Civil Rights - Other Groups

1. How large is the Latino/a population in the United States? What term did the Census Bureau first use in 1970?

Over 68 million; the Census Bureau first used the term "Hispanic" in 1970.

2. Does the U.S. Government consider "Hispanic" a race or ethnicity, or something else?

It refers to a person's origin, not their race or ethnicity.

3. What are LULAC and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund?

Major organizations advocating for Latino civil rights through political action and legal challenges.

4. What did the Supreme Court rule in Hernandez v. Texas (1954)?

Excluding Hispanics from juries violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

5. What did the Supreme Court rule in San Antonio ISD v. Rodriguez (1973)?

Texas' school funding system did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.

6. What did the Supreme Court rule in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) regarding same-sex marriage?

Same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

7. What did the Supreme Court rule in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)? Who wrote the majority opinion, and why was that notable?

The Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination; written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative appointee.

8. What does the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 do? Whose protections does it extend?

It extends Civil Rights Act protections to people with disabilities and requires reasonable accommodations; it also applies to students.

9. When were Native Americans granted U.S. citizenship? What was the law called?

June 2, 1924, through the Indian Citizenship Act (Snyder Act), signed by President Calvin Coolidge.

10. What are some examples of how the federal government has mistreated Native Americans throughout history?

Violence, destruction, theft of land, forced relocation, treaty violations, assimilation, isolation, and poverty.

11. What did the Supreme Court rule in Williams v. Lee (1979) about state court jurisdiction on reservations?

State courts do not have jurisdiction over reservation matters unless Congress or state legislatures allow it.

12. What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

A law that banned Chinese immigration to the United States.

13. What did the Supreme Court rule in Ozawa v. United States (1922) about Asian Americans and citizenship?

Asian Americans were not considered white and therefore were denied citizenship.

14. What was Executive Order 9066, and what did it do to Japanese Americans during WWII? What fraction of those interned were U.S. citizens?

It authorized internment camps; two-thirds of those interned were U.S. citizens.

15. What did the Supreme Court rule in Korematsu v. United States (1944)?

It upheld the constitutionality of Japanese American internment camps.

16. What did the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 do in response to Japanese American internment?

It issued a formal apology and provided financial reparations to those affected.

17. What was the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, and why was it significant for Asian Americans?

It allowed Asian immigrants to become U.S. citizens, reversing earlier exclusion laws.