Civil Rights Racial Discrimination (1/3)
What important ruling did the SC make in the Brown v. Board of Education case? What was the language used by the Court?
"We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
Please review the cases that went to the Supreme Court before the Brown case and know how the SC ruled on them. You should know concepts but you need not know the name of each case. (All had to do with college segregation.)
(Gaines v. Canada)The Supreme Court said the scholarship is no substitute for admitting the student to the state's law school. The Court said to admit the student or set up a separate but equal law school for him. (McLaurin V. Oklahoma State Regents) He had a separate desk just outside the classroom, a separate table in the library, and a special table in the cafeteria.•Supreme Court unanimously ruled that this situation violated the equal protection clause.
Who was Jimmie Lee Jackson?
26-year-old black army veteran who was killed by police during a march
How did the legal question in Brown v. Board of Education differ from the legal questions in earlier rulings such as Sweatt v. Painter?
Because the Supreme Court began ruling on a different question: can separate but equal ever be equal? In this case, the Supreme Court answered that question by saying no
Who was Rosa Parks?
Civil Rights leader in Montgomery whose actions started the Montgomery Bus Boycott
What do we mean when we say that a distinction is invidious?
Classifications like race and religion are known as invidious or harmful.
How did Southern States react to the ruling in the Brown case? What seemed to persuade many school districts to finally integrate?
Efforts to shut down public schools to prevent integration. By 1964 (ten years after Brown decision), 98 percent of black children in the South still attended all black schools. Civil Rights Act of 1964 cut off federal aid to school districts still practicing segregation.
Please review the details of the filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Filibusters require 60 votes to end, they had 67 (Called a cloture), this is the first time a cloture was used on a civil rights law.
How did the poll tax in Texas work?
From 1902-to 1964, Texas had a poll tax of $1.50 that had to be paid by January 31st for the rest of the year. Poll taxes in federal elections were abolished by Congress in 1964 and for state elections by the Supreme Court in 1966.
What were white primaries?
In 1923, the Texas legislature passed a law that no black citizen could participate in the Democratic Party Primary
What was the constitutional basis of the law that required integration of places of public accommodation?
It was affecting the regulate interstate and foreign commerce.
What were Jim Crow laws?
Laws (known as Jim Crow laws) were passed to create a segregated society.
What is the Equal Protection Clause and where is it found? To whom does it apply?
No State 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 the equal protection of the laws. In the 14th amendment. Applies to citizens of the US.
What was Bloody Sunday?
Occurred with MLK planned a march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery. After being ordered to stop the march by Sheriff Clark, the marches kneeled to pay and were then attacked by state troopers.
Who is/was Pete Seeger and what civil rights song is associated with him?
Pete Seeger was known as a voice of struggle & hope. He sang songs of struggle and hope, including "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had A Hammer."
How did the March from Selma to Montgomery affect voting rights? What did the President do after the March to call attention to the voting issues of black Americans?
Selma to Montgomery March was key factor. President Johnson asked Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act. In his address, he used the phrase, "We shall overcome."
What was the purpose of the lunch counter sit-ins and where did they take place? Please review the details of the sit-ins.
Sit-ins begin at Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina A movement to promote civil rights by sitting in white-only seats often met with hostility.
What is steering when it comes to housing?
Steering is the major problem today. Realtors may show black clients houses in mostly black neighborhoods.
What civil rights law made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race and ethnicity in housing?
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, or national origin. Amendments added sex in 1974 and because of children in 1988.
Please be sure to review Justice Harlan's dissent in the Plessy case. There are quotes on your slides.
The Court ruled that separate but equal was constitutional, thus insuring that segregation would continue for decades. But in the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.The law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.... The arbitrary separation of citizens, on the basis of race, while they are on a public highway, is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds.
What was/is the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund?
The NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund began to bring suits against the states under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall.
Please review these three tests including when they are used: rational basis test, strict scrutiny, and heightened (intermediate) scrutiny.
The Rational Basis Test. Is this classification rational? The burden is on the person who objects to the classification to show why it is not. The Strict Scrutiny Test. This test applies when laws or practices divide people by race. Those passing such law or using such a practice must show that it serves a compelling government interest. Intermediate (or Heightened) Scrutiny Test: This is the in-between category. Dividing people by sex is in this category, thereby allowing for men and women to be treated differently in certain instances, like the military draft. Such classifications must serve an important government purpose.
Why was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson so important?
The Supreme Court approved segregated facilities in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson.
What did the Supreme Court say about the new separate law school that Texas created for black students (Sweatt v. Painter).
The Supreme Court ruled that Sweatt had to be admitted to the UT Law School, as the newly established school was inferior in quality to the one already in existence.
Who was Thurgood Marshall?
The lead attorney for the NAACP in the Brown v. Board of Education case.
Be sure to know the three Amendments adopted after the Civil War and the subject of each of them.
Thirteenth Amendment (1865): abolished slavery •Fourteenth Amendment (1868): defined citizenship, had a due process clause and an equal protection clause that applied to the States •Fifteenth Amendments (1870: voting rights for Black men
In what case did the Supreme Court uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This law was challenged but the Supreme Court upheld it in the case of Heart of Atlanta Motel v. the United States.
What law made segregated public accommodations illegal?
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an offense to discriminate against any customer or patron in a place of public accommodation because of race, color, religion, or national origin. This law was challenged but the Supreme Court upheld it in the case of Heart of Atlanta Motel v. the United States.
What were the two accomplishments of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that I discussed?
Very effective in raising number of blacks registered to vote. AND banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Which civil rights law dealt with voting issues? What did it do?
Voting Rights Act of 1965 had suspended the use of literacy tests, sent in federal registrars to register voters and monitor elections.
Who is Ruby Bridges?
We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
led fight for civil rights, inspired by Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, who believed in "soul force".
What were the Black Codes?
sharecropping agreements, and created all kinds of devices to keep blacks (and poor whites, sometimes) from voting: grandfather clauses, literacy tests, poll taxes, and white primaries.