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Civil Rights

Civil Rights. Rebecca Pavlicek Socorro Rios Alejandra Zuniga. The Struggle For Equality: (5.1). Slaves sought Freedom, African Americans fought for the right to vote and to be treated as equals, women pursued equal participation in society.

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Civil Rights

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  1. Civil Rights Rebecca Pavlicek Socorro Rios Alejandra Zuniga

  2. The Struggle For Equality: (5.1) Slaves sought Freedom, African Americans fought for the right to vote and to be treated as equals, women pursued equal participation in society. The struggle involves defining the term equality and Constitutionally it involves interpreting laws. Conceptions: Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are equal” but this didn’t mean he believed everyone was alike or no difference among each human being. A belief in equal rights has led belief in equality of opportunity (everyone should have a chance to succeed).

  3. The Constitution and Inequality: (5.1) • Delegates of the Constitutional Convention made a plan for the government but did not mention any individual rights. • The only mention of equality appears in the Constitution is in the Fourteenth Amendment. • How do courts determine whether classification in a law is permissible or violates the equal protection of the law? • Most classification must be reasonable • This means that a classification must bear a rational relationship to some legitimate governmental purpose • Ex: educating students in college.

  4. 14th Amendment: • “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” • “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” • “Nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction to the equal protection of the laws.”

  5. Terms & Concepts: (5.1) • Civil rights- policies to help protect people against discriminatory treatment by any individual. • Equal protection of the laws- emphasizes that laws must provide equivalent “protection” to all people.

  6. African Americans’ Civil Rights (5.2) • Era of Slavery-The first 250 years of America African’s lived in slavery. • In 1857 Scott v. Sandfordstated that they had no rights under a white mans government. • 13th Amendment-forbade slavery and involuntary servitude. • Reconstruction and Segregation-Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 provided constitutional justification for segregation, ruling that “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” was constitutional.

  7. AACR Continued… • Equal Education-Civil rights advocates focused on desegregating schools. • The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) selected the case of Linda Brown. This is known as Brown v. Board of Education. • Brown v. Board of Education-1954 school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violates 14th Amendment. Marked end of legal segregation in the U.S • Civil Rights Movement & Public Policy-Organized sit-ins, marches, and civil disobedience.

  8. Cont’ Civil Rights Act • Racial discrimination illegal in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other places of accommodation. • Forbade discrimination in employment. • Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce job discrimination.

  9. Cont’ • Voting Rights • Adopted the 15th Amendment adopted in 1870 extended suffrage to African Americans. • And the 24th Amendment passed in 1964 declared poll taxes void in federal elections. • Held the White Primaries to exclude African Americans from voting in primary elections. • They combatted these discriminations with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.A law designed to help African Americans with formal and informal barriers on suffrage. The number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

  10. The Rights of Other Minority Groups: (5.3) • America is heading toward a minority majority: a situation in which Americans who are members of minority groups will outnumber Americans of European descent. • Native Americans • 4.5 billion people identify themselves at least part Native American • History of poverty, discrimination and exploitation. • Deprived of their lands by government • Government forced assimilation, sent kids to boarding schools, and banned tribal rituals and languages. • 1924: Congress made Native’s citizens of the united states. • From then on they began to use the courts protect their rights.

  11. The ROOMG continued… (5.3) • Hispanic Americans • There are 47 million and count for about 15% of the U.S. population. • In Texas in the first half of the 20th century, people of Mexican origin where subjected to discrimination. • Forced to use segregated public restrooms and attend segregated schools. Hundreds killed in lynching's. • Asian Americans • They suffered discrimination in education, jobs and housing as well as restrictions on immigration and naturalization. • Those of Japanese decent where put in encampments. • Policy changes have led to changes in status and in political strength for Asian Americans. Now they have assumed prominent positions in U.S. society.

  12. ROOMG Continued…… • Arab Americans and Muslims • They have been victims of bias-related assaults, threats, vandalism and arson. • They have also experienced discrimination in employment, housing, education and access to public accommodations and facilities. • As have seen in 2004, the supreme court declared the detainees had the right to challenge their detention before a judge or other neutral decision maker. • The struggle to minority groups has not been limited to minority groups.

