1. Legacy of Civil Rights How the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s has opened the door to other Minority Groups

2. Rights for Hispanics As of 2000. Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the U.S. Civil concerns are distinctive: Associated with language and citizenship. Language barriers make it difficult to participate! Ability to maximize their citizenship. Population Stats: One fourth of all foreign born are naturalized citizens. Sixty percept of Hispanics are native born (& under voting age). Seven out of ten Hispanics in US are citizens. Population numbers overstate the Hispanic communities potential political power!!!

3. Hispanic Civil Concerns: Associated with language and citizenship. Many lack language skills to exercise responsibilities in English. Voting Rights Act of 1965: ballots be in Spanish in areas where 5% of population is Hispanic. Government actions are less accomodating! English-Only laws in some states (page 144) Alexander v. Sandoval (2001): Alabama’s regulation that drivers license applications/tests be conducted in English only!

4. Hispanic Civil Concerns Ability to maximize their citizenship. Illegal aliens are unlikely to exercise rights for fear of deportation. Ineligible for social services in some states. Native born children are eligible though, due to citizenship! Hispanic electoral power is bound to surge: Population & naturalization rates are drastically increasing. 40% of population is under the voting age. Growing numbers and concentration also mean politicians will not be able to ignore this constituency forever!

5. Women’s Rights Women experience very little delay between principle & reality. Unlike African Americans. History of voting rights for women: Took over a century to obtain right to political equality. “Sex” excluded from 15th amendment. Wyoming first state to allow women right to vote (1869). 19th Amendment ratified in 1920. Within a few years, women were voting at a comparable rate to men.

6. Women Civil Concerns Sex discrimination: Sex discrimination included in Civil Rights Act of 1964. Included on miscalculation of Southern opponents who included “sex” in hopes that is would decrease overall support. EEOC: Enforcement mechanism of Civil Rights Act of 1964. Investigates and file suits against discrimination in workplace. Initially refused to enforce employment discrimination protections for women. Today sex discrimination suits outnumber all others. NOW: Formed in 1966 in direct reaction to EEOC’s refusal. Pursued litigation strategy with met with mixed success.

7. Women Civil Concerns Women in the workforce Transformation of women in the workforce participation has been dramatic. Civil Rights Act of 1991: required employers to show that unequal hiring and compensation practices did not reflect gender discrimination gave victims the right to sue for damages. National policy in civil rights of special concern have advanced steadily. Title IX: (of Higher Education Act) Prohibits funding for schools and universities that discriminate against women. Size of collegiate sports programs.

8. Gay Rights 10th amendment (federalism) marriage laws are a state (reserved) power! Idea of shared federalism Protections remain murky in area of national policy. Many claim that gay community does not fit into statutory provisions or judicial precedent of Civil Rights era. No national law provides for civil rights protection for gays/lesbian.

9. Gay/Lesbian Civil Concerns Defense of Marriage Act (1996 ) Rejects same-sex marriages Allows states to ignore homosexual unions sanctioned in other states. In 1996 Supreme Court struck down Colorado amendment as unconstitutionally denying homosexuals equal protection. Lawrence v. Texas In 1986, Supreme Court ruled state antisodomy laws to be constitutional. 2003: Court reversed decision citing individuals’ privacy protections. Some states have extended job and hate crime protections to this group.

10. Gay/Lesbian Civil Concerns Romer v. Evans Gays/Lesbians eligible for positive protections if state & local jurisdiction deemed them appropriate. Gay Marriages/Civil Unions Massachusetts (2003): ban on gay marriages violated state constitution. California (2004): Mayor of San Francisco stated ban on gay marriages unconstitutional. “Marathon” of gay marriages at city hall. Marriages undone by state supreme court. Some states (16) immediately passed legislation banning gay marriages.

11. Gay/Lesbian Civil Concerns Current Issues: 2004: Bush announced his support for a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples while leaving states the option to fashion alternative civil union law.

12. Disabled & Elderly Rights Claims of disabled have become important terrain in civil rights policymaking. 1990 American with Disabilities Act (ADA) bans discrimination in employment, transportation, public accommodations for people with physical and mental disabilities. Helps to define who disabled are, rights available to them.

13. Disabled Civil Concerns Problems courts confront in trying to implement ADA. 1999: Supreme Court ruled that an airline with a policy of hiring only pilots with naturally occurring 20/20 vision could reject pilots who needed corrective vision. Law did not apply because vision was correctable (therefore they were not “disabled”) 2001: Court decided that Casey Martin, a golfer with an atrophied leg could use a golf cart on PGA tour, despite a rule forbidding one. His leg officially qualified him as “disabled”

14. Disabled Civil Concerns Contradictory judgments occur annually in lower federal courts. National policy on the rights of the disabled in the area of employment practices threatens to become MORE confusing.

15. Elderly Rights AARP: American Association of Retired Persons One of America’s largest interest groups. National legislation ending the practice of mandatory retirement at specific age.

16. Legacy of Civil Rights The struggle for civil rights has seriously tested the politics of self- interest. Federalist 10: the cause of civil rights advanced only when a large national majority fully took control of the federal government and challenged tyranny in the states.