Equal Rights Under the Law

Transcription

1 Chapter 16 Civil Rights Equal Rights Under the Law In 1978, Seattle became the first city to use busing to integrate schools without a court order In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Seattle s plan Chief Justice Roberts: The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race Equal Rights Under the Law The Constitution does not make any reference to equality But the framers did create a government designed to protect natural rights 1

2 2 Equality and Equal Rights Most agree that everyone should have equality of opportunity Some also focus attention on equality between groups Affirmative action Questions regarding equality of results Citizenship Rights Naturalization A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien Dual citizenship Citizenship in more than one nation Right of expatriation The right to renounce one s citizenship Requirements for Naturalization

3 3 Rights of U.S. Citizens Importance of state citizenship Rights of citizenship can be curbed during times of war Rights of U.S. Citizens Right to live and travel in the United States Aliens do not have this right and may be turned away at the borders if they don t meet the terms and conditions set out by the Constitution Right to travel abroad Can be regulated within the bounds of due process Rights of Aliens Enemy Alien Act of 1798 Racial Equality: Segregation and White Supremacy During Reconstruction (late 1860s~1870s), Congress passed civil rights laws But, the Supreme Court struck down many of these laws By 1877, Reconstruction was ended, and northern political leaders abandoned African Americans to their fate at the hands of their former white masters Beginning with WWI, African Americans began to migrate northward

4 4 Racial Equality: Slow Government Response By the 1930s, African Americans were challenging segregation in the courts In the late 1950s, an emerging national consensus in favor of governmental action to protect civil rights began to influence Congress A Turning Point: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Montgomery, AL, Bus Boycott You may well ask, Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn t negotiation a better path? You are quite right in calling for negotiations. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. -Dr. Martin Luther King Successes Civil Rights Act (1964) Voting Rights Act (1965

5 5 Riots and Reaction Watts, CA 1965 Detroit 1967 Vietnam War and Watergate diverted attention from civil rights Little governmental attention since then Women s Rights Fifteenth Amendment did not bar denial of the vote on the grounds of gender Women had to fight for universal suffrage Percentage of Bachelor s Degrees Awarded to Men

6 6 Hispanics Latinos have suffered discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and education, and have faced harsh treatment from police and other government officials Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association to organize Latinos Asian Americans Asian Americans face widespread prejudice, discrimination and barriers to equal opportunity -U.S. Civil Rights Commission Chinese Americans Japanese Americans Other Asian Americans Reservations Native Americans History of discrimination Trail of Tears Urban Relocation Program Activist groups American Indian Movement (AIM) ACLU

7 7 Constitutional Classifications and Tests Rational Basis Test Strict Scrutiny Test Heightened Scrutiny Heightened Scrutiny Covers: Race Gender Fundamental rights Does not cover: Age Poverty Sexual orientation Major Civil Rights Laws

8 8 Voting Rights White Primary Racial Gerrymandering Devices used to prevent African Americans from voting Poll Tax Literacy Tests Racial Gerrymandering In 1960, the Court held that racial gerrymandering drawing electoral districts to ensure that African Americans would be a minority in all districts was contrary to the Fifteenth Amendment In 1993, the Court ruled that although it was a legitimate goal for state legislatures to consider race when drawing electoral districts to increase the voting strength of minorities, they could not make race the sole or predominant reason for drawing district lines Rights to Equal Access: Accommodations & Employment Jim Crow laws Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 1960s: Broad construal of commerce clause 1964 Civil Rights Act Title II Title VII The Fair Housing Act and Amendments

9 9 Rights to Equal Access: Education In 1953, the Supreme Court heard the case of Brown v. Board of Education, argued by NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson Problems with implementation From Segregation to Desegregation But Not Yet Integration De Jure Segregation Segregation and discrimination mandated by state and local laws De Facto Segregation Segregation and discrimination resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice The Affirmative Action Controversy University of California v. Bakke (1978) was one of the earliest challenges to affirmative action in the university Richmond v. Croson (1989) California s Proposition 209

10 10 Reaffirming the Importance of Diversity Barbara Grutter (left) was the unsuccessful plaintiff in Grutter v. Bollinger Jennifer Gratz (right) was the successful plaintiff in Gratz v. Bollinger