  13. Terms & Concepts:(5.3) • Hernandez V. Texas- A 1954 Supreme Court decision that extended protection against discrimination to Hispanics. (came into play because the jury convicted a man of murder which could not be impartial because of the exclusion of Hispanics.) • Korematsu V. United States- A 1944 Supreme Court decisions that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during World War II.

  14. Women’s rights (5.4) • The Battle for the Vote-On July 19, 1848 100 people signed the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. • 72 years later the 19thAmendment was adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote. • Doldrums-Feminist movement lost momentum. There was considerable division within the movement on certain priorities • Public policy started to be dominated by protectionism rather than by equality.

  15. Cont’ (5.4) • Equal Rights Amendment- introduced in 1923 stating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of sex” the amendment fell short of ¾’s of state legislatures required for passage. • The Second Feminist Wave-Civil rights movement in 1950’s and 1960’s joined student and antiwar movements. • In the 1971 Reed v. Reed case for the first time the Supreme courts upheld a claim of gender discrimination. • And 5 years later in 1976 the Craig v. Boren case that ruled the “intermediate scrutiny” standard for determining gender discrimination, was heard.

  16. Cont’ 5.4 • Women in the workplace-There are 72 million women in the civilian labor force. • Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth-Women’s jobs often pay much less than men’s jobs. • Sexual Harassment-In 1986 “the Supreme Court articulated this broad principle: Sexual harassment that is so pervasive as to create a hostile or abusive work environment is a form of gender discrimination.” • Women in the Military-”Women have served in every branch of the armed services since World War II.”

  17. Who else benefits from civil rights? Aging Americans Disabled People Gays & Lesbians

  18. Aging Americans • Accounting 12% of the total population, 37 million Americans are 65 or older, and nearly 4.5 million people are 85+. • Starting in the 1930s, the Social Security program decided to establish a retirement age of 65. This decision, caused age discrimination among older workers and people who were over thirty years of age seeking to attend a graduate school. • Due to discrimination acts, congressed passed a law in the 1930’s that banned SOME kinds of age discrimination.

  19. People with Disabilities • Americans with disabilities have suffered from both direct and indirect discrimination. • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment. • Aside from the civil rights that defend individuals with disabilities, it’s been tough to determine who is disabled. For instance, whether or not individuals with AIDS deserve to be protected as individuals with disabilities. • In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that the ADA offered protection against discrimination to people with AIDS. • In 2008, congress expanded the definition of disability making it easier for people to prove discrimination.

  20. Gay and Lesbians Rights • Including conservative estimates, several million Americans are homosexual. Yet, homosexual individuals have faced discrimination in hiring, access to public accommodations, housing and many other equality rights that are taken away from them. • In 1969, the growth of the gay rights movement started developing. Since then, most colleges and universities now have gay rights organizations.

  21. Gay and Lesbian Rights • In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which permits states to disregard same-sex marriages even if they are legal elsewhere in the United States. • Aside from all discriminatory acts, gay activists have fought to make same-sex marriages legal and they have conquered in some states such as: Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Washington.

  22. Affirmative Action • Affirmative Action: A policy design to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group. • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke: A 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a state university could weigh race or ethnic background as one element in admissions but could not set aside places for members of particular racial groups. • Adarand Constructors v. Pena: A 1995 Supreme Court decision holding that federal programs that classify people by race, even for an ostensibly benign purpose such as expanding opportunities for minorities, should be presumed to be unconstitutional.

  23. Civil Rights and Democracy • In the 14th amendment, “equal protection of the laws.” started as the basis for major civil rights. These five words, were also the closest statement implying equality in the constitution. • Equality is a basic principle of democracy. • In general, Americans today strongly believe in protecting minority rights against majority restrictions.

  24. Civil Rights and the Scope of Government • Civil rights laws increase the scope and power of government. • Civil Rights permit the government to establish laws that defend the protection of each individual. However, civil rights, is an area in which increased government and protection of individualism. 5.7

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