Chapter 16
EQUALITY AND
CIVIL RIGHTS
2
Two Conceptions of Equality
 Equality of opportunity:
people should
have an equal chance to develop talents
and rewarded equitably
 Equality of outcome: greater uniformity
in social, economic, and political power
among different social groups
 Invidious discrimination
3
Civil Rights
 Powers and privileges guaranteed to the
individual and protected from arbitrary
removal by government or other persons
 Constitutional amendments and related
laws passed to guarantee civil rights
after the Civil War
 Actual rights not a reality until mid-20th
century
4
The Civil War Amendments
 Thirteenth Amendment passed in 1865
 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…
shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to its jurisdiction.
 Fourteenth Amendment passed in 1869
 All persons born or naturalized in the United
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
are citizens of the United States and of the
State wherein they reside.
5
The Civil War Amendments
Fourteenth Amendment also prohibits
states from abridging the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States, or
depriving any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law.
 Amendment also guarantees equality:

 No state shall deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
6
The Civil War Amendments

Fifteenth Amendment adopted in 1870 to
add political equality:
 The right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude.

These three amendments granted
constitutional equality to blacks
 Actual equality sometimes thwarted by courts
7
Congress and the Supreme Court:
Lawmaking Versus Law Interpreting
 Congress passed a civil rights act in 1866
to counteract states’ black codes
 Some provisions in force today
 Supreme Court rulings weakened or
overturned other provisions
 Several rulings based on idea that states not
obligated to honor rights granted by U.S.
citizenship
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Voting Rights
Supreme Court ruled Fifteenth Amendment
did not guarantee right to vote
 Some states passed nonracial laws that
effectively denied black men voting rights

 Poll tax
 Literacy tests
 Minimum education requirements
 “Grandfather clause”
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The Roots of Racial Segregation
 Well before Civil War, blacks lived
separately from whites
 After the war, southern states passed
Jim Crow laws to reinforce segregation
 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld stateimposed racial segregation
 Established separate-but-equal doctrine
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Separate and Unequal
11
The Dismantling of
School Segregation
 National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) founded in 1909 to try other
means to access political power
 First idea pursued: pressing for fully
equal facilities for blacks
 Second area of attack: prove
unconstitutionality of segregation
12
Pressure for Equality…
 Beginning in the 1920s, a few Supreme
Court cases offered hope for future
changes
 University of Missouri and University of
Texas law schools ordered to admit black
students
 However, separate-but-equal doctrine not
revisited
13
…and Pressure for Desegregation
 President Harry S Truman established
the President’s Committee on Civil
Rights in 1947
 Committee’s report became agenda for
civil rights movement
 Truman also desegregated armed forces
 The U.S. Department of Justice began
submitting briefs in support of civil rights
14
Brown v. Board of Education

Began as one case asserting a black child’s
right to attend white school close to her
home
 Federal District court ruled black and white
school facilities equal and denied request
At Supreme Court level, four other cases
merged to form class action suit
 Ruling on first Brown case declared
“separate educational facilities are
inherently unequal”

15
Anger Erupts in Little Rock
16
Implementation of Brown Ruling
 Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)
ruled schools must desegregate “with all
deliberate speed”
 Some states complied; others did little
to desegregate
 Supreme Court ruled desegregation
should happen “at once” in 1969
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School Integration

Several paths to integration approved:
 Busing
 Racial quotas
 Paring or grouping of noncontiguous school
zones
Swan v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County
Schools said lower courts could order busing
 These methods only dealt with de jure
segregation, not de facto segregation

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The Civil Rights Movement
 NAACP’s efforts led to Supreme Court
decisions outlawing whites-only
primaries and declared segregation on
interstate bus routes unconstitutional
 Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency did
little to support civil rights
 Political mobilization of the people
became the civil rights movement
19
Civil Disobedience
Rosa Parks violated a Montgomery, Alabama
law when she sat down in the “whites only”
portion of a bus and was arrested when she
refused to move
 Montgomery’s black community called for a
boycott of the bus system
 Martin Luther King, Jr., urged blacks to
continue boycott despite harassment
 Eventually federal court ruled segregated
transportation systems unconstitutional

20
Civil Disobedience
 MLK founded the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC)
 Group advocated nonviolent means to
bring attention to racial issues
 Black students sat at whites-only lunch
counter
 Supreme Court upheld actions of
demonstrators
21
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
1961: John F. Kennedy became president
 1962-1963: President Kennedy took actions
to enforce desegregation at universities in
the South

 Also asked Congress for civil rights legislation
President Kennedy assassinated November
22, 1963
 Lyndon B. Johnson became president

