1. Four developments begin to turn the tide: -Public opinion starts to change -Violent white reactions of segregationists received extensive media coverage -Kennedy assassination --1964 Democratic landslide allowed northern Democrats to prevail in Congress

2.  1962 JFK signs bill to desegregate housing (Bobby instrumental)  June 1963 Kennedy gives civil rights speech  same night Medgar Evers (head of NAACP) murdered.  Much of the proposed legislation by Kennedy is blocked by the conservative congress.

3.  August 1963  Martin Luther King Jr. leads a Civil Rights March on Washington  Delivers the “I have a dream” speech  “Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”  Singing “We Shall Overcome”  200,000 people – or more(blacks and whites)  Sept. 1963- bomb exploded in Birmingham church and kills four little girls

4.  November 22, 1963  Dallas, TX  While riding in an open limousine, Kennedy shot in the head  Lee Harvey Oswald the lone gunman?  Official investigation led by Earl Warren left many questions unanswered  LBJ sworn in on Air Force One  The nation mourns

5.  Civil Rights Act of 1964 -prohibited discrimination because of race, color, religion, or national origin -all citizens have the right to enter parks, restaurants, bathrooms, etc.. -forbade discrimination in schools -creates EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Comm.)  Voting Rights Act (1965) -eliminated literacy tests, -allowed federal (not state) examiners to register voters -24 th Amendment- no poll taxes

6. Women and Equal Rights Reasonableness standard v. strict scrutiny Muller v. Oregon- 1908- “Women are different” Court chooses a blend Prohibited differences: -Age of adulthood -Arbitrary height-weight requirements -Drinking age -Mandatory pregnancy leaves -Little league exclusion -Business and professional associations -Retirement benefits -Salaries for high school coaches of girls and boys Allowed differences: -statutory rape -all boy/all girl public schools -widow’s property tax exemption -delayed promotions in Navy -the draft

7. Sexual harassment: Two forms: Disallowed by Court Quid Pro Quo- sexual favors in return for holding the job or for promotion Hostile environment, creating a setting in which harassment impairs ability to work

8. Abortion: -decided by states until 1973 Roe v. Wade- 1973 - struck down all state bans on abortion -Women’s right to choose protected by the 14 th Amendment -First trimester- no restrictions -Second trimester- no ban but regulations to protect the health of the woman -Third trimester-abortion ban is possible

9. Critics: - life begins at conception -fetus is a person entitled to equal protection guaranteed by the 14 th Amendment -right to life, pro-life position Supporters: -No one can know when life begins -right to choose, pro choice position

10. Congressional Action: Constitutional Amendments to overturn Roe did not pass Congress Hyde Amendment (1976) no federal funds for abortion except when the woman’s life is endangered -Constitutionally upheld in 1980 Attacks on Roe- 1973-1989, have slowed since 1989- Missouri- Casey decision -24 hour wait, parental consent, pamphlets -upheld by SC

11. Affirmative Action: Equality of results -racism and sexism can be overcome only by taking them into account when designing remedies -equal rights are not enough- people need benefits -affirmative action should be used in hiring -supporters tend to be liberals Equality of Opportunities -reverse discrimination occurs when race or sex is used as a basis for preferential treatment -laws should be color blind and sex-neutral -government should only eliminate barriers -supporters tend to be conservative

12. Emerging standards for quotas and preference systems: -Quota system subjected to strict scrutiny- must be a compelling state reason to justify quotas -must correct an actual pattern of discrimination -must identify actual practices that discriminate -Federal quotas will be given deference because the Constitution gives Congress greater power to correct the effects of racial discrimination Bakke v. Board of Regents U of Cal: numerical quotas not permissible Compensatory action versus preferential treatment: Public supports the former but not the latter

13. Gays and the Supreme Court: -Georgia case allows states to ban homosexual activity -Colorado case prohibits law that would deny homosexuals the “equal protection of the law”. -Don’t ask, Don’t tell repealed -Boston case allows people to exclude those with whom they disagree -Michigan law bans benefits to same sex partners