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Civil Rights and Public Policy Chapter 5
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Introduction Civil Rights: – Definition: Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals. Racial Discrimination Gender Discrimination Discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and other factors
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Historical Examples List historical examples of civil rights violations.
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Two Centuries of Struggle Conceptions of Equality – Equal opportunity – Equal results Early American Views of Equality The Constitution and Inequality – 14 th Amendment: “…equal protection of the laws.”
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Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy The Era of Slavery – Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) – The Thirteenth Amendment The Era of Reconstruction and Resegregation – Jim Crow laws – Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy The Era of Civil Rights – Brown v. Board of Education (1954) – Court ordered integration and busing of students – Civil Rights Act of 1964 Made racial discrimination illegal in many areas (hotels, restaurants) Strengthened voting right legislation
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Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy Getting and Using the Right To Vote – Suffrage - The legal right to vote. – Fifteenth Amendment: Extended suffrage to African Americans – Grandfather Clause – required a literacy test, but exempted it for anyone who’s g-pa could vote in 1860 – Poll Taxes: Small taxes used to pay for elections- if you paid them, you could vote. – White Primary: Only whites were allowed to vote in the party (Democratic) primaries.
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Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy Getting and Using the Right To Vote – Smith v. Allwright (1944): ended white primaries. – Twenty-fourth Amendment: Eliminated poll taxes for federal elections. – Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966)- no poll taxes at all. – Voting Rights Act of 1965: Helped end formal and informal barriers to voting.
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Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy Other Minority Groups – Native Americans Not American citizens until 1924 Sovereign nation or “domestic dependent nation?” mascots – Hispanic Americans Current immigration trends – Asian Americans Korematsu v. United States (1944)
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Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy The Battle for the Vote – Nineteenth Amendment: Extended suffrage to women in 1920. The “Doldrums”: 1920-1960 – Laws were designed to protect women, and protect men from competition with women. – “protectionism” The Second Feminist Wave – Reed v. Reed (1971) – discrimination based on gender not allowed
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Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy Women in the Workplace Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth Women in the Military – Is the draft discriminatory? Sexual Harassment
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Newly Active Groups Under the Civil Rights Umbrella the Graying of America Are the Young a Disadvantaged Group, Too? People With Disabilities Gay and Lesbian Rights
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Affirmative Action Definition: – A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment of members of some previously disadvantaged group. A move towards equal results? Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995) – programs that classify people by race, even if trying to expand opportunity, should be presumed unconstitutional http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/23/scotus.affir mative.action/ http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/23/scotus.affir mative.action/
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Synthesis Choose 3 examples of areas where civil rights are still lacking. How can / should our gov’t rectify these problem areas? Standard 5 paragraph essay including introduction and conclusion Due Monday
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