Civil Rights in America: A Historical Overview

1. America’s Democratic Republic Ch. 5: Civil Rights

2. Introduction • Civil rights: government guarantees of equality for all with regard to judicial proceedings, political rights, treatment by public officials and access to and enjoyment of the benefits of government programs • Expansion of civil rights significantly democratized the American republic

3. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • The concept of equality is not mentioned in the Constitution or Bill of Rights • State constitutions did virtually nothing to guarantee equality before the law • Late 18th and early 19th centuries instead saw great concern for protecting individuals from the government

4. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • African Americans and women were not passive bystanders in the fight for equality • Participated as best they could • Fought for equality through protests, boycotts, work on the Underground Railroad and through the political system

5. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Civil War Amendments (sometimes called the Reconstruction Amendments) • 13th (1865): abolished slavery • 14th (1868) • Defined citizenship (reversed Dred Scott v. Sanford 1857) • Guaranteed due process • Afford privileges and immunities • Guaranteed equal protection of the law

6. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Civil War Amendments (sometimes called the Reconstruction Amendments) • 15th (1870): banned discrimination in voting based on race, color or previous condition of servitude • Does not confer suffrage

7. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Undermining the Civil War Amendments • Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) • Eviscerated the privileges and immunities clause in the 14th Amendment • Civil Rights Cases (1883) • 14th Amendment did not permit Congress to prohibit discrimination unless it was practiced by state government

8. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Undermining the Civil War Amendments • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • Prohibited separation of the races in intrastate travel as long as facilities were “equal” • Provided the legal foundation for the dual society, also known as Jim Crow • De facto segregation • De jure segregation • Overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

9. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Weakening the 15th Amendment • Poll taxes • Grandfather clause • White primary

10. Civil Rights Before the 20th Century • Women and the 15th Amendment • Minor v. Happersett (1874): women’s suffrage not an inherent right in the national citizenship guarantees of 14th Amendment • Abandoned legal challenges and turned to direct action • 19th Amendment (1920) • Banned discrimination in voting based on sex

11. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Changes in interpretation of the Constitution and interracial relations were shaped by the civil rights movement

12. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Civil Rights Movement • 1940’s – 1960’s • Ended formal segregation across the nation • Major civil rights organizations • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) • Main tactic: non-violent direct action

13. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Key Events • 1954: Brown v. Board of Education • 1957: Montgomery Bus Boycott • 1960: Freedom Rides • 1961: Sit-ins • 1962: Integration of Ole Miss

14. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Key Events • 1963 • Birmingham demonstrations • Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church and murder of four girls • Integration of University of Alabama • March on Washington • Murder of Medgar Evers • Civil Rights bill sent to Congress • Assassination of JFK

15. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Key Events • 1964 • Passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Ended legal segregation in public accommodations and schools • The Summer Project, also known as Freedom Summer • Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner

16. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Key Events • 1965 • Murder of Malcolm X • Voter registration demonstrations • Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson • Bloody Sunday • Murder of Rev. Jim Reeb and Viola Luizzo • Selma March • Passage of Voting Rights Act

17. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Key Events • 1964 - 1967 • Urban rebellions (race riots) in large northern cities across the country • “White backlash” • 1968 • Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. • Murder of Robert F. Kennedy • Poor People’s Campaign • Passage of Civil Rights Act of 1968

18. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Affirmative Action • Main goal of Civil Rights Movement was to remove artificial barriers • Because of hundreds of years of discrimination, economic and social situation of many blacks remained stagnant • Progress had to involve proactive governmental efforts

19. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Important Actions • Richard Nixon’s Philadelphia Plan (1969) • Required minority set asides from construction companies and associated unions with federal contracts • Regents v. Bakke (1978) • Quotas are unconstitutional, but race can be one factor among several in hiring or college admissions

20. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Proponents of Affirmative Action • Impact of past discrimination is so pervasive, removing artificial barriers is not enough • United States’ diverse society requires tolerance and sense of community • Those who are disadvantaged or discriminated against need successful role models in important societal institutions

21. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Opponents of Affirmative Action • Violates the American principle of individualism • Reverse discrimination • Main beneficiaries of affirmative action are middle class • Increases intergroup and interracial tension

22. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Public Opinion on Affirmative Action • Americans approve of • Diversity • Merit • Equality of opportunity • Americans disapprove of • “Reverse discrimination” • Special rights or privileges • Equality of result

23. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Supreme Court on Affirmative Action • By 1980s, the Court was ruling that laws that were not color-blind should be given strict scrutiny, but • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) reaffirmed Regents v. Bakke (1978) • Quotas are illegal • Race can be one of several factors

24. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Affirmative Action and Federal Constitutional Law • Race as the defining qualification in government programs is considered unconstitutional unless “compelling and necessary reasons. . .” are proved • In government contracts or hiring affirmative action is constitutional only if narrowly tailored to rectify past actions by a particular government agency is a compelling reason

25. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Affirmative Action and federal constitutional law • Regarding admissions to educational institutions, actions that try to rectify past discriminatory admissions policies that are “compelling and necessary” are constitutional

26. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Racial Minorities • Affirmative Action and federal constitutional law • Regarding admissions to educational institutions, • the goal of achieving a diverse student body is a compelling reason • Race can only be one of several factors

27. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • The women’s movement was unable to win passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, but • Issues such as sexual harassment, family medical leave, pay equity, etc., are part of the nation’s political agenda

28. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Rights for women have changed more by changes in society’s attitude than by a loose constructionist view of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause

29. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Legal Considerations • Craig v. Boren (1976) • Intermediate scrutiny: “gender as a somewhat suspect classification” • A law that would be constitutional if the use of gender was substantially related to an important objective • This was reaffirmed in United States v. Virginia (1996)

30. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Abortion Rights • Roe v. Wade (1973) • Existence of a general right for women to decide to terminate a pregnancy • Abortion from a legislative issue to a constitutional issue • Reflected • Changes in public opinion • Inequities against women • Pressure from interest groups

31. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Abortion Rights • Roe v. Wade (1973) • Justice Blackmun’s opinion prohibited • The state from interfering in the first two trimesters • Any state actions in the third trimester that might threaten health or life of mother

32. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Abortion Rights • Roe v. Wade (1973) • In response to state restrictions • Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989) • Allowed states to set restrictions • Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) • Restrictions can’t “place an undue burden” on a woman’s right to choose • Post-1992, laws restricting abortions must contain exceptions when life or health of mother is at risk

33. Contemporary Status of Civil Rights for Women • Sexual Harassment • Disagreement about the definition • 1980: EEOC ruled that • Sexual activity as a condition of employment violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Creating “an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment” is against the law • Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. (1993) • Workers only have to prove that the workplace is hostile or abusive

34. Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella • Elderly and Disabled • Mandatory retirement barred • Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) • Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) • Prohibits discrimination • Requires reasonable efforts to make jobs and public accommodations accessible • 2001 Congress barred state employees from suing for damages

35. Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella • Gays and Lesbians • Stonewall Rebellion 1969 • Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) • Upheld Georgia’s sodomy law • Romer v. Evans (1996) • State laws denying basic civil rights to gays and lesbians are unconstitutional • Lawrence v. Texas (2003) • Overturned Bowers v. Hardwick

36. Broadening the Civil Rights Umbrella • Gays and Lesbians • Looming issues • Gay marriage • Defense of Marriage Act 1996 • Adoption of children by gays

37. Civil Rights in the Democratic Republic • Civil rights issues have significantly altered the republican Constitution • Absence of constitutional foundation guaranteeing civil rights made the fight much longer • Advances have been uneven

38. Ch. 5: Civil Rights The End