1. American Democracy Now, 3/e
Chapter 5: Civil Rights
American Democracy Now, 3/e

2. The Meaning of Equality Under the Law
Civil rights in the United States refer to the rights and privileges guaranteed by the government to all citizens under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments and the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Inherent characteristics are individual characteristics that are part of a person’s nature, such as race, religion, national origin, and sex.
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3. The Meaning of Equality Under the Law
Today, the courts use three tests— strict scrutiny, heightened scrutiny, and ordinary scrutiny —to determine when unequal treatment is legal.
Courts view race, ethnic origin, and religion to be suspect classifications.
They use strict scrutiny test to hear a challenge to laws with suspect classifications, which means that the government must show that the differential treatment is necessary for it to achieve a compelling public interest for which it is responsible.
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4. The Meaning of Equality Under the Law
The courts apply the heightened scrutiny test (also known as the intermediate scrutiny test) in sex-based discrimination cases, which requires the government to show that the sex-based differential treatment is substantially related to an important public interest for which the government is responsible.
Under the ordinary scrutiny test, courts require governments to show that the differential treatment is a rational means to achieve a legitimate public interest for which the government is responsible.
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5. Slavery and Its Aftermath
When it was first written, the Constitution implicitly endorsed the unequal and discriminatory treatment of African Americans.
Although the movement to abolish slavery was in its early stages in 1787, the year the Constitution was completed, by the early to mid-1800s, it had gained significant momentum in the North, largely because of the activism of various religious and humanitarian groups.
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6. Slavery in the United States
Opposition to slavery
Missouri Compromise (1820).
Members of the American Anti-Slavery Society were actively engaged in civil disobedience, which is nonviolent refusal to comply with laws or government policies that are morally objectionable.
The Underground Railroad.
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8. Slavery in the United States
The Civil War Era
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852).
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857).
John Brown and Harper’s Ferry (1859).
Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln in April 1862.
The Thirteenth Amendment (1865).
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868).
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870).
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9. Reconstruction and the First Civil Rights Acts
Reconstruction era between 1866 and 1877
The Black Codes limited the rights of “freemen,” or former slaves.
To remedy that situation, Congress passed laws that sought to negate the Black Codes.
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10. Backlash: Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws required the strict separation of racial groups.
De jure segregation, legally mandated separation of the races, became the norm in much of the South.
State and local governments in the South also found creative ways to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote: white primary, literacy test, poll tax, grandfather clause.
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11. Governmental Acceptance of Discrimination
Civil Rights Cases of 1883.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
The separate but equal doctrine declaring that separate but equal facilities do not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
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Civil Rights
Where Do You Stand?
Do you think there will always be problems between African Americans and white Americans in the United States, or will there eventually be a solution?
a. There will always be problems.
b. There will be a solution.
Source: “Americans Mostly Upbeat About Current Race Relations,”
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13. The Civil Rights Movement
In the early decades of the twentieth century, African Americans continued their struggle for equal protection of the laws.
Though the movement for civil rights enjoyed some early successes, the century was nearly half over before momentous victories by civil rights activists finally began to change the status of African Americans in revolutionary ways.
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14. Fighting Back: Early Civil Rights Organizations
Formation of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
During the 1930s, lawsuits brought by the NAACP in several states ended discriminatory admissions practices in professional schools.
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15. The End of Separate But Equal
In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that segregated schools violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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16. The Movement Gains National Visibility
Murder of Emmett Till in 1955.
Rosa Parks & Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955).
The boycott was led by Martin Luther King Jr.
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17. Local Organizing and the Strategies of Civil Disobedience
Martin Luther King advocated protesting government-sanctioned discrimination through civil disobedience and peaceful demonstrations, boycotts, and marches.
Other groups, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) advocated the use of more direct action nonviolent strategies—voter registration drives and sit-ins—in the most violent of the Southern states, Mississippi and Georgia.
Besides political protest, activists engaged in mass marches to draw public attention to their challenge to Jim Crow segregation and racia inequality.
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Civil Rights
Where Do You Stand?
With regard to Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1960s civil rights movement, how many goals of that movement have been achieved so far?
a. All
b. Most
c. Only some
d. Almost none
Source: “On King Holidays, a Split Response to Civil Rights Progress,”
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19. The Government’s Response to the Civil Rights Movement
As a result of the Civil Rights movement, Congress passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act, as well as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
It outlaws arbitrary discrimination in voter registration practices within the states.
It bans discrimination in public accommodations, including hotels, restaurants, and theaters.
It prohibits state and local governments from banning access to public facilities on the basis of race, religion, or ethnicity.
It empowers the U.S. Attorney General to sue to desegregate public schools.
It bars government agencies from discrimination, and imposes the threat of the loss of federal funding if an agency violates the ban.
It establishes a standard of equality in employment opportunity.
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21. Other Civil Rights Legislation in the 1960s
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) banned voter registration practices, such as literacy tests.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 sought to end discriminatory practices in housing, including mortgage lending and the sale or rental of housing.
De facto segregation still prevails in many communities throughout the United States today.