 Considered civil rights top legislative priority
 Result was Civil Rights Act of 1964
22
When Leaders Confer
23
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Entitled all persons to “full and equal
enjoyment” with regard to public
accommodations
 Established employment equality rights
 Strengthened voting rights laws
 Created Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)
 Federal funds not to be awarded to
programs that discriminate

24
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Supreme Court upheld challenge to law,
ruling Congress has ability to regulate
interstate commerce
 First of many rulings broadening federal
power based on Commerce Clause
25
President Johnson’s
“Great Society”
 Twenty-fourth Amendment (ratified in
1964)
 Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
 Voting Rights Act of 1965
 Fair Housing Act of 1968
26
The Continuing Struggle
over Civil Rights
Civil rights laws do not ensure compliance
 Supreme Court’s ruling in Grove City College
v. Bell (1984) frustrated enforcement efforts

 Ruling led to Civil Rights Restoration Act of
1988

Supreme Court’s subsequent rulings limited
scope of civil rights laws
 In one, restricted minority contractor setasides
 Congress responded with Civil Rights Act of
1991
27
Racial Violence and Black
Nationalism

Violence on both sides of civil rights movement
increased in mid and late 1960s
 Violence against civil rights workers primarily confined
to the South
 Northern blacks in inner cities rioted, especially after
Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968

Lack of progress towards equality led to black
nationalist movement, with some positive results
 Malcolm X leading voice of Nation of Islam until
assassination in 1965
 Stokely Carmichael, chair of Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, called for “black power”
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Civil Rights for Other Minorities
 Recent court decisions and civil rights
laws expand protections to all minorities
 1987 Supreme Court decision expanded
interpretation of Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Covers discrimination related to jobs, rental
housing, and other prohibited
discrimination
29
Native Americans
 Government relations with native
Indians in 18th and 19th centuries denied
political and social rights
 Broken promises sometimes led to violence
 Early 20th century policies promoted
assimilation
 Indians received citizenship in 1924
 Native land holdings continued to shrink
30
Native Americans
 Frustration with U.S. policies led to
militant action in late 1960s and early
1970s
 Seizure of Alcatraz Island
 Hostages at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
 Some land returned in 1970s
 Some awards by Supreme Court
 Establishment of casinos on reservations
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Immigrant Groups
 Statue of Liberty icon symbolizing U.S.
as nation of immigrants
 However, until 1965, immigration laws
discriminatory
 Quota systems
 1965 law designed to reunite families,
leading to “chain migration”
 Did not address illegal immigration
32
Illegal Immigration
 Demand for cheap labor drives illegal
immigration
 1986 law set fines for hiring illegal
immigrants
 Also offered amnesty to resident illegal
immigrants
 Lax enforcement and fake “green cards”
doomed law’s strategies
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Figure 16.1
Illegal Immigrants in
the United States, 2009
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Illegal Immigration

By 2006, over 11 million illegal immigrants
lived in U.S.; politicians called for
immigration reform
 Burden on public services
 Threat to national security
 But, do pay Social Security with no return

Immigrant organizers sponsored non-violent
demonstration opposing some proposals
35
Strolling Protest
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Illegal Immigration


Illegal immigrants easy targets for those
frustrated by economic downturns
Arizona passed the Support Our Law
Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act in
2010, the strictest in nation





State crime to be illegal immigrant
Aliens must carry documentation
Police to determine immigration status
Steps up enforcement
Penalties for helping or hiring illegal immigrants
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Latinos and Hispanics
 Many immigrated to Southwest to work
in agriculture
 Most faced poverty and discrimination
 Many left country during Great
Depression, but numbers in U.S.
increased again during WWII
 Minority farm workers in California lived in
poverty, as did workers in cities
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Latinos and Hispanics

Cesar Chavez led United Farm Workers union
in strike against growers in 1965
 Wanted better pay, working conditions, and
housing for farm workers

In 1970s and 1980s, immigration from
countries other than Mexico and Puerto Rico
increased
 Discrimination compounded by population’s
difficulties learning and using a new language
39
Latinos and Hispanics
Language barriers result in lower voter
registration and turnout for Hispanics
 Nine majority-minority districts created to
increase representation

 Under scrutiny by Supreme Court

Recent years have seen growing Hispanic
political power
 More elected officials at all levels of government
 Appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme
Court
40
Americans with Disabilities
 After over 20 years of struggle,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
passed in 1990
 Extents protections of Civil Rights Act of
1964 to many categories of disabilities
 Question of “what is the meaning of
disability?” complex
 Original definition vague
41
Homosexual Americans
Police raid of Stonewall Inn in 1969 and
subsequent riots sparked gay liberation
movement
 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF) lobbied for gays to serve in public
employment

