Civil Rights

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Civil Rights★The government-protected rights of

individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals.•African Americans•Women•Hispanics•Asian Americans•Native Americans•Older Americans•Persons with Disabilities•Gay Men and Lesbians

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Civil Rights for Blacks

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Thirteenth Amendment (1865) Banned Slavery•Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

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Thirteenth Amendment (1865) Banned Slavery

★Southern states quickly passed laws that were designed to restrict opportunities for newly freed slaves. These prohibited African Americans from:-voting-sitting on juries-appearing in public places

★Local law-enforcement officials could arrest unemployed blacks, fine them, then hire them out to employers to satisfy their fines.

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Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Guaranteed Citizenship to Newly Freed Slaves

★All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

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Fourteenth AmendmentGuaranteed Citizenship

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Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Right to Vote

★The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

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Civil Rights Cases (1883)

★Civil Rights Act of 1875 was designed to grant equal access to public accommodations such as theaters, restaurants, and transportation.

★Supreme Court ruled that Congress could prohibit only state or governmental action and not private acts of discrimination.

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

★Challenged a Louisiana statute that required railroads to provide separate accommodations for blacks and whites.

★Supreme Court found that “separate but equal” is constitutional.

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

★Supreme Court found that “separate but equal” is constitutional.

★But was “separate” really “equal?”George McLaurin working on his doctorate in education at the University of Oklahoma.

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Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

★Four cases brought from different areas of the South involving public school systems.

★Supreme Court: “To separate [some school children] from others...solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way very unlikely ever to be undone.”

★Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and the “separate but equal” doctrine.

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School Integration

★http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/03_schools.html

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Civil Rights Act of 1964★Outlawed arbitrary discrimination

in voter registration.★Barred discrimination in public

accommodations.★Authorized the Dept. of Justice to

initiate lawsuits to desegregate public facilities and schools.

★Prohibited discrimination in employment on grounds of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

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Women’s Rights Movement

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Women’s Rights Movement

★19th Amendment guaranteed women right to vote.

★Hoyt v. Florida (1961) - Supreme Court stated “Despite...their entry into many parts of community life formerly considered to be reserved to men, a woman is still regarded as the center of home and family life.”

★1966 - Formation of National Organization for Women.

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Women’s Rights Movement

★1972 - Congress adopts the Equal Rights Amendment:•“Equality of rights under the law shall

not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

★Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified by the states.

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Gays and Lesbians

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Gays and Lesbians★Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy

1994 - Sept. 20, 2011. •More than 10,000 soldiers were discharged for their sexual orientation.

★Conservative groups and Republican politicians made same-sex marriage a key issue in elections of 2004.

★President Bush called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 2006.

★Amendment failed in the U.S. Senate.19

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Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection Clause

★No State shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

★Three different standards of review to determine if there is a sufficient reason to discriminate against a group.

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Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection Clause

★Three different standards of review: 1.Rational basis test - Is it a reasonable way to achieve a government objective? (age, wealth, sexual orientation)

2.Intermediate standard - Is it substantially related to the achievement of an important governmental objective? (gender)

3.Highest standard (strict scrutiny) is applied to race. Is it necessary to promote a compelling state interest?21

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Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection Clause

★Thus the Supreme Court has ruled the following to violate the 14th Amendment:•Single-sex public nursing schools.•Laws that consider males adults at 21 but females at 18.

•Laws that allow women but not men to receive alimony.

•Virginia’s all-male military college, VMI.

★But the Supreme Court has upheld the following:•Draft registration for males only.•State statutory rape laws that apply only to female victims. 22

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

Table 6.1: What are the standards of review fashioned by the Court under the equal protection clause?

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Statutory Remedies★ Equal Pay Act of 1963.

•http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html

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Statutory Remedies★Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

•Sexual harassment is sex discrimination.

★Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972.•Bars educational institutions receiving federal funds from discriminating against female students.

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Title IX

★http://learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_5/dia_5_video.html?pop=yes&pid=1915

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Hispanic Americans

★Largest and fastest growing group in the U.S.

★Major issues:•Voting •Education•Immigration

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American Indians

★Unique status under U.S. law - Indian tribes are considered distinct governments.

★American Indians did not become U.S. citizens nor did they have the right to vote until 1924.

★American Indians are host to a number of casinos.

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Americans with Disabilities

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Americans with Disabilities

★1990 - Americans with Disabilities Act passed by Congress.

★Requires employers to accommodate the disabled.•Guarantees access to public facilities.

•Requires employers to acquire or modify work equipment - buildings must be accessible to people in wheelchairs.

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Americans with Disabilities

★http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec10/ada_07-26.html