CIVIL RIGHTS
only one clause in the Constitution need be considered – EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE – XIV Amend.
[No State shall] “ … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
this is not understood to mean that everyone is to be treated the same, but rather divisions
within society , such as sex, race, ethnicity are …
SUSPECT CATEGORIES
and laws that make distinctions affecting these groups
will be subject to especially …
STRICT SCRUTINY
Over the immediate years these suspect categories
have expanded to include discrimination based on age, disability, and sexual orientation
other standards of review: “intermediate scrutiny” = there be substantial need. (often gender)
“reasonableness standard” = some legitimate purpose
CIVIL RIGHTS FOR RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
African American Latino Asian Native American
Equality for African-America
- pioneers of civil rights
14th and 15th Amendments set to guarantee civil rights
Jim Crow 1876-1954
de jure segregation: by law
segregation of whites and blacks in all public facilities: schools, restaurants, hotels, and restrooms
de facto segregation: in reality was the
characteristic of the Northern states
History:
1896 Plessey v. Ferguson
“separate but equal” doctrine established
1909 NAACP is founded
“educate, agitate, legislate”
1930s begins the NAACP use of litigation to challenge “separate but equal.”
Lawyer Thurgood Marshall heads up the focused attention to achieving an incremental
advance toward equality in education:
Sipuel v. Oklahoma 1948
McLaurin v. Oklahoma 1950
Sweatt v. Painter 1950 “ substantive equality”
before Brown v. Board of Education 1954
Major flaw of democracy = it is tough to be in the minority
Major flaw of representative democracy = elected leaders have no political benefit
in serving minorities.
Not to get all “Wilsonian” but
• majoritarian politics – leader really just a “delegate”
• entrepreneurial politics – leader organizes and leads a
large bloc
• client politics – leader(s) caters to a group
Black Civil Rights Strategy: 3 pronged and progressive
1. Courts
2. People
3. Congress
Brown directly challenges and over turns de jure segregation
de jure desegregation is insured by the Civil Rights Act of 1964
24th Amendment
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969) and his Great Society
Office of Economic Opportunity
- establishes guidelines for equality in hiring and education practices
affirmative action
Title IX
It has been the challenges to de facto segregation that has been so challenging
In education = busing
Charlotte-Mecklenburg cases 1971 and 2001
Bakke case
University of Michigan case
Boston court ordered busing protest in mid 1970s
in an attempt to address de facto segregation
RIGHTS FOR NATIVE AMERICANS
2 million in USA vast majority on reservations
308 tribes
vs
200 native languages
Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior administer the services and benefits given to the tribes
SCOTUS has recognized the tribes not as a race but as members of quasi-sovereign tribal entities = nations
Article 1, section 8 grants Congress , under the commerce clause, full power to regulate the tribes. Life on reservations
is quite difficult with poor living conditions, astronomical unemployment, chemical abuse, and mental health issues.
These conditions and poor relations with the US government led to armed protests in the 1970s.
Native American Rights Fund has brought numerous court cases seeking relief for the tribes. More autonomy, requiring
stronger tribal governments and economic development has been the aim. Gambling and retail development has
been the means for such policies. But not all tribes and regions can benefit from the hospitality industry.
AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM) more activist organization known
for its protests: Alcatraz Occupation; Wounded Knee; vs. NFL/MLB/NCAA
RIGHTS FOR LATINO AMERICANS
35 million in US
50% of growth in US population
Mexican-Americans 15 million in SW
Puerto Ricans
3 million in EC/MW cities
Cuban-Americans
in South Florida
Central and South American immigrants – thru out the USA
ESL and job discrimination conditions are their major civil rights issues.
Similar with African-Americans, Latinos have embraced the political process, electing Latinos to political offices.
RIGHTS OF ASIAN-PACIFIC ISLANDERS
8 million strong and growing rapidly
40% of immigration coming from Asia.
Philippines, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, and India
prediction of year 2050 = 10% of US population to be of Asian-Pacific origin
Current immigration laws favor the Asian immigrant being based on occupation and education not region.
Professionals especially benefit by how US immigration law is enforced. NUMBERS BELOW = MILLIONS
WOMEN and EQUAL RIGHTS
notion was that the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” was protecting women
no real legal rights = coverture she was the extension of husband or father
Important dates:
- Seneca Falls, NY 1848 Document of Sentiments
Susan B. Anthony
Cady Stanton
beginning of the suffrage movement
- 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment
- 1908 Mueller v. Oregon: biological differences = different legal status
- WW II Rosie the Riveter”
- 1963 Betty Friedan writes The Feminine Mystique
- 1971 National Organization of Women (NOW) founded by Gloria Steinem
SCOTUS establishes the reasonableness standard : different treatment must be “reasonable, not
arbitrary, and must rest on some ground of that difference having fair and substantial relation to the
object of the legislation so that all persons in similar circumstances shall be treated alike.”
Reed v. Reed (1971)
Big Cases:
1971
1976
1981
1996
Reed v. Reed
Craig v. Boren
gender discrimination = anti- equal protection
gender discrimination justified only if serve important
government objectives and be substantially related
Rostker v. Goldberg
Congress can draft men and not women
United States v. Virginia a state may not finance an all male military school
Discrimination in the Workplace
1964 Civil Rights Act
Title VII - prohibits gender discrimination
1978 pregnancy included
1990’s “family leave” created
1980s sexual harassment added
“equal pay for equal work” has near legal status – Equal Pay Act of 1963
but men and women often not in similar jobs?
“comparable worth” has become an issue
Equal Opportunity Act (1972) prohibits gender discrimination in hiring/firing/promotion/working
conditions
Omnibus Education Act (1972)
Equal opportunity in sports
infamous Title IX:
equal funding for sports
Violence Against Women
(1994) – SCOTUS struck
down as an excessive use
of the commerce clause.
People With Disabilities
Rehabilitation Act (1973) prohibits discrimination against the disabled in fed programs.
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975) – right to appropriate education.
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) The ADA is the far reaching federal mandate
effecting all public accommodations
The Elderly
(1967) Age Discrimination in Employment Act: prohibits employers from discriminating
against individuals –over the age of 40 on the basis of age.
Homosexual Rights
The 1967 Stonewall Riot gives rise to the Gay Rights movement
Romer v. Evans (1996) – SCOTUS rules that law
against homosexuality violates “equal protection”
Dale v. BSA (2001) allows private groups to deny gay
membership.
2013 - SCOTUS deciding upon the legality of Prop 8 denial of gay marriage and
DOMA – Defense of Marriage Act .
- SCOTUS rules that the Federal government may recognize same sex union
but has not ruled recognition be incorporated
Reverse Discrimination
By the 1970s the concern turned to racial balance as opposed to just nondiscrimination –
EQUALITY of OPPORTUNITY v. EQUALITY OF RESULT
is Civil Rights the absence of discrimination (de jure) or that minority groups and the majority are in the same
schools, work in the same jobs, live in the same neighborhood (de facto)- having the same chance
for success?
the role of affirmative action – government policy to help better assure the latter- but it goes political !!!!!
“Leveling the playing field.” or Screwing the majority?
Bakke v. California (1978)
no to quotas, but race may be a consideration – just not too dominate?!
USW v. Weber (1979)
private company could set its own quotas
Richmond v. Crosan (1989)
the City of Richmond’s subcontract plan of 30% to minority owned firms
was excessive.
University of Michigan cases in 2003
- race too much of a determinant in undergrad admissions
Gratz v. Bollinger; Grutter v. Bollinger
law school admissions ok, race just one of many criteria