 Founded Legislative Lawyering Program

Human Rights Campaign founded in 1980
42
Homosexual Americans
 Significant progress made since 1970s
 Two homosexual members of 110th Congress
 But still do not enjoy all laws protecting
other minority groups
 Military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
established by Clinton administration
remains controversial
 Domestic partner benefits not uniform
43
Homosexual Americans

Same-sex marriages another issue
 Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled same-sex
couples could marry in 2003
 At least 37 states prohibit same-sex marriages
 California battle regarding same-sex marriage
began in 2000

Supreme Court’s decision in Boy Scouts of
America v. Dale (2000) highlights conflict
between freedom and equality
44
Gender and Equal Rights:
The Women’s Movement
 Women’s movement a fight against
protectionism
 Demand for women’s rights began with
abolition movement
 Courts consistently upheld protectionist laws
 Supreme Court 1991 ruling struck down a
company’s fetal protection policy as
discriminatory
45
Political Equality for Women
 Women’s suffrage movement began in
late 1800s
 Susan B. Anthony convinced a senator to
introduce constitutional amendment
supporting voting rights for women in 1878
 Police arrested 218 women picketing the
White House, demanding right to vote
 Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1920
46
Political Equality for Women
 Even after passage of Nineteenth
Amendment, protectionist employment
attitudes and policies continued
 Fewer educational opportunities
 Fewer employment opportunities
 Lower wages
47
Gender Quotas for Representatives
in Lower Legislative Houses

Several countries mandate quotas for
election of women to public office
 Some written into constitutions; others are
statutes or even quotas set by political parties
 Some are quotas for candidates; others are
quotas for those actually elected
 Mixed results
 Quotas most effective in proportional
representation systems
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Politics in a
Changing
World
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Politics in a Changing World
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Prohibiting Sex-Based
Discrimination





Equal Pay Act of 1963 advanced pay equality but
did not overturn other protectionist state laws
Civil Rights Act of 1964 also prohibited sexism
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
prohibited sex discrimination in federally aided
education programs
Revenue Act of 1972 established child care tax
credits
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 a response
to 2007 Supreme Court ruling regarding pay
discrimination
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Obama Signs Equal-Pay
Legislation
52
Stereotypes Under Scrutiny
 Beginning in early 1970s, Supreme Court
began ruling against gender-based
protectionism
 In 1976, Court established standard:
gender-based distinctions justifiable only
if they serve some important
government purpose
 However, courts reluctant to address
concept of comparable worth
53
Stereotypes Under Scrutiny
 Courts do support applying constitutional
guarantees won by blacks to women
 No discrimination in jury selection
 The Virginia Military Institution’s (VMI)
men-only admissions policies overturned
in United States v. Virginia
 Distinctions based on sex almost as suspect
as discriminations based on race
54
The Equal Rights Amendment
 The Supreme Court has not extended
the protections of the Fourteenth
Amendment beyond issues of race
 An equal rights amendment (ERA) was
introduced in 1923
 Finally approved by Congress in 1972
 The ERA died in 1982, three states short of
adoption
55
Why did the ERA fail?
 Proponents made national campaign;
opponents, a state-based campaign
 Proponents exaggerated effects;
opponents capitalized on fears of those
effects
 Despite ERA’s failure, ratification
movement provided many benefits for
women
56
Affirmative Action: Equal
Opportunity or Equal Outcome?
 Affirmative action programs designed to
overcome effects of present and past
discrimination
 Goal is to move beyond equality of
opportunity to equality of outcome
 Numerical or percentage goals most
aggressive form
 Also includes increased recruitment efforts
57
Affirmative Action

Proponents believe quotas provide
opportunities to groups so discriminated
against that they can’t take advantage of
equal opportunities
 Seldom explicitly legislated
 Government-mandated policies began in 1965
with Office of Federal Contract Compliance

Opponents believe quota programs can lead
to reverse discrimination or benefits to lessqualified applicants
58
How Others Struggle with
Affirmative Action
India has “positive discrimination” policies,
which have resulted in increased tensions
between upper and lower castes
 Brazil’s racial quotas difficult to apply
because 42 percent of population racially
mixed
 Critics claim South Africa’s policies benefit
only senior members of the ruling African
National Congress
 Majoritarian and pluralist models approach
solutions differently

59
Reverse Discrimination
Supreme Court decision in Regents of the
University of California v. Bakke said race could
only be “plus” factor for admissions
 Groups opposed to affirmative action took
other situations to court, with mixed results

 Gratz v. Bollinger
 Grutter v. Bollinger
 Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
60
Affirmative Action Arena
61
The Politics of Affirmative Action
 Survey results not surprising:
blacks favor
affirmative action and whites do not
 So, how do we account for persistence of
equal outcome policies?
 Politicians want votes, so expand number of
protected groups and benefits provided
 Many Americans view programs as a
violation of personal freedoms
62