Chapter 5 - Civil Rights and Public Policy

Poll taxes

Small taxes levied on the right to vote that often fell due at a time of year when poor African-American sharecroppers had the least cash on hand. This method was used by most Southern states to exclude African Americans from voting. Poll taxes were declared void by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964.

Chicana Rights Project

Established by MALDEF to try to challenge the sex discrimination against Mexican American women.

The first women's rights activist were products of the _______ _____________, in which they had often encountered sexist attitudes.

Abolitionist movement

Dred Scott v. Sandford Case Details

"Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. From 1833 to 1843, he resided in Illinois (a free state) and in the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After returning to Missouri, Scott filed suit in Missouri court for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man."

What does it mean to say that the Bill of Rights has "implications of equality?"

"It does not limit the scope of its guarantees to specified groups within society." For example, it does not say that only men are entitled to freedom of speech.

Plessy v. Ferguson Case Details

"Louisiana enacted the Separate Car Act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. In 1892, Homer Plessy - who was seven-eighths Caucasian - agreed to participate in a test to challenge the Act. He was solicited by the Comite des Citoyens (Committee of Citizens), a group of New Orleans residents who sought to repeal the Act. They asked Plessy, who was technically black under Louisiana law, to sit in a "whites only" car of a Louisiana train. The railroad cooperated because it thought the Act imposed unnecessary costs via the purchase of additional railroad cars. When Plessy was told to vacate the whites-only car, he refused and was arrested."

Affirmative action examples

"Outreach campaigns, targeted recruitment, employee and management development, and employee support programs are examples of affirmative action in employment."

Guinn v. United States

(1915) an early victory for the NAACP in which the Supreme Court struck down Oklahoma's grandfather clause used to deprive African Americans of the vote

Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education

(1969) Case fifteen years after the Brown decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ordered an immediate end to segregation in public schools.

MALDEF

(Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund) it tried to end discriminatory practices through lawsuits

Stonewall Riots (1969)

- New York city - Triggered activist protests among gays and lesbians - police raided gay bar - people fought back - became symbol of oppression of gays, began the gay pride movement

Matthew Shepard

1 December 1976-12 October 1998, University of Wyoming; He was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming. He died from severe head injuries. The violence against Shepard was due to how the attacker felt about gays. It brought national and international attention to the hate crimes

When did Congress make Native Americans citizens of the United States and give them the right to vote?

1924

Korematsu v. United States

1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans, including into concentration camps. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 to each survivor.

The Tail Hook Scandal

100 U.S. Navy and Marine aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted 83 women

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FBI detained more than _______ persons as possible threats to national security. About ____-______ of these persons, mostly Arabs and Muslims - were illegal aliens, and many of them languished in jail for months until cleared by the FBI. Their detention seemed to violate the ________ ____________ right of detainees to be informed of accusations against them, as well as the constitutional protection against the suspension of the _______ _____ ___________ __________. As we have seen, in 2004 the Supreme Court declared that detainees in the United States had the right to __________ _________ ________ before a judge or other neutral decision maker.

1200, two-thirds, Sixth Amendment, writ of habeas corpus, challenge their detention

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

When did the secretary of defense lift the ban on women in combat?

2015

In the early 1950s, in Jackson County, Texas, where Mexican Americans made up 14 percent of the population, not a single person with a Spanish surname had been allowed to serve on a jury in ______ years.

25

There are about ______ million persons of Arab ancestry in the United States, and about ____ million Muslims of various ethnicities.

3.5, 6

About how many people are older than 65 and what percent of the population do they account for?

46 million, 15 percent

What percent of the population in New Mexico are Hispanic Americans? How about for Texas and California?

48 percent, 39 percent

About how many people are older than 85?

5.5 million people

Approximately how many Latinos served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II?

500,000

There are now more than _________ Hispanics elected to public office in the United States

5200

There are ____ _____________ Hispanic Americans in the United States, and they account for ______ percent of the total population.

