Chapter 16
EQUALITY AND
CIVIL RIGHTS
Learning Outcomes
16.1 Explain how the concepts of equality of
opportunity and equality of outcome mirror the
tension between freedom and equality.
16.2 Trace the Supreme Court rulings and state
legislative efforts that prevented African Americans
from achieving “equal protection of the laws.”
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Learning Outcomes
16.3 Identify the Supreme Court decisions that
dismantled school segregation and explain the
significance of each.
16.4 Describe the circumstances under which the
1964 Civil Rights Act was passed and its evolving
interpretation in subsequent Supreme Court
decisions.
16.5 Evaluate the effect of the civil rights
movement on other minority groups’ struggles for
equality.
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Learning Outcomes
16.6 Trace the evolution of women’s legal rights
beginning with laws based on protectionism and
concluding with Supreme Court rulings prohibiting
gender-based discrimination.
16.7 Compare and contrast the consequences
that follow from policies aimed at equal
opportunities versus those aimed at equal
outcomes.
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Two Conceptions of Equality

Equality of Opportunity
 Each person guaranteed same chance to succeed
 More Americans support this than equality of outcome

Equality of Outcome
 Society must ensure people are equal, and
government must design policies to redistribute wealth
and status so that economic and social equality is
actually achieved
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The Civil War Amendments

Thirteenth Amendment 1865
 Prohibited slavery or involuntary servitude

Fourteenth Amendment 1868
 Made freed slaves citizens
 Prohibited states from abridging privileges or depriving
rights without due process
 Guarantees equality under law

Fifteenth Amendment 1870
 Added political equality
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The Civil War Amendments

Congress and the Supreme Court:
Lawmaking Versus Law Interpreting
 Congress passed civil rights act in 1866 to counteract
states’ black codes
 Supreme Court rulings weakened or overturned some
provisions
 Court decisions gave states room to maneuver around
civil rights laws
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The Civil War Amendments

The Roots of Racial Segregation
 After Civil War, southern states passed Jim Crow laws
to reinforce segregation
 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld state-imposed racial
segregation
 Established separate-but-equal doctrine
 Three years later, applied to schools
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Separate and Unequal
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The Dismantling of
School Segregation

Pressure for Equality…
 In 1920s, separate-but-equal doctrine deeply ingrained
 In 1930s, a few Supreme Court cases offered hope for
future changes
 Plessy ruling - University of Missouri Law School had to
admit black students
 Sweatt v. Painter - University of Texas Law School
ordered to provide admission to black students
 Court avoided reexamining separate-but-equal
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The Dismantling of
School Segregation

… and Pressure for Desegregation
 1948, President Truman ordered desegregation of
armed forces
 U.S. Department of Justice began submitting briefs in
support of civil rights
 Brown v. Board of Education - Supreme Court ruled
state-imposed public school segregation violated the
equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
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The Civil Rights Movement

NAACP concentrated efforts on school
desegregation but made advancements in
other areas as well
 Late 1940s - Supreme Court decisions against:
 Whites-only primaries
 Segregation on interstate bus routes

Civil rights movement
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The Civil Rights Movement

Civil Disobedience
 Rosa Parks – arrested and fined for not giving up seat
 Montgomery’s black community responded to Parks'
arrest with a boycott of bus system
 Martin Luther King, Jr., urged blacks to continue boycott
despite harassment
 Eventually federal court ruled segregated transportation
systems unconstitutional
 Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated civil disobedience to
bring racial issues to light
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The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Act of 1964
 In 1963, Kennedy enforced the desegregation of the
University of Alabama
 Martin Luther King – “I Have a Dream”
 March for Jobs and Freedom
 Lyndon B. Johnson
 Considered civil rights top legislative priority
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1965
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When Leaders Confer
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The Civil Rights Movement

The Continuing Struggle over Civil Rights
 Grove City College v. Bell (1984)
 Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988
 If any institution gets federal money, no part of it can
discriminate
 Supreme Court’s subsequent rulings limited scope of
civil rights laws
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Civil Rights for Other Minorities

