • The fight for suffrage • Women’s rights activists were bitterly disappointed when the 15th Amendment did not grant the right to vote to women • Had to wait until 1920 and the 19th Amendment

29. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) • Passed by Congress in 1972 • “equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” • ERA fell three states short of the ¾ needed for ratification

31. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Milestones in the modern women’s rights movement • Equal pay act of 1963 – equal pay for equal work • However women still make $0.81 for every $1.00 men make • Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in employment based on race and sex

32. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Milestones (cont.) • 1966 Betty Freidan and other leading feminists created the National Organization of Women (NOW) to challenge discrimination • Reed v. Reed (1971) • Idaho law that automatically preferred a father over a mother as executor of a son’s estate violated Equal Protection • Reed decision: laws that classify on the basis on gender must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must serve a important government objective”

33. Women’s Struggle for Civil Rights • Milestones (cont.) • Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 forbids education institutions receiving federal funds from discriminating against female students. • Pivotal in developing women’s athletic programs • Lilly Ledbetter Act 2010 allows more time and flexibility for lawsuits to filed against “discriminatory” hiring practices

34. Affirmative Action • Background • 1965 LBJ executive order requiring all contractors and unions doing business with the federal govt. to take affirmative action in hiring minorities. • 2 years later was expanded to include women • Requires federal agencies, universities, and most employers to take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discrimination

35. Affirmative Action • Debate • Supporters believe affirmative actions is needed to make up for past injustices. • “Freedom is not enough. You do not take a person who for years has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘ you are free to compete with all the others’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” ~ LBJ • Supporters also argue that diversity is an important social goal

36. Affirmative Action • Debate • Critics believe affirmative action programs create reverse discrimination that unfairly penalize members of the majority group • Critics also contend that laws and policies should promote equal opportunity, not equal results

37. Affirmative Action • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) • Prior to 1971 had NO minority students • In 1971 increased students to 100 and created plan where 16 students would be for “minority” or “disadvantaged” students • The 16 special slots did not have to meet the same standards as other applicants

38. Affirmative Action • Bakke (cont.) • Allan Bakke, a 37 year-old white NASA engineer, was not accepted • Quota system is unconstitutional, violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment • Court also ruled that race COULD be used as ONE factor among others

39. Recent Affirmative Action Cases • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) • Upheld the University of Michigan policy using race as a factor in admissions • Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) • Struck down U of M undergrad policy that automatically awarded minorities the 20 points required for admissions • Violated the equal protection clause of the 14th, was tantamount to creating a quota system