55 million, 17 percent

About _______ million people identify themselves as at least part Native American or Native Alaskan

6.6

In 1965, only ______ African Americans held public office in the 11 former Confederate states. After the Voting Rights Act however, by the early 1980s, more than ___________ African Americans held elected offices in those states. Today, more than __________ African Americans hold elected offices.

70, 2500, 9400.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

A 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a state university may weigh race or ethnic background as one element in admissions, but may not set aside places for members of particular racial groups.

Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995)

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.

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

A U.S. federal law (1988) providing a legal basis for the operation and regulation of games to protect tribal revenue, encourage tribal economic development and protect the tribal economics from negative influences.

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867 (so before Reconstruction). This of course banned all people of color from voting.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

A constitutional amendment originally introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." Despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from three-fourths of the state legislatures for passage.

Redlining

A discriminatory real estate practice in North America in which members of minority groups are prevented from obtaining money to purchase homes or property in predominantly white neighborhoods. The practice derived its name from the red lines depicted on cadastral maps used by real estate agents and developers. Today, redlining is officially illegal.

American GI Forum

A group founded by World War II veterans in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1948 to protest the poor treatment of Mexican American soldiers and veterans.

Affirmative Action

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.

Smith v. Allwright

A supreme court case in 1944 that ruled that it was unconstitutional to deny membership in political parties to African Americans as a way of excluding them from voting in primaries.

A year after its decision in Brown v. Board, the Court ordered lower courts to proceed with "_____________ _____________ ___________" to desegregate public schools.

All deliberate speed

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, Maine to enter the union as a free state, prohibited slavery north of latitude 36˚ 30' within the Louisiana Territory (1820)

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

Allowed the use of race as a general factor in law school admissions at University of Michigan

AIM

American Indian Movement

Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

An 1896 Supreme Court decision that provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana law requiring "equal but separate accommodations for the White and colored races" was constitutional.

Anyone who challenges classifications has the burden of proving that those classifications are not reasonable but

Arbitrary

Hernandez vs. Texas

Argued that Pete Hernandez could not get a fair trial because no Mexican Americans were allowed on the jury; supreme court agreed. This decision extended protection against discrimination to Hispanics, according to the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

_________-___________ are the fastest growing minority group; more than _________ _____________ persons who are at least part ______ make up about ____ percent of the U.S. population.

Asian-Americans, 20 million, Asian, 6

Dee Brown

Author of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee; American novelist and historian.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

Bans age discrimination for jobs unless age is related to job performance

Intermediate Scrutiny Standard of Review

Basis of classification is gender. Standard of review is intermediate scrutiny and moderately difficult to meet. Applying the test: Does the classification bear a substantial relationship to an important government goal? In these cases, the courts do not look at them assuming they are unconstitutional (as they do with cases involving race, for example), nor constitutional. These laws require only "a substantial relationship to an important governmental purpose," rather than serving "a compelling public interest."

Inherently Suspect Scrutiny Standard of Review

Basis of classification is race and ethnicity. Standard of review is "internally suspect" and difficult to meet. Applying the test: Is the classification necessary to accomplish a compelling government goal? Is it the least restrictive way to achieve that goal? For example, if a classification having to do with race is challenged, the Court will assume that the classification is invalid and will only uphold if it serves a compelling public interest and there is no other way to accomplish the purpose of the law.

Reasonableness Standard of Review

Basis of classification: "other," including age and wealth. Standard of review: reasonableness and easy to meet. Applying the test: Does the classification have a rational relationship to a legitimate governmental goal? These are the easiest to prove constitutional and the hardest to prove unconstitutional.

The Court has ruled that to pass constitutional muster, most classifications must only be reasonable. This means that a classification must

Bear a rational relationship to some governmental purpose.

Why did the women's right movement seem to lose momentum after winning the vote?

Besides the vote, not many women or feminists could agree on what women deserved. Many still agreed with prevailing family traditions and attitudes that men were "breadwinners" and women "bread bakers" who were responsible for being mothers and wives above all else.