Native Americans
 Government relations with native Indians in 18th & 19th
centuries denied political and social rights
 Early 20th century policies promoted assimilation
 Indians received citizenship in 1924
 Frustration with U.S. policies led to militant action in
1969s and early 1970s
 In 1946, Indian claims commission established
 1970s and 1980s tribes won monies and land
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Civil Rights for Other
Minorities

Immigrant Groups
 Millions of undocumented or illegal immigrants have
come to U.S.
 1965 new immigration law eliminated quotas
 By 2006, over 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
 Arizona immigration law
 Latino immigration - now 16 percent of the population
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Civil Rights for
Other Minorities

Americans with Disabilities
 43 million Americans with disabilities gained protection
with 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
 Extends protections of Civil Rights Act of 1964 to many
categories of disabilities
 Definition of disability is difficult
 Revision to ADA signed into law in 2008
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Civil Rights of
Other Minorities

Homosexual Americans
 1969 Stonewall riots - beginning of gay liberation
movement
 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) lobbied
for gays to serve in public employment
 Same-sex marriage issue
 Obama first president to publicly support
 Many states differ - 13 states prohibit same-sex
marriage
 Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
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Court Confronts
California Clash
Proud to be Out
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

Protectionism
 Women’s movement: fight against protectionism
 Demand for women’s rights began with abolition
movement
 Courts consistently upheld protectionist laws
 Supreme Court 1991 ruling struck down company’s
fetal protection policy as discriminatory
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

Political Equality for Women:
 Women’s suffrage movement began in late 1800s
 1878 - Susan B. Anthony convinced senator to introduce
constitutional amendment supporting voting rights for
women
 Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1920
 Economic equality closely tied to social attitudes
 Battle for equality in workplace continued
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

Prohibiting Sex-Based Discrimination
 Equal Pay Act of 1963
 Advanced pay equality but didn’t overturn other state
protectionist laws
 Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited sexism
 Helped to remove restrictions of protectionism
 Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
 Revenue Act of 1972
 Title VII in 2007 – tightened rules over pay
discrimination
 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

Stereotypes Under Scrutiny
 In early 1970s, Supreme Court began ruling against
gender-based protectionism
 In 1976, Court established standard: gender-based
distinctions justifiable only if they serve important
government purpose
 Bared juror exclusions based on sex
 United States v. Virginia
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

The Equal Rights Amendment
 Courts hesitant to extend Fourteenth Amendment
beyond issues of race
 1923, National Women’s Party originally introduced
equal rights amendment (ERA) but it has never been
ratified

Why did the ERA fail?
 Proponents made national campaign; opponents, a
state-based campaign
 Proponents exaggerated effects; opponents
capitalized on fears of those effects
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Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement

The Equal Rights Amendment (cont.)
 Despite ERA’s failure, ratification movement provided
benefits for women
 Spurred formation of National Organization for Women
(NOW) and other organizations
 Contributed to women’s participation in politics
 Generated important legislation affecting women
 Some view Court decisions as ERA equivalent
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Affirmative Action: Equal
Opportunity or Equal Outcome

Commitment of President Johnson led to
affirmative action programs
 Designed expand opportunities for women, minorities
and people with disabilities
 Range of public and private programs to move beyond
equality of opportunity to equality of outcome
 Most aggressive form - Numerical/percentage goals
 Includes increased recruitment efforts

Arguments both for and against
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Affirmative Action: Equal
Opportunity or Equal Outcome

Reverse Discrimination
 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
 Groups opposed to affirmative action took other
situations to court with mixed results
 Gratz v. Bollinger – university admissions policy violated
equal protection clause
 Grutter v. Bollinger – ruled race only one factor in
admissions decisions
 Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 invalidated integration plans
 Fisher v. University of Texas
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The Price of Equality?
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Affirmative Action

The Politics of Affirmative Action
 Overall, blacks favor affirmative action and whites do
not
 Why is there persistence of equal outcome policies?
 Majority of Americans consistently reject explicit race or
gender preferences regardless of groups that benefit
 Many Americans view affirmative action as violation of
personal freedoms
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