Struggles for Equality: Civil Rights in American Society

1. Chapter 21Civil Rights Kelly Engebretson Casey Berg Scott Conley

2. Diversity and Discrimination in American Society • “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” – George Orwell Animal Farm • White Americans have been historically reluctant to yield to nonwhite Americans a full and equal place in the social, economic, and political life of this nation. • The white-male-dominated power structure has also been slow to recognize the claims of women to a full and equal place in American society.

4. Discrimination Against African Americans Civil Rights Leader: Martin Luther King Junior African American Slaves • African Americans are the second largest minority group in the U.S. • They have been the victims of consistent and deliberate unjust treatment. • Most of the gains the U.S. has made toward granting all citizens equal rights have come out of efforts on behalf of African Americans.

5. Native Americans • In the 17th century some one million Native Americans lived in the United States. • By 1900 that number had decreased to less than 250,000. • Today more than 2.7 million Native Americans live in this country. More than a third of them live on or near reservations.

6. Hispanics now make up the largest minority group in America. More than half of all Hispanics in the U.S. were born in Mexico or trace their ancestry there. The largest amount of the Mexican American population lives in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Hispanic Americans

7. Asian Americans • Chinese laborers were the first Asians to come to the U.S. – 1850’s-1860’s • The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 limited the amount of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asians that could enter the U.S.

8. Discrimination Against Women • Today Women hold little more than 10% of the seats in Congress • Today only 8 of 50 women are governors • Fewer than 20% of the nation’s doctors, lawyers, and college professors are women.

10. Equality Before the Law • “No state shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” – U.S. Constitution • The Supreme Court applies the rational basis test which asks the question “Does the classification in question bear a reasonable relationship to the achievement of some proper governmental purpose?” • A higher standard test known as the strict scrutiny test is applied in cases that deal with fundamental rights or suspect classifications.

11. Rosa Parks • In 1955 Rosa Parks disobeyed the law and refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. • During this time the Jim Crow Laws were in effect. These were laws that separated people on the basis of race.

12. Segregation in America • 1896- the Supreme Court provided a constitutional basis for Jim Crow laws by creating the separate-but-equal doctrine. • Then in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education the Supreme Court unanimously held that segregation by race in public education is unconstitutional.

13. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 • It was passed after the longest debate in the Senate’s history (83 days), and only after the Senate had invoked cloture to kill a filibuster. • With its several later amendments, the law’s major sections now: • Provide that no person may be denied access to or refused service in various “public accommodations.” • Prohibit discrimination against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or physical disability in any program that receives federal funding. • Forbids employers and labor unions to discriminate against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical disability, or age in job-related matters.

14. On September 4, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus defied the court, calling in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African American students--"The Little Rock Nine"--from entering the building. Ten days later in a meeting with President Eisenhower, Faubus agreed to use the National Guard to protect the African American teenagers, but on returning to Little Rock, he dismissed the troops, leaving the African American students exposed to an angry white mob The Little Rock Nine • Under federal protection, the "Little Rock Nine" finished out the school year. The following year, Faubus closed all the high schools, forcing the African American students to take correspondence courses or go to out-of-state schools

15. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 • Also called the Open House Act- it forbids anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability.

16. Affirmative Action • A policy that requires most employers take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations. • The adoption of affirmative action programs in 1965 • The rules that require certain numbers of jobs or promotions for members of certain groups are called quotas

17. Reverse Discrimination • Decided in 1978, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, involved Allan Bakke, a white male, who had been denied admission to medical school. The school had set aside 16 new seats each year for nonwhite students. • He sued, charging the university with reverse discrimination and, so, a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. • By a 5-4 vote the Court held that Bakke had been denied equal protection and should be admitted into the medical school.

18. Citizenship • “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” – United States Constitution • Jus soli- the law of soil, which determines citizenship based on where a person was born • Jus sanguinis- the law of blood, which determines citizenship based on one’s parents’ citizenship.

19. Naturalization • The legal process by which a person becomes a citizen of another country at some time after birth. • Congress has the exclusive power to provide for naturalization. • More than 800,000 aliens now become naturalized American citizens each year. • At various times, most often when the United States has acquired new territory, entire groups have been naturalized en masse.

20. Losing Citizenship • Although it rarely happens, every American citizen, whether native-born or naturalized, has the right to renounce– voluntarily abandon– his or her citizenship. This process is called expatriation. • Naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship involuntarily through denaturalization. This can only happen by a court order and only after it has been shown that the person became a citizen by fraud or deception.

21. Immigration Policies • The Immigration Act of 1990- governs the admission of aliens to the United States. • The law provided for a substantial increase in the number of immigrants who may enter the United States each year. • The annual ceiling is now set at 675,000 • Deportation is a legal process in which aliens are legally required to leave the United States. Population as of 2000

22. Undocumented Aliens • No one knows how many undocumented aliens reside in the United States today. • The Census Bureau now puts their number at about nine million– which is more than double of their estimate for a decade ago. • The number increases by at least half a million a year. • Over half of all undocumented aliens come from Mexico.

23. Issues with Illegal Immigrants Today • It was reported on CNN April 4 that some Senators are in favor of a guest worker program. Advocates of a guest worker program want to give illegal aliens a green card after they've worked in the country for six years. • The net result, a bit of a stalemate. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have the 60 votes that would be necessary to cut off debate and move to a floor vote. • One problem with attempting to control the amount of illegal aliens that are in the United States is that there is no definite answer for the question of how many are actually here? • One side of the argument is that we need illegal aliens to do jobs that U.S. citizens are not willing to do. • The opposing side claims that we barely have enough work for all the people that are citizens which is proven through the unemployment rates.

24. Civil Rights Issues of Today • The major debate in society today is gay marriage. • It parallels to when our country faced the decision of whether or not to allow interracial marriages. • Wisconsin voters recently got to voice their opinion on the ballots. • Many believe that gay marriage is wrong and goes against what is natural in our society. • Others think that there is nothing wrong with same sex marriage and we are just going in reverse in our history.

26. Another issue that we have faced in the past and are now facing today is the issue of abortion. People that believe in the rights of women are pro-choice. Others who believe in the rights of the baby are pro-life. The right of a woman to have an abortion performed on her has recently been revoked in the state of South Dakota. The law makes it a felony to perform any abortion except in a case of a pregnant woman's life being in jeopardy. The law will go into affect in July. Issues of Today

27. It seems that the issues today are caused by a conflict of opinion of the government and the church. Americans are so worried about making sure that our laws are not at all influenced by the church it seems that sometimes they lose sight of the issue and focus more on refuting the church. Issues of Todayin my (kelly’s) opinion