The Feminist Mystique

Book written by Betty Friedan that sparked the Feminist Movement of the 1960s.

George McLaurin

Born in 1880, he spent entire adult life as a teacher in segregated black schools. In 1948, he applies to the segregated U of Oklahoma to get a P. h. d. in education. The university admitted him, however, it forbade him from sitting in classrooms with white classmates; he had to sit in alcove and was also segregated in the library and the cafeteria (at a separate hour). The NAACP took his case to court, claiming his situation "impaired and inhibited" his study. The case redefined the meaning of "equal" as the ability to study in the same way, ability to participate in discussion, ability to learn one's profession.

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

By making race one factor in assigning students to schools, the cities of Seattle and Louisville had hoped to achieve greater racial balance across the public schools. The Court ruled that these plans were unconsitutional because they discriminated against white students on the basis of race.

What 5 states have the most minorities?

California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and Georgia

What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?

Civil rights are positive acts of government and civil liberties are the protections against the government. (Civil liberties are specifically listed in the constitution as well.)

Romer v. Evans (1996)

Colorado voters had adopted state constitutional amendment making it illegal to protect persons based on gay, lesbian or bisexual orientation; the Court overturned it, saying it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

Many laws limited women's work opportunity outside the home so they could

Concentrate on their duty within in, at wives and mothers.

Plyer v. Doe

Court case that determined that the 14th amendment prohibits states from denying a free public education to undocumented children. Prohibits schools from request of any documentation of legal status. Court argued that the children had not asked to be brought to the United States, and that keeping them from education was discriminatory and would further propel illiteracy and ignorance that would lead to more "unemployment, welfare, and crime."

Thornburg v. Gingles

Court case that ruled that district lines may not dilute minority representation, but neither may they be drawn with race as the predominant consideration (Racial Gerrymandering)

National Women's Political Caucus

Established by Betty Frieden, encouraged women to seek help or run for political office.

Harris v. Forklift Systems

Court reinforced its decision that is sexual harassment is so pervasive as to create a hostile or abusive work environment it is a form of gender discrimination, which is forbidden by the 1964 Civil Rights Act

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)

Court ruled that a public institution of higher learning couldn't provide different treatment to a student solely because of race

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Court ruled that states could ban homosexual relations. Equal protection and due process not extended to same-sex relationships.

Standards of Review

Criteria established by the courts for evaluating equal protection of the laws.

DOMA (1996)

Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 U.S. law explicitly limiting the definition of "marriage" to a union between one man and one woman and allowing each individual state to recognize or deny same-sex marriages performed in other states

In Texas and throughout much of the southwestern United States in the first half of the twentieth century, people of Mexican origin were subjected to

Discrimination, segregation, and lynchings.

When was discrimination against Asian-Americans particularly high and why?

During World War II, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and when many people were worried about an invasion by Japan on the Pacific Coast.

________ is a basic principle of democracy

Equality

Alice Paul

Head of the National Woman's party that campaigned for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution. She opposed legislation protecting women workers because such laws implied women's inferiority. Most condemned her way of thinking.

Coverture

Principle in English and American law that a married woman lost her legal identity, which became "covered" by that of her husband, who therefore controlled her person and the family's economic resources.

Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Federal legislation signed into law in 2009 that expanded earlier federal hate crime laws to include crimes motivated based on the victim's gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability

Where did more equal education begin (in terms of level of schooling) and why did activists start there?

Higher education like college, because they thought they'd face less backlash

What group has displaced African Americans as the largest minority group?

Hispanic Americans/Latinos

Until the 1960s, nearly all African American physicians in the U.S. were graduates from which two colleges?

Howard University (Washington D.C.) and Meharry Medical College (Tennessee)

Wounded Knee

In 1890, after killing Sitting Bull, the 7th Cavalry rounded up Sioux at this place in South Dakota and 300 Natives were murdered and only a baby survived.

Central High School in Little Rock - what presidential actions occurred?

In 1957, President Eisenhower had to send in troops to desegregate the school.

