Civil Rights Part 1

Civil Rights

Protections from discrimination by gov based on race, gender, religion, etc.

Protected Class

Ppl who share a specific characteristic and are protected from discrimination and harassment based on that characteristic

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (interpreted to include gender identity + sexual orientation), or national origin

Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)

SC case that ruled employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity violates Title VII of Civil Rights Act

What actions counted as employment discrimination, according to the SC in Bostock v. Clayton County?

• Hiring/firing

• Promotions, demotions

• Discipline

• Training

• Work assignments

• Pay, overtime, etc.

• Fringe benefits (like work-sponsored gym membership)

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

13th amendment

Abolished slavery/involuntary servitude

14th Amendment

• Granted citizenship to newly freed African Americans

• Defined due process of law + fair treatment (as a requirement)

• Equal protection under the law (clause)

15th Amendment

Granted voting rights to African Americans

What are the post Civil-War protections?

13th, 14th, and 15th amendments

What were some aspects of the Post-Reconstruction Period that restricted newly freed African Americans/their rights?

• Poll taxes (limited voting via socioeconomic status)

• Literacy tests for voting rights (super hard, meant for ppl to fail)

• Grandfather clause (if ur grandfather voted before 1867, ur exempt from poll taxes)

• Miscegenation laws (forbid Blacks + whites from marrying/having sexual relations)

• All-white primaries

• Jim Crow laws

Jim Crow laws

Set of discriminatory local + state laws, primarily in the South, that enabled segregation + the disenfranchisement of African Americans

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

SC Case that established the 'Separate but Equal' doctrine (facilities for Blacks + whites could be separate as long as they were equal) + allowed de jure segregation

What is the “de jure” segregation that Plessy v. Ferguson permitted?

Segregation by law

What was segregation in the South? In the north? How were they different?

• South → De Jure segregation via Jim Crow laws

• North → De facto (of fact/in reality) segregation via customs + traditions (not formally recognized)

  • I.e., homogenous neighborhoods + skls

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - AP Required Case

SC Case that ruled that segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment b/c separate facilities are inherently unequal; overruled “separate but equal” doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson + in Brown II, called for integration immeadietly

Background of Brown v. BOE

• The SC case is actually 5 cases consolidated, coming from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware

• Case named after Oliver Brown, who’s daughter was denied enrollment at a nearby all-white elementary skl in 1951

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)

SC case deciding that busing was an appropriate remedy for racial imbalance in SKLS, even when the imbalance is cs of geographic proximity to a skl; highly controversial + lead to race riots; goal of integration + ALL students getting educational opportunities

Background of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)

• Case started bc Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC, schools stayed segregated 17 years after Brown v. BOE

• NAACP attorney sued on behalf of parents (including Darius + Vera Swann) b/c the skl district’s plan maintained segregation

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Abolished discrimination in employment and public accommodations, using Commerce Clause to defend it (since Constitution doesn’t say about it)

24th amendment [1964]

Abolished poll taxes for voting

Voting Rights Act [1965]

Signed by prez. Lyndon Johnson, it outlawed discriminatory voting practices (including literacy tests) + enforced 15th Amendment via federal oversight of registration and a preclearance system for election law changes

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

• Made it illegal to discriminate against ppl ages 40-70 when it comes to employment, due to their age (tho exceptions CAN be made; I.e. 65+ years old pilots must retire, etc.)

• Amended to prohibit mandatory retirement before 70 in MOST (not all) jobs

Civil Rights Act of 1968 (a.k.a. Fair Housing Act)

Made it illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of race (among other protected classes)

Title IX of the Education Act of 1972

• Banned sex discrimination in skls; mandated gender equity

• Applies to both academics + athletics

  • i.e., UMD can’t give more athletic scholarships to guys vs. girls

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

• Prohibits employment discrimination against physically and/or mentally disabled ppl

• Requires employers to provide “reasonable” accommodations

Would it be discrimination, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, for a person with a mental disability to be rejected from a job that requires a high-level of critical thinking?

No, b/c that person js wasn’t qualified

What has race, as a protected class, come to include?

Race + ethnicity

What has sex, as a protected class, come to include?

Gender identity + sexual orientation (Bostock vs. Clayton County)

Background of Korematsu v. United States

• Happened during the period after Japan’s attacks on Pearl Harbor

• Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American, refused to leave his home following Executive Order 9066 + military orders that authorized the forced relocation of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans (mostly citizens) into incarceration camps (as a result of Pearl Harbor)

  • This included children

• Korematsu argued his 5th amendment’s Due Process Clause + 14th amendment’s Equal Protection Clause were violated (to no vail)

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

SC case ruling (in 6-3 decision) that the U.S. government's wartime exclusion was constitutional; the need to protect against espionage (risk of them being traitors) outweighed Korematsu’s rights; ruling = significant b/c it was the first time SC applied strict scrutiny standard to racial (race + ethnicity) discrimination by gov

What was the constitutional question of Korematsu v. United States?

Did prez + Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion + restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?

What was Hugo Black’s (majority) opinion in Korematsu v. United States?

Compulsory exclusion (tho usually constitutionally suspicious) is justified during circumstances of “emergency and peril”

Strict Scrutiny

Harshest form of judicial review, used by courts to evaluate laws that discriminate based on race