American Government and Politics Today

1

Chapter Five:

Civil Rights

Learning Objectives 2

 Define civil rights and explain the difference

between civil rights and civil liberties.  Explain why discrimination against groups

exists in the United States.  Describe the attempts to grant civil rights to

African Americans following the abolition of slavery, including the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the Civil Rights Acts of 1865–1877.

Learning Objectives 3

 Explain how these initial attempts were frustrated

by the courts and Reconstruction politics.  Describe the obstacles to political participation by African Americans including Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and violent racial intimidation.  Evaluate the impact of the “separate-but-equal” doctrine articulated in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).  Explain the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).

Learning Objectives 4

 Explain the role of the Supreme Court in

determining civil rights.  Explain the difference between de facto segregation and de jure segregation.  Describe the key provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Evaluate the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Evaluate women’s claims for equality and describe the strategies employed by activists.

Learning Objectives 5

 Explain why women focused on the states as

well as a federal constitutional amendment for suffrage.  Describe goals of the second wave of the women’s movement.  Evaluate how the ERA would have accelerated women’s equality if ratified.  Explain why the ERA failed and evaluate the prospects for the ERA to be added in the future.

Learning Objectives 6

 Explain how Title IX improved access to all

aspects of education for women.  Define sexual harassment and wage discrimination and explain how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers these forms of discrimination.  Define the purpose and impact of the Twentysixth Amendment.  Explain the impact of Latino immigration on U.S. population demographics.

Learning Objectives 7

 Identify and assess the ways Latino civil rights

were limited in relation to education, voting, and employment.  Assess the controversy surrounding the status of undocumented workers and access to public services.  Define and explain the primary goal of affirmative action.

Learning Objectives 8

 Evaluate why affirmative action is controversial,

and identify the limits the Supreme Court has applied to affirmative action programs over time.  Provide the most important provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.  Give the most important provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and some of its limits.

Learning Objectives 9

 Provide the circumstances under which the

gay and lesbian rights movement began.  Explain why sodomy laws were rejected in Lawrence v. Texas.  Explain why Congress passed “don’t ask, don’t tell” and why the policy will likely be rescinded.  Assess the current state of the same-sex marriage controversy (the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, civil unions v same-sex marriage).

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 10

 Civil Rights refers to the rights of all Americans to

equal treatment under the law, as provided for by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress.  Specifies what the government must do—to

ensure equal protection and freedom from discrimination.

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 11

 Ending Slavery in the United States  Emancipation

 Thirteenth

Amendment (1865)

 Fourteenth

 Fifteenth

Proclamation of 1863

Amendment (1868)

Amendment (1870)

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 12

 Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to 1875  Civil

Rights Act of 1866 extended citizenship to anyone born in the United States.  Enforcement Act of 1879 specified criminal sanction for interfering with the right to vote.  Civil Rights Act of 1872 made it a crime to deprive any individual of his/her rights.  Second Civil Rights Act of 1875 entitled all to full and equal enjoyment of public places.

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 13

 Limitations of Civil Rights Laws  President

Rutherford Hayes in 1877 ended the advancement of civil rights for African Americans.  Supreme Court started to narrowly interpret the 14th Amendment by stating that citizenship rights apply only to national citizenship, not state citizenship.  Plessy v. Ferguson (1892): separate but equal doctrine.

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 14

 Voting Barriers for African Americans  White

primary  Poll taxes  Literacy tests  Grandfather clauses

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 15

 End of the Separate-but-equal Doctrine  Founding

of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.  Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, 1954 established that the separate but equal doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson violated the 14th Amendment.

African Americans and the Consequences of Slavery in the United States 16

 Reactions to Integrating Schools  Court-ordered

busing was not popular in the 1970s

and 1980s.  Minority

segregated schools are reemerging because of demographic changes.

The Civil Rights Movement 17

 Martin Luther King, Jr. and his philosophy of

nonviolence.  Malcolm X and the exercise of Black Power.

The Escalation of the Civil Rights Movement 18

 Modern Civil Rights Legislation  The

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Barred discrimination in  Voter

registration  Public accommodations  Public schools  Employment

The Escalation of the Civil Rights Movement 19

 Modern Civil Rights Legislation (Continued)  The

 The

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Civil Rights Act of 1968 and Other Housing Reform Legislation

Consequences of Civil Rights Legislation 20

 Political Participation by African Americans  Political Participation by Other Minorities  Lingering Social and Economic Disparities

Women’s Campaign for Equal Rights 21

 Early Women’s Political Movements  Activism

for women’s rights began with the Seneca Falls convention in 1848.

 Women’s Suffrage Associations  19th

Amendment: Women get the right to vote in 1920.

Women’s Campaign for Equal Rights 22

Women’s Campaign for Equal Rights 23

 Second Wave of the Women’s Movement  Betty Friedan created the National Organization of Women (NOW) in 1966 to address sex discrimination.  In 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed Congress and went to the states for ratification.  Both men and women protested the ERA, and it was withdrawn from consideration by the states in 1982.

Women’s Campaign for Equal Rights 24

Women’s Campaign for Equal Rights 25

 Challenging Gender Discrimination in the

Courts and Legislatures  Pregnancy

 Title

Discrimination Act of 1978

IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

 Gender

discrimination as violation of 14th Amendment

Gender-Based Discrimination in the Workplace 26

 Protection Against Gender-Based

Discrimination in the Workplace  Civil

Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) protects women from Discrimination  Sexual Harassment 

 Equal

Pay Act of 1963

Gender-Based Discrimination in the Workplace 27

Immigration, Latinos, and Civil Rights 28

 Most important challenges to discrimination

took place in Texas and California and parallel the claims to rights made by African Americans and women.  The Chicano Movement focused on land rights,

farm worker’s rights, education, voting rights, as well as the eradication of ethnic stereotypes and promotion of a positive group consciousness.

Immigration, Latinos, and Civil Rights 29

Affirmative Action 30

Affirmative Action: policies that attempt to “level the playing field” by giving special preferences in educational admissions and employment decisions to groups that have been discriminated against in the past.

Securing Rights for Persons with Disabilities 31

 Rehabilitation Act of 1973  Americans with Disabilities

Act of 1990

Rights and Status of Gays and Lesbians 32

 State and Local Laws Targeting Gays and

Lesbians  Gay Men and Lesbians in the Military  Same-Sex Marriages

Web Links 33

 Pew Hispanic Center A nonpartisan research

organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation: http://pewhispanic.org/.

 Women's Rights National Historical Park

Operated by the National Park Service, the Park preserves the sites associated with the 1848 First Women's Rights Convention: http://www.nps.gov/wori/index.htm.

What If…Undocumented Immigrants Were Granted Citizenship? 34

 Granting citizenship to every undocumented

immigrant now residing in the United States would have significant political and social implications for the Latino community.  While tax revenue may increase, there may be

a reduction of jobs.

You Can Make a Difference: Dealing with Discrimination 35

Discrimination can come from friends, teachers, coaches, co-workers, managers, and business owners, and be based on race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. Everyone can be affected by discrimination at some point.

You Can Make a Difference: Dealing with Discrimination 36

If you believe that you have been discriminated against by a potential employer, consider the following steps:  Evaluate your own capabilities, and determine if you are truly qualified for the position.  Analyze the reasons why you were turned down.  If you still believe that you have been treated unfairly, you have recourse to several agencies and services.