Chapter 5: Civil Rights E3

affirmative action

the use of programs and policies designed to assist groups that have historically been subject to discrimination

American Indian Movement (AIM)

the Native American civil rights group responsible for the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973

Black codes

laws passed immediately after the Civil War that discriminated against freed people and other African Americans and deprived them of their rights

Brown v. Board of Education

the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Plessy v. Ferguson and declared segregation and “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional in public education

Chicano

a term adopted by some Mexican American civil rights activists to describe themselves and those like them

civil disobedience

an action taken in violation of the letter of the law to demonstrate that the law is unjust

comparable worth

a doctrine calling for the same pay for workers whose jobs require the same level of education, responsibility, training, or working conditions

coverture

a legal status of married women in which their separate legal identities were erased

de facto segregation

segregation that results from the private choices of individuals

• Segregation without laws

• Common in the north

• Housing discrimination generated segregated neighborhoods

de jure segregation

segregation that results from government discrimination

• Segregation by law

• Common in the south

• Laws forbid african americans from attending the same church using the same swimming pool, eating in restaurants or marrying white people

direct action

civil rights campaigns that directly confronted segregationist practices through public demonstrations

disenfranchisement

the revocation of someone’s right to vote

equal protection clause

a provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all residents equally under the law

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

the proposed amendment to the Constitution that would have prohibited all discrimination based on sex

• First introduced in congress in 1923

• Subsequently introduced in each session of congress

• Between 1948 and 1970 representative emanuel cellar chairman of the house judriciary committee refused to consider the ERA

• Was never passed

glass ceiling

an invisible barrier caused by discrimination that prevents women from rising to the highest levels of an organization—including corporations, governments, academic institutions, and religious organizations

grandfather clause

the provision in some southern states that allowed illiterate White people to vote because their ancestors had been able to vote before the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified

hate crime

harassment, bullying, or other criminal acts directed against someone because of bias against that person’s sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, or disability

intermediate scrutiny

the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on gender and sex; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate an important governmental interest is at stake in treating men differently from women

1. is the discriminatory policy substantially related to an important government objective? 2. Is the discrimination no greater than necessary to achieve this objective (sex or gender quality)

Jim Crow laws

state and local laws that promoted racial segregation and undermined Black voting rights in the south after Reconstruction

literacy tests

tests that required the prospective voter in some states to be able to read a passage of text and answer questions about it; often used as a way to disenfranchise racial or ethnic minorities

Plessy v. Ferguson

the 1896 Supreme Court ruling that allowed “separate but equal” racial segregation under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

• Homer A. Plessy challenged a law that required separate train cars for Black and White Americans

• Was arrested after boarding the train car

• supreme court held that seprate but equal facilitites for White and Black railroad passengers did not violate the Equal Protection Clause

• 7-1 decision

• Approval/endorsement of separate but equal laws

poll tax

annual tax imposed by some states before a person was allowed to vote

rational basis test

the standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens

(least) 1. is the law rationally related to furthering a legitimate government interest? 2. Does the policy avoid arbitrary, capricious, or deliberate discrimination? (age, economic status)

Reconstruction

the period from 1865 to 1877 during which the governments of Confederate states were reorganized prior to being readmitted to the Union

Stonewall Inn

a bar in Greenwich Village, New York, where the modern Gay Pride movement began after rioters protested the police treatment of the LGBTQ community there

strict scrutiny

the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate a compelling governmental interest is at stake and no alternative means are available to accomplish its goals

1.  is unequal treatment justified by a compelling state interest 2. Is unequal treatment the least restrictive option? (Race, ethnicity, creed, or national origin)

Title IX

the section of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex

Trail of Tears

the name given to the forced migration of the Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838–1839

understanding tests

tests requiring prospective voters in some states to be able to explain the meaning of a passage of text or to answer questions related to citizenship; often used as a way to disenfranchise Black voters

white primary

a primary election in which only White people are allowed to vote

Civil liberties

what the government can’t do

• Limitations of government power designed to protect freedoms

• Rooted in the bil of rights

Civil Rights

What the government must do

• Constotutional guarantees that the government (and all government officials) will treat people equally regardless of an individual’s protected class