Little Rock Nine

In September 1957 the school board in Little rock, Arkansas, won a court order to admit nine African American students to Central High a school with 2,000 white students. The governor ordered troops from Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine from entering the school. The next day as the National Guard troops surrounded the school, an angry white mob joined the troops to protest the integration plan and to intimidate the AA students trying to register. The mob violence pushed Eisenhower's patience to the breaking point. He immediately ordered the US Army to send troops to Little Rock to protect and escort them for the full school year.

De facto

In reality

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

In this 1971 Supreme Court Decision, the court ruled that, even though the schools in the district worked out to be only minimally integrated because of the full black or white neighborhood, the schools had to be intergraded based on the percentage of blacks in the whole district, meaning that blacks had to be bussed over great distances to integrate schools that naturally sat in all white neighborhoods. This cause a great push-back from middle America, who saw the end of the neighborhood school

Do Civil Rights laws increase or decrease the scope of government?

Increase, as they put more guidelines in place for general society in order to be closer to equality.

Although the Bill of Rights guarantees ___________ ______________, it does not mention ______________.

Individual rights, equality.

How were African Americans prevented from voting, even after the passage of the fifteenth amendment?

Jim Crow Laws, literacy tests, tax, property requirement, religion requirement, intimidation (like the KKK)

Obergfell v. Hodges

Legalized same-sex marriage — court ruled that the 14th amendment requires states to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and permed out-of-state.

Who were two of the women who organized the Seneca Falls Convention?

Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Candy Stanton

What 4 states have the least minorities?

Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, New Hampshire

Who was more likely to support the ERA: women or men?

Men

Felix Longoria

Mexican American, World War 2 veteran. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery after refusal to be buried by his home town because of his race. Then senator Lyndon B. Johnson sponsored the movement for Longoria to be buried in Arlington.

The Dred Scott decision invalidated the ___________ _____________ and was a huge step toward the ____________ _________.

Missouri Compromise, Civil War

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Name attached to five cases brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In 1883, the Supreme Court decided that discrimination in a variety of public accommodations, including theaters, hotels, and railroads, could not be prohibited by the act because such discrimination was private discrimination and not state discrimination.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NOW

National Organization of Women, 1966, Betty Friedan first president, wanted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforce its legal mandate to end sex discrimination

NARF

Native American Right Fund. 1970. Worked on fishing rights, tribal land claims, and taxing tribal profits.

Ricci v. DeStefano (2009)

New Haven Firefighters Case; employers cannot discriminate against white candidates by not certifying promotion tests just because they fear lawsuits since not enough minorities were candidates for promotion.

After the Civil War ended, Congress imposed strict conditions on the former Confederate states before it would seat their representatives and senators. These were:

No one who had served in secessionist state governments or in the Confederate army could hold state office, the legislatures had to ratify the new amendments to the Constitution, and the U.S. military would govern the states like "conquered provinces" until they complied with the tough federal plans for reconstruction.

Title IX

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

How many Asian Americans were put in concentration camps during World War II?

Over 100,000

"Equal protection of the laws"

Part of the fourteenth amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide "equivalent" protection to all people.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Passed by Congress in 1991, this act banned discrimination against the disabled in employment and mandated easy access to all public and commerical buildings.

Civil rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

Social Security Act of 1935

Provided old-age pension (retirement), and a program of unemployment insurance (temporary aid to help people who lose jobs to find a new job), and federal welfare program (aid for very poor). Most famous and important legacy of New Deal. Has resulted (along with Medicare) with drastic reduction in poverty among elderly in the US

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Requires that men and women be paid the same amount for doing the same job

Governments at all levels have to draw district boundaries that avoid discriminatory ________, not just discriminatory ________

Results, intent

With inherently suspect classifications, the burden to keep the law in place is up to the ________ __________, rather than up to the __________ to prove the law is unconstitutional.

