EXAM3 Civil Rights Review part one polisci 2306
Justice Harlan's dissent in the Plessy case
"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 equality before the law established by the Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds."
Why was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson so important?
1.It ended so-called Black Codes in Southern States. 2.It ruled that segregated facilities are legal. 3.It overturned separate but equal. 4.It called for an end to Jim Crow Laws.
Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
A Baptist minister who helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott
What was Bloody Sunday?
A march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery. After being ordered to stop the march by a Sheriff, those who participated in the march were then attacked by state troopers.
How did the legal question in Brown v. Board of Education differ from the legal questions in earlier rulings such as Sweatt v. Painter?
Brown was testing the constitutionality of "separate but equal" while Sweatt supported building higher separate facilities for Black students.
What law made segregated public accommodations illegal?
Civil Rights Act 1964
Which civil rights act dealt with voting issues? What did it do?
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it included provisions to strengthen the voting rights of African Americans in the South
Who was Rosa Parks?
Civil Rights leader in Montgomery who's actions started the Montgomery Bus Boycot
What power did Congress use to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Congress decided to use its power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.
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.
What is the Equal Protection Clause and where is it found? To whom does it apply?
Equal Protection refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. The governing body state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances. found under the 14th amendment/applies to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens "equal protection of the laws."
Who is Ruby Bridges?
First child to integrate schools in New Orleans
How did the poll tax in Texas work?
From 1902-1964, 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.
In what case did the Supreme Court uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States.
How did the Fourteenth Amendment address the issue in the Dred Scott case?
In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision by granting citizenship to all those born in the United States, regardless of color.
What do we mean when we say that a distinction is invidious?
Invidious means to create an ill will
rational basis test
Is this classification rational? The burden is on the person who objects to the classification to show why it is not.
details of the filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
June 10, 1964, Senator Robert C. Byrd completed an address that he had begun 14 hours and 13 minutes earlier, Never in history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill. - final tally stood at 71-29.
Who is/was Pete Seeger and what civil rights song is associated with him?
Pete Seeger was known as a voice of struggle and hope. 1919-2014 Sang songs about social justices. We shall overcome*
What did the Supreme Court say about the new separate law school that Texas created for black students (Sweatt v. Painter)
Rather than admit Heman Sweatt to the University of Texas Law School, the State set up a separate law school for him. 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.
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." Voting Rights Act suspended the use of literacy tests, sent in federal registrars to register voters and monitor elections.
the three Amendments adopted after the Civil War and the subject of each of them.
Southern States revived remnants of slavery, like black codes, and created all kinds of devices to keep blacks (and poor whites, sometimes) from voting: literacy tests, poll taxes, and white primaries.(Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments)
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.
What was the purpose of the lunch counter sit-ins and where did they take place? Please review the details of the sit-ins.
The purpose of the lunch counter sit-ins were to get the servers to equally serve blacks / to desegregate places/ this took place in Greensboro, North Carolina 6 months later it was desegregated
What were Jim Crow laws?
They were laws that enforced the strict separation of the races.
Heightened/Intermediate 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.
What were white primaries?
a primary election in which only white people were allowed to vote in
What were the Black Codes?
laws passed by Southern states to restrict the freedom of blacks
What was/is the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund?
seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.
Who was Thurgood Marshall?
the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his activity in the Little Rock 9 and his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education
strict scrutiny test
this test applies when laws or practices divide people by race. Those passing such a law or using such a practice must show that it serves a compelling government interest.
Who was Jimmie Lee Jackson?
young man in a march who was killed by a state trooper in Alabama