• Race, gender ethnic origin, religion

 freeedom from government discrimination

• Equality

• Rooted in the 14th amendment (equal protection clause)

• Protected by the 1957 Civil Rights Act

13th, 14th, 15th amendments are

 civil war amendments, passed to try to resolve through the era of reconciliation, to eliminate structural barriers existed prior to the civil war

The equal protection clause (14th amendment)

• 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 anyperson within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

Bill of Rights

 statement of our civil liberties

Initially only applied to the federal government. Applied to states on a case-by-case basis through the 14th amendments - selective incorporation

The courts

• Challenging “seperate but equal”

• Desegregation of schools

Congress

• Civil rights act (1964)

• Voting rights act (1965)

• Fair Housing Act (1968)

The president

• Most influential when “going public”, president states where they fall on an issue

Discrimination

• is the unjust or prejudicial (in existence not applied) treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex

• A law has a discriminatory effect (outcome) when it results in different treatment for similar individuals

• A law has a discriminatory purpose when it was enacted with the intent to unjustly or prejudicially treat certain people differently 

Segregation

1. The rule or practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnic groups. Forcing them to have differnt schools, housing and public facilities

2. A form of discrimination 

Justice john marshall Halan’s dissent

• The arbitrary separation of citizens on the basis of race, while they are on a public highway is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the constitution

• What can more certainly arouse raace hate, what more certainly created and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between these races, than state entactments, which in fact proceed on the group that colored citizens are so inferior an ddegraded that they cannot bae allowed ot sit in public coaches occupred by white citizens? Taht as all will admit is the real meaning of such legislation

Legacy of plessy v ferguson

• The decision resulted in the acceptance/endorsement of segregation by the federal government for 60 years 

Proliferation of Jim Crow Laws

• some states required separate textbooks for black and white sutdents

• In Atlanta, African americans in court were given a differnt bible from white people to swear on

• Marrigae and cohabitaiton between white and black poeple was strictly forbidden in most southern states

• Not uncommon to see signs posted at town and city limits warning Afri an americans that they were not welcome there

Post-WWI and the development of the NAACP

• After WWI, african american soldiers returned ot find that they were still discriminated against at home

• Race riots

• lynching

• Practices in place to limit the economic advancement of black people

• The great depression further aggravates the situation

- Those challenging Jim Crow practices faced economic retaliation

redlining laws

• (draw on maps to ensure people could not buy homing)

Why was it important for chief justice warren to marshall through a consensus decision?

• Stare Decisis, legal norm of following precedent form past decisions

The racial divide today

• Equal employment opportunity commission EEOC files around 90,000 charges of discrimination each year

• National fair housing alliance reports around 28,000 case of housing discrimination each year

areas of racial division

• Voting access

• Economic inequality

• Hate crimes

• Inequality in law enforcement

First women’s rights convention

• 1848 seneca falls new york

• 68 women and 32 men sign a declaration of sentiments

• Modeled on the declaration of independence

• Influenced by quaker tenets that held that men and women were equals

• Also related to abolitionists movement

• Debate re: voting rights

Suffrage movement and race

• Susan B anthony: “i will cut off this right arm of mine before i will ever work rod emand the ballot for the negro and not the woman”

Sojourner truth

 “I feel that i have the right to have just as much as a man. There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get their rights and colored women get theres”

15th amendment 1869

• 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

• 1870 victoria woodhull address the judiciary committee of the US house of representatives arguing that women have the right to voter under the 14th amendment. The committee rejects her argument

National association opposed to women suffrage

• Challenged the notion of suffrage as a natural right

• Argued that women’s political participation threatened roles as wives, mother, educaitons and philanthropoists

19th amendment 1920

The right of citizen so the united states to vote shall not be denied or abridges by the unite states or any states by the account of sex

Congress shall have power to enforce this arficle by appropriate legislation

• Barriers remain for women of color

Text of the amendment 1972

• “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of sex. The congress shlall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article”

• Passed bother the US house and senate; sent to states for ratification

• 7 year deadline

• By 1979, 35 states had ratified need 38

• Deadline extended but no new states ratify 

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States, founded in 1909 to fight racial injustice.