1. Unit 3: Civil Liberties & Civil Rights
Lecture & Discussion 3: Civil Rights and Equal Protection

2. Enduring Understanding
The Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment has been used to support the advancement of equality.

3. Objective(s)
To explain how constitutional provisions provided impetus for social movements and understand the government’s impact on civil rights.

4. Do Now
Read the case summary for Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Respond to the prompts. Then, complete a case brief that includes the facts, arguments, decision, opinions, and precedent. Consult additional sources, as needed.

5. Brown v. Board (1954)
What Supreme Court decision established the doctrine “separate but equal?”
What Kansas law did the Brown plaintiffs want struck down?
How did the Court rule and what was the constitutional reasoning?
What was the Brown II ruling?
What role was there for other branches and levels of government in enforcing Brown II?

6. A. Constitutional Provision
civil rights: the basic right to be free from unequal treatment based on certain characteristics, which is protected through federal legislation or interpretation of the law by the Court (Ie. race, gender, orientation)

7. A. Constitutional Provision
Equal Protection Clause:
put in place to prevent states and local jurisdictions from passing laws that were discriminatory in nature (Ie. Black Codes)
constitutional provision provided support and motivation for social movements
“No state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.”
- Amendment 14 (1868)

8. B. The Court’s Interpretation
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Homer Plessy arrested for violating the Louisiana Separate Car Act, requiring blacks and whites to sit in separate railway cars
State court ruled it had the right to regulate railway as long as it operated within borders
Supreme Court upheld decision, establishing “separate but equal” doctrine did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment

9. B. The Court’s Interpretation
Brown v. Board (1954)
African American students denied admittance to certain public schools based on state laws allowing segregation in educational facilities
State courts denied relief to students based on “separate but equal” doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Supreme Court overturned Plessy stating segregated facilities are inherently unequal and violated Fourteenth Amendment

10. C. Civil Rights Legislation
Civil Rights Act (1964): ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender or national origin
Voting Rights Act (1965): prohibited racial discrimination in voting, including use of literacy tests as a voting requirement

11. C. Civil Rights Legislation
Education Amendments Act (1972): Title IX prohibited the discrimination on the basis of gender in any education program or activity that receives federal funding
Equality Act (2017): if passed, it would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

12. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail
The “Letter” was Martin Luther King’s response from his jail cell to eight white clergymen, among the most prestigious clergy in the state of Alabama, all racial moderates, who had condemned the protests roiling the city of fierce racism and branded King an extremist.

13. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Read the “Letter.” Annotate the document by highlighting any text that addresses the prompts. Then, answer the questions.
Why does King state he is in Birmingham?
What is civil disobedience? Why is “direct action” necessary in Birmingham?
Why can African Americans no longer wait for civil rights?
How do “just” and “unjust laws” differ?
Why is King disappointed in white moderates? the white church?