Civil Rights Movement Summary and Modern Concerns

Thus Far... Focus on Rights of African-Americans Factors in Change: – Electoral Strength – Organization (NAACP) Working within the system – lobbying, litigation Grassroots – protests, boycotts, civil disobedience – Changing Public Opinion – National Leadership (Truman, Kennedy, Johnson)

Changes Court’s Interpretation of 14 th Amendment – Strict Scrutiny for “Suspect Classification” of Race Compelling government interest Means narrowly tailored Legislation – Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Fair Housing Act

Contemporary Issues: Other Racial and Ethnic Minorities Latinos Asian Americans Native Americans

What Is “Affirmative Action”? Race-conscious policies designed to increase opportunities for women and minorities Goals: – Remedying the effects of past discrimination by the organization creating the policy – Remedying the effects of discrimination in earlier stages of education, training, and employment – Increasing diversity within the organization creating the policy

Arguments in Favor of AA Discrimination is class-based, so remedy should be as well Provides a catalyst for eliminating institutional and social inequalities Creates a diverse educational or labor force which is (arguably) inherently more productive

Arguments Against AA “Conservative” Arguments – Our system is supposed to reward individual achievement, regardless of group membership – We cannot overcome group-based discrimination by perpetuating group-based decisions “Critical Race/Gender Theory” – Creates the impression that minorities/women cannot achieve on their own merits (actually undermines tolerance) – Encourages “tokenism” and creates the illusion that discrimination is “fixed”

Affirmative Action and the Equal Protection Clause When we’re talking about AA policies by governments as employers or educators Race conscious policy => strict scrutiny – Compelling government interest – Narrowly tailored means for achieving that interest

AA in State Education: The Michigan Cases Undergrad – Points awarded for all sorts of “desirable” characteristics – Points given for membership in certain racial minorities Law School – “Mushy” admissions – Race may or may not count, no idea of how much

The Michigan Cases Amicus briefs supporting the Michigan policies – 65 American businesses 3M, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly, Coca-Cola, etc. – Officers and civilian leaders of the U.S. military Wesley Clark, Norman Schwarzkopf, Anthony Zinni

What the Court Said Compelling Interest – Diversity in education is a compelling interest Narrowly Tailored Means – Mechanical treatment of race is not acceptable – Law school’s “individualized” analysis is o.k. – Undergrad’s point system is not o.k. – Similarly, straight quotas and set-aside programs are not o.k.