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22. Impact of the Civil Rights Movement
Momentous impact on society by working for the laws and rulings that bar discrimination in employment, public accommodations, education, and housing.
Profound impact on voting rights by establishing the principle that the laws governing voter registration and participation should ensure that individuals are permitted to vote regardless of their race.
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24. The Movement for Women’s Civil Rights
Like African-American men, women had to wait until the Constitution was amended and civil rights legislation was adopted, in response to the women’s rights movement, for equal protection of the laws.
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25. First Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
Seneca Falls 1848 Declaration of Sentiments.
Declaration “that [women] have immediate admission to all rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States.”
State-Level Rights
Bradwell case (1873).
Minor v Happersett (1875).
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26. First Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment prohibited the national and state governments from abridging or denying citizens the right to vote on account of sex.
The right to vote was extended to another group of citizens in 1971 when the states ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment. This amendment guarantees citizens 18 years of age and older the right to vote.
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27. Second Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
Several factors account for the mobilization of the second wave of the women’s movement in the 1960s:
By the 1960s, large numbers of women were working outside the home in the paid labor force.
Women recognized that as a class of citizens they did not have equal protection of the laws.
By the mid-1960s, the women’s rights movement was rejuvenated with a second wave of mass activity. Goal was equal legal rights for women.
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28. Second Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
Federal Legislation and Women’s Rights
The Equal Pay Act (1963).
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Title IX of 1972 Amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Women’s Rights and the Equal Protection Clause
Reed v. Reed (1971).
Craig v. Boren (1976).
US v. Virginia (1996).
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29. Second Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment (1972)
In 1972, Congress approved the ERA, which states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Opponents of Amendment were successful in defeating the ERA, which had not been ratified by enough states by the deadline of 1982.
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30. The Third Wave of the Women’s Rights Movement
Although the first two waves advocated for formal equality or identical legal treatment with men, by the 1990s, feminists realized that a good deal still needed to be done to realize these goals in practice.
Third-wave feminism recognizes that women have unequal access to legal rights owing to differences in race, class, ethnicity, and religion.
Third-wave feminists refer to intersectionality, the experience of multiple forms of oppression simultaneously.
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31. Other Civil Rights Movements
Native Americans’ Rights
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
The American Indian Movement 1968.
Indian Civil Rights Act 1968.
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 1968
Even with gaming profits, however, the prospects for many Native Americans today remain bleak.
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32. Citizens of Latin American Descent
U.S. citizens of Latin American descent (Latinos) include those whose families hail from Central America, South America, or the Caribbean.
Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States, making up almost 16 percent of the total U.S. population.
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33. Citizens of Latin American Descent
Early Struggles of Mexican Americans
1846 US declared war on Mexico.
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
Formation of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in 1929.
Mendez v. Westminster (1945).
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34. Citizens of Latin American Descent
The Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement was composed of numerous Latino organizations focusing on a variety of issues, including rights to equal employment and educational opportunities.
Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Corpus Christi Independent School District v. Cisneros (1971).
Employment Discrimination and Other Civil Rights Issues
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35. Citizens of Asian Descent
Asian Americans have had to fight continually for their civil rights, specifically for equal protection under the law and particularly for equal access to educational and employment opportunities as well as citizenship.
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.
Contemporary Issues for Asian Americans
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36. Citizens of Asian Descent
Internment of Japanese Americans During WWII
Americans of Japanese ancestry were forced to move to government-established camps.
Contemporary Issues for Asian Americans
Voting rights, hate crimes, and employment discrimination.
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Civil Rights
Where Do You Stand?
Have you ever dated someone from a different racial or ethnic background than your own?
a. Yes
b. No
Source: “Most Americans Approve of Interracial Dating,”
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38. Citizens with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.
The ADA defines a disability as any “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008
broadens what “substantially limits” and “major life activities” mean.
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39. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Citizens (LGBT)
The Gay Pride Movement
Stonewall Rebellion (1969).
Formation of Lambda Legal (1970).
Anti-discrimination laws introduced by a number of state and local governments in 1980s.
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986).
Lawrence v. Texas (2003).
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40. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Citizens (LGBT)
Backlash Against the Movement for LGBT Civil Rights
Romer v. Evans (1996).
Conflict over same-sex marriage.
Defense of Marriage Act (1996).
Hate Crime.
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41. Affirmative Action: Is It Constitutional?
In the 1960s the federal government also began implementing policies aimed at reinforcing equal access to employment by mandating recruitment procedures that actively sought to identify qualified minority men for government positions.
This policy of affirmative action was extended to women in employment and then to educational opportunities.
Opposition to Affirmative Action
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42. How Affirmative Action Works
Affirmative action requires that an organization make intentional efforts to diversify its workforce by providing equal opportunity to classes of people that have been historically, and in many cases are still today, subject to discrimination.
In the 1970s, institutions of higher education began to adopt intentional efforts to expand educational opportunities for both men and women from various minority groups.
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43. Opposition to Affirmative Action
Bakke v. University of California (1978).
University of Michigan cases of 2003
School’s goal of creating a diverse student body serves a compelling public interest: a diverse student body enhances “cross-racial understanding. . . breaks down racial stereotypes and helps students better understand persons of different races.”
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