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Equal Rights/Civil Rights Overview
The struggle for equality has spanned centuries and continues today, often referred to as both "Equal Rights" (by Professor Thomas Patterson) and "Civil Rights." In political science, the focus is on how equal rights impact laws, democratic institutions, and political power in America.
Equal rights impose a positive obligation on the government to act proactively to protect rights, typically understood as equality, equal treatment, and equal protection. These are also known as positive rights, meaning the government must take positive steps to prohibit discrimination. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed after the Civil War, specifically requires equal protection of the laws for all people.
Summary: Equal rights encompass the right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to society's opportunities and public facilities. Freedom and equality are key political values that are inversely related: more freedom can mean more inequality, and more equality can mean less freedom. Societies continually seek the right balance between these two.
The 14th Amendment and Equal Protection
The 14th Amendment provides the legal basis for equal protection of the laws, prohibiting government from treating people differently in certain cases. The level of scrutiny applied by the Supreme Court determines which cases are considered. Under federal law:
Strict scrutiny: Applies to racial minorities experiencing discrimination by the government.
Intermediate scrutiny: Applies to groups like gender.
Reasonable basis test: Applies to issues like age discrimination.
Discrimination
Historically, discrimination has occurred despite the 14th Amendment. Political science describes two types:
De Jure Discrimination: Discrimination stemming from a law based on race, sex, religion, or ethnicity.
De Facto Discrimination: Discrimination resulting from social, economic, and cultural biases and conditions based on race, sex, religion, or ethnicity.
Examples of Discrimination:
WWII Japanese Internment: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 in 1942 led to the forced internment of 122,000 people of Japanese descent, many of whom were U.S. citizens, in concentration camps. Many experienced significant financial losses.
California Anti-Discrimination Laws: California state laws prohibit discrimination in the workplace for employers of 5 or more, covering areas like advertisements, hiring, working conditions, and participation in training programs. These protections extend to LGBTQ+ employees as of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The Struggle for Equal Rights: Slavery
Slavery began in colonial America in 1619 and was deeply embedded in American society, particularly in the Southern economy. Both Northern and Southern states benefited from the institution. California, though entering as a