Rule maker, challenger

Strauder v. West Virginia (1880)

Ruled that exclusion of individuals from juries solely because of their race is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

de facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

State laws making sodomy (gay sex) a crime violate equal protection clause (fails rational basis test because only possible reason for law is homophobia). This declared the Texas anti-sodomy law unconstitutional and also overturned Bowers v Hardwick.

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

Struck down use of "bonus points" (20 extra points toward the 100 needed for admission) for race in undergraduate admissions at University of Michigan.

Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)

Supreme Court decision in 1886 overturning San Francisco law that, as enforced, discriminated against Chinese-owned laundries; the law required all laundries in wooden buildings to obtain a permit from the city, but although 90 percent of the city's laundries were owned by Chinese people, none received a permit. The court ruled that this was unconstitutional; this case established principle that equal protection of the law embodied in Fourteenth Amendment applied to all Americans, not just former slaves.

Jones v. Mayer

Supreme Court decision upholding Civil Right Act of 1866; under no circumstances is anyone exempted from the law prohibiting racial discrimination

Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections

Supreme Court held the use of poll taxes in state elections violates the 14th amendments equal protection clause

Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

Sweatt was denied admittance to Texas Law School because of his race. Result: SC ruled that the school had to let him in because the separate facility for negroes was not even close to equal. - 14th A.

Dred Scott v. Sanford Decision

The 1857 Supreme Court decision ruling that a slave who had escaped to a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories.

Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978)

The Supreme Court strengthened the tribal power of individual tribe members and furthered self-government by Indian tribes.

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the United States.

Craig v. Boren

The 1976 ruling in which the Supreme Court established the "intermediate scrutiny" standard for determining gender discrimination. The case itself involved the sale of 3.2 percent bee to males under 21 being illegal while it was legal for females over 18 to purchase it.

Trail of Tears

The Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their lands. They traveled from North Carolina and Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas-more than 800 miles (1,287 km)-to the Indian Territory. More than 4, 00 Cherokees died of cold, disease, and lack of food during the 116-day journey.

Which act banned gender discrimination in employment?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Twenty-fourth Amendment

The constitutional amendment passed in 1964 that declared poll taxes void in federal elections.

The NAACP formed partly as a response to

The continuous practice of lynching and a race riot that year in Springfield, Illinois.

Are people with AIDS entitled to protections similar to those of other disabilities?

The court ruled YES in 1998

Minority majority

The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority, as compared with a White, generally Anglo-Saxon majority. It is predicted that by about 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will outnumber White Americans.

What is the first and only place in the constitution where equality is mentioned?

The fourteenth amendment

In America, what does the idea of "equal rights" mean?

The right to have equal opportunity and the equal chance to succeed.

Reed v. Reed

The landmark case in 1971 in which the Supreme Court for the first time upheld a claim of gender discrimination.

Civil Rights Acts of 1964

The law making racial discrimination in public accommodations illegal. It forbade many forms of job discrimination. It also strengthened voting rights.

De jure

by law

Why do people sometimes oppose laws protecting people with disability or otherwise not enforce them once they're passed?

They are concerned about the cost

Indian Bill of Rights

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 applied most of the provisions of the Constitution's Bill of Rights to tribal governments.

Seneca Falls Convention

Took place in upperstate New York in 1848. Women of all ages and even some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which among other things, tried to get women the right to vote.

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

Top 10% of high school class automatically gets into the University of Texas Race may be considered in admissions of in state students to the remaining slots, in order to achieve a "critical mass" of minority students Fisher argued that she was more qualified than other minority students who were accepted

Dawes Act of 1887

Tried to civilize Indians and make them more little settlers by giving them land to farm. Instead it harmed their native culture. In short, it was forced assimilation.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

U.S. act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977)

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer may not, in the absence of business necessity, set height and weight restrictions which have a disproportionately adverse effect on one gender.

Election of 1876/Compromise of 1877

Unsure election results between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden. Hayes promised to show concern for Southern interests and end Reconstruction in exchange for the Democrats accepting the fraudulent election results. He took Union troops out of the South, therefore ending reconstruction.

