1. The Struggle for Equal Rights Chapter 6

2. Question? Why aren’t all groups automatically given the same rights as other groups?

3. In this chapter we will learn about The meaning of political inequality The struggle of African Americans to claim rights denied them because of race The struggle of Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans to claim rights denied them because of race or ethnicity Women’s battle for rights denied them on the basis of gender The fight by other groups in society to claim rights denied them on a variety of bases The relationship of citizens to civil rights

4. Laws that treat people differently Suspect classifications: treat people differently because of a classification such as race. These laws are subject to –Strict scrutiny (looked at carefully) –Test used when laws treat people differently because of race, the Supreme Court designated race “suspect” in 1950’s Quasisuspect classifications –Intermediate standard of review –Test used when laws treat people differently because of gender Nonsuspect classifications –Minimum rationality test –Used when laws treat people differently for any other reason (age, sexual orientation, disability status)

5. So here’s that again Strict Scrutiny if the law has to do with RACE, National Origin, Religion, Alienage, Denial or Dilution of the Vote, Interstate Migration, Access to the courts Quasi if the law has to do with GENDER Non Suspect if it has to do with any other issue- age, disability, sexual orientation

6. Rights denied on the basis of race: African Americans The aftermath of the Civil War –Black codes –Reconstruction ( the only time the states did as they were supposed to. After this it returned to the racism era, until the 1960’s Segregation and the era of Jim Crow Laws –Poll taxes, Literacy Tests, and Grandfather clauses all kept blacks from exercising their rights –Congress, the Pres, and the states did little to fight the racism issue

7. What about the new amendments? Although the 13 th, 14 th, and 15 th Amendments were passed after the Civil War, the black codes sought to limit voting and equal protection rights of African Americans The sought to circumvent these amendments It was up to the Supreme Court to tell the nation what these amendments really meant (we now know SELECTIVE INCORPORATION was responsible for making this happen )

8. Rights denied on the basis of race: African Americans, cont’d. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) –Established “separate but equal” doctrine –Upheld segregation –Legitimized and legalized segregation is U.S. for over 60 years Overturning Plessy –Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada (1938) –Sweatt v. Painter (1950) –Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

9. Rights denied on the basis of race: African Americans, cont’d. The development of the civil rights movement –Bus boycotts –Rosa Parks –Martin Luther King, Jr. –Sit-ins –Marches – especially March on Washington –Freedom rides –NAACP –Nonviolent protests –Malcolm X –Kennedy administration

10. Rights denied on the basis of race: African Americans, cont’d. Two kinds to remember De jure discrimination Discrimination arising from or supported by law No doubt discrimination is happening (it’s a fact, and everyone knows it) E.g., segregated restrooms Easier to combat Overcome with procedural policies De facto discrimination Discrimination that is the result of tradition or habit E.g., cultural habits or traditions Harder to combat Overcome with substantive policies

11. Landmark cases and laws Civil Rights Act of 1964 Voting Rights Act of 1965 Fair Housing Act of 1968 Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964) Loving v. Virginia (1967) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

12. Brown v. Board of Ed, Topeka 1954 Segregated schools were inherently unequal because of the very fact of segregation made blacks feel unequal

13. Blacks in contemporary politics The economic outlook for blacks is better, not necessarily Political candidacies Political representation – significance of Barack Obama and increased representation in federal and state government Affirmative action today – continuing controversies “However much history may be invoked in support of these policies (affirmative action), no policy can apply to history but can only apply to the present or the future. The past may be many things, but it is clearly irrevocable. Its sins can no more be purged than its achievements can be expunged. Those who suffered in centuries past are as much beyond our help as those who sinned are beyond our retribution.” ― Thomas Sowell, Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality

14. Rights denied on the basis of race or ethnicity: Native Americans Native Americans and the U.S. government must comply with concessions that are incompatible with their culture, but they depend on the government to get them out of poverty. Political problems: lack of organization has hampered Native American’s attempts at gaining political power Contemporary challenges: The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988) has provided a way for some to get casinos- which bring about their own problems

15. Rights denied on the basis of race or ethnicity: Hispanic Americans Diversity: coming from different parts of the world, but “lumped together” English-Only movement: is it better to assimilate? Controversy over immigration – stricter laws, such as those in Arizona Political strategies: overcome language barriers, unequal educational opportunties, Sonia Sotomayor: First Hispanic Judge on the SC

16. Rights denied on the basis of race or ethnicity: Asian Americans Began in 1882 over jobs (Chinese Exclusion Act) WWII hampered progress (relocation camps) Discrimination Price of prosperity Political strategies “Positive” stereotyping Important Case Involving Asians and Civil Rights: Kormatsu v. US-.. S.C determined the rights of Asians could be limited in the interest of National Security (Think WWll)

17. Rights denied on the basis of gender Women’s place in the early 19 th century –Few rights –Basically the property of their husbands or viewed as the same legal entity Birth of the women’s rights movement –Seneca Falls Convention –Gained the right to vote in separate states and then worked to increase support in other states

18. Rights denied on the basis of gender, cont’d. Battle for suffrage –Began in the states –Wyoming: first state to grant suffrage –States slow to follow Wyoming’s lead –Ratification of the 19 th Amendment in 1920 [T]here never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers. -Susan B. Anthony

19. Rights denied on the basis of gender, cont’d. Battle for the Equal Rights Amendment Reasons the ERA failed: –Fear of radical social change –Roe v. Wade (1973) –Supreme Court’s interpretation of 14 th Amendment –Numerous federal laws passed that arguably “placated” women, such as Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act, and Title IX

20. Rights denied on the basis of gender, cont’d. Gender discrimination today –Pay inequity –Glass ceiling –Sexual harassment –Pregnancy discrimination –The “Mommy Track”... you asked me one day if it seemed like giving up much for your sake. Only leave me free, as free as you are and everyone ought to be, and it is giving up nothing. -Antoinette Brown Blackwell

21. Rights denied on the basis of gender, cont’d. We have come so far. Equality still does not exist fully for women in the work place, but when we see other countries where women are still struggling to have the right to education, to vote and to make choices for their personal lives, we can consider ourselves a great farther than many.

22. Rights denied on other bases: sexual orientation The sodomy cases –Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) –Lawrence v. Texas (2003) “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and its repeal The controversy over same-sex marriage –The Massachusetts Supreme Court (2003) –The California Supreme Court (2008) –The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

23. Rights denied on other bases: sexual orientation, cont’d. Employment discrimination –ENDA Hospitals now have to grant visitation rights to same-sex partners of those who are hospitalized More support of rights for gays to adopt Public opinion and gay rights –Young are most supportive of gay rights

24. Rights denied on other bases Age Disability Citizenship