Module III: Civil Rights

Civil Rights

• The government protected rights of individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals based on categories

  • Protect Groups

Social Movements

• The leadership and events associated with civil rights are evidence of how the equal protection clause can support and motivate social movements

• Seek to put pressure on government and it’s institutions to receive economic legal, political and social equality

Motivated Legislature

• The government can and has responded to social movements through enacting Federal Legislation

  • This legislation can help reinforce Constitutional principles

Activist Supreme Court

• The government can and has responded to social movements through court rulings

• The Court’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution is influenced by several factors

  • Has restricted minority rights and protected them at times

Affirmative Action

• Policies designed to give special attention or compensatory treatment to members of a previously disadvantaged group

  • Supporters argue it brings much needed diversity to promote equity and equality

  • Opponents argue that it is reverse discrimination and defies a merit based system