Module 8 Civil Rights Test 2 GOV
Equal Protection Clause
"Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that says 'No State shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.'"
With the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment, which constitutional amendment is commonly used to fight sex discrimination?
14th
white primary
A commonly used measure in southern states in which only white voters were allowed to vote in a primary, effectively leaving African Americans out of the process.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion in areas like education, employment, and (privately owned) "public accommodations" such as restaurants, theatres, and hotels.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
A federal law that protects the voting rights of minorities from discriminatory voting practices. For example, it prohibits literacy tests, vote dilution, and requires jurisdictions with a significant language minority to provide non-English ballots.
equal protection
A guarantee found in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protecting an individual from discriminatory treatment by a state government.
segregation
A series of laws (or informal practices) whereby different races are separated from each other through differential access to resources for each race. This was common in schools throughout the south and for facilities like entrances, buses, water fountains, etc.
glass ceiling
An invisible (and metaphorical) barrier that keeps women out of top positions.
A glass ceiling refers to:
An invisible barrier that keeps women out of top managerial positions
What term refers to legal rights that aim at eliminating and/or remedying various forms of unequal treatment in American society, particularly discrimination against people based on such characteristics as race, sex/gender, religion, and sexual orientation?
Civil Rights
Which of the following has/have been a common complaint from businesses, as well as state and local governments, about the Americans with Disabilities Act? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Complying with the law can be very expensive and yet the cost is born almost completely by businesses or state/local governments (i.e., it is an unfunded mandate).
civil disobedience
Deliberate, open acts of lawbreaking intended to create awareness of unjust laws or government practices and thereby catalyze reforms of those laws or practices.
Which of the following techniques were used to prevent African Americans from running for office and/or exercising the right to vote during the era of racial segregation? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Denial of automatic voter registration (through the Grandfather Clause). "Literacy tests" Poll taxes White primaries
Which of the following are addressed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Discrimination against customers in public accommodations
Fair Housing Act
Found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act (as it is known) prohibits discrimination in the selling or rental of a dwelling on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The process of drawing district borders for a political purpose is called:
Gerrymandering
The United Farm Workers was organized for the bolstering of civil rights for which group?
Hispanics
Which of the following is true about the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
In this decision, the Court declared that "in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The case was sponsored by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund under the leadership of its chief legal counsel, Thurgood Marshall.
Which of the following assertions is/are true about the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for gays and lesbians in the military? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
It ended during Barack Obama's presidential administration. It started during Bill Clinton's presidential administration.
Civil Rights
Legal rights that aim at eliminating and/or remedying various forms of unequal treatment in American society, particularly discrimination against people based on such characteristics as race, sex/gender, religion, and sexual orientation.
Which of the following are examples discussed in this section of the textbook of benefits given to minority groups in compensation for past injustices? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Provision of medical care and education to Native Americans by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Respect for the "sovereignty" of Native Americans over reservations. Cash payment of $20,000 to all living survivors of Japanese American internment during World War III.
Which term refers to the denial of equal treatment by the government against someone based on their membership in some recognizable group?
Public Discrimination
de facto segregation
Segregation in fact despite not being mandated by law. This is distinguished from "De Jure Segregation," which is segregation as provided for by law
Which of the following claims are made in this section of the chapter? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Some civil rights pertain to discrimination by private citizens. Some civil rights pertain to discrimination by government. Private discrimination can become unlawful only if a legislature passes a law making the discrimination unlawful.
Which of the following statements is/are true about the Court's decision in the Bakke case (1978)? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
The Court ruled that Allan Bakke needed to be admitted to the University of California at Davis medical school. The Court ruled that schools may, if they choose, consider race as one (of many) factors when making admissions decisions, but they may not use a fixed numerical quota.
Which of the following is NOT a way that the voting rights of African Americans have been promoted?
The Voting Rights Act of 2005, which made it illegal for states to require picture identification for registering to vote.
vote dilution
The act of deliberately drawing district lines in such a way that minority voters are dispersed among a number of jurisdiction in an effort to reduce their political power.
Which of the following assertions is/are true about the Supreme Court's decision in the Boy Scouts of America (2000) case? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
The case tested whether the State of New Jersey, by forbidding the Boy Scouts of America from excluding a scout leader on account of his being gay, violated the Boys Scouts' First Amendment right to associational freedom.
What was the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Virginia Military Institute (1996) case?
The college DID have to admit women
discrimination
The conscious or unconscious denial of equal treatment to a person based on their membership in some recognizable group.
Private Discrimination
The denial of equal treatment by a private citizen pursuing their interests in the private sector against someone based on their membership in some recognizable group.
affirmative action
The policies by which government agencies move to remedy past discrimination by assuring inclusion of under-represented groups (especially women and racial minorities) through the use of goals, quotas, and timetables.
gerrymandering
The process of drawing district borders to reach a desired political end.
Which of the following claims about court-mandated busing was NOT made in this section of the chapter?
The purpose of mandatory busing was to keep white and African American children in separate schools.
Reconstruction Amendments
Three amendment (the 13th, 14th, and 15th) to the U.S. Constitution passed during the Reconstruction Era. These amendments made such a dramatic transformation of the Founders' Constitution that their ratification is sometimes aptly referred to as America's "Second Founding."
Beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated which of the following as he built a national movement promoting civil rights for African Americans? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
Using civil disobedience to highlight the injustice of segregation and win the support of otherwise indifferent whites. Integrating the races on equal terms
Due to a 1993 Supreme Court decision, when alleging sexual harassment in the workplace, employees must show that ... (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
a reasonable person would find their work environment to be "hostile or abusive."
Some argue that a federal law that requires all male (and only male) citizens to register for the military draft when they turn 18-years-old unconstitutionally discriminates against women. According to the Supreme Court, that draft registration law is...
constitutional because men and women are "simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft."
In the case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court ... (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
declared constitutional a state law mandating segregated train cars. established the principle of "separate but equal," which would not be overturned for another 58 years.
In 1883, the Supreme Court ... (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional because the Fourteenth Amendment does not empower Congress to outlaw private discrimination.
Affirmative action programs for women ... (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
have been adopted by federal, state, even some local government agencies. in some cities have extended to formerly all-male civic clubs like the Jaycees and Rotary Club. have been adopted (in response to encouragement by government) by private employers who do business with the government.
The 13th, 14th, and/or 15th Amendments ... (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
made it unconstitutional to deny anyone the right to vote because of their race. outlawed slavery. declared everyone born in the United States a citizen. granted Congress power to enact "appropriate legislation" to protect civil rights.
de jure segregation
segregation by law
Which of the following assertions is/are made about age discrimination in this section of the textbook? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)
whereas the Constitution provides relatively weak protection against age discrimination, statutes enacted by Congress and state legislatures have provided stronger protections against age discrimination. a lot of legal controversies about age discrimination today are about efforts by employers to save money by dismissing employees who are about to reach the retirement age.