Don't ask, don't tell policy

Was previously the official United States policy on military service by gay men, bisexuals, and lesbians, instituted by the Clinton Administration. This permitted gay Americans to serve in the military as long as they remained closeted. The Pentagon ended this in 2011.

Allan Bakke

White student who was denied admission to University of California medical school because slots were reserved for minority students--brought his case to the supreme court. (Reverse Discrimination)

Wage Gap Today

Women earn only 83 cents to the dollar made by man in the same job working full time. This amount is even less for nonwhite women.

Charlotte Woodward

Women's rights activist; signed the declaration at Seneca Falls and was the only one to live long enough to vote for president

Social Feminism

a feminist perspective centered around the belief that workplace and family supports are essential if women are to experience a high quality of life.

Civil Rights Movement

a social movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, in which people organized to demand equal rights for African Americans and other minorities. People worked together to change unfair laws. They gave speeches, marched in the streets, and participated in boycotts.

Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

act that established the right of all children to a free and appropriate education, regardless of handicapping condition

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

added people with disabilities to the list of Americans protected from discrimination

Hunt v. Cromartie

allowed political party, but not race / ethnicity, to become the basis for gerrymandering

Vine Deloria

an American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist. He was widely known for his book Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

Fair Housing Act of 1968

banned discrimination in the rental or sale of housing

Freedom Riders, 1961

civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern U.S. in 1961. They wanted to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation in seating and bus terminals and the non-enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions, which ruled segregated public buses unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did not enforce them. Helped push Kennedy towards supporting civil rights.

The goal of affirmative action is to move toward

equal results, rather than just equal opportunity

Indian Claims Act of 1946

established by Congress to settle Native Americans' claims against the government related to land that had been taken away from them

Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

granted women the right to vote; its ratification capped a movement for women's rights that dated to the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. Although women were voting in state elections in 12 states when the amendment passed, it enabled 8 million women to vote in the presidential election of 1920.

Reeves v. Sanderson

held that a plaintiff's evidence of an employer's bias, combined with sufficient evidence to find that the employer's asserted justification is false, may permit juries and judges to conclude that an employer has unlawfully discriminated, even if it may not have been intentional.

The Niagara Movement

in 1905 Dubois started this movement at Niagara Falls, and four years later joined with white progressives sympathetic to their cause to form NAACP, the new organization later led to the drive for equal rights.

Jim Crowe Laws

laws passed in the south after reconstruction enforcing the segregation of blacks and whites

Protectionist law

legislation under the guise to protect women in the work force from hard labor; really was meant to stunt them as a form of competition to the men and keep them as mothers/wives in order to preserve "the country's moral fabric" and family values.

Equality tends to favor

majority rule

Voting Rights Act of 1965

prohibited any government from using voting procedures that denied a person the vote on the basis of race or color (no more literacy tests, for example)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

prohibits employment agencies, employers, and unions from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

de jure segregation

segregation by law

Civil Rights and Women's Equity in Employment Act of 1991

shifts burden of proof in justifying hiring and promotion practices to employers, who must show that the employment is related to job performance and that they are consistent with "business necessity"

"Indian Boarding Schools"

the Bureau took Indian children away from their families and sent them to boarding schools run by whites, where they believed the young people could be educated to abandon tribal ways.

Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

the Court ruled that it is up to the employer to show that action against a worker stems from reasonable factors other than age

Gerrymandering

the drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent

White primary

the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation. Allowing only whites to vote in the primary eliminated most of the African American vote in who got to lead the country.

reverse discrimination

the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously.

Bullet points of what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did:

• Made racial discrimination illegal in hotels , motels , restaurants , and other places of public accommodation • Forbade discrimination in employment on the basis of race , color , national origin religion , or gender • Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ( EEOC ) to monitor and enforce protections against job discrimination • Provided for withholding federal grants from state and local governments and other institutions that practiced racial discrimination • Strengthened voting rights legislation • Authorized the U.S. Justice Department to initiate lawsuits to desegregate public schools and facilities