Chapter 5
Civil
Rights
Civil Rights
 Rights rooted in the 14th Amendments’ guarantee of
equal protection under the law (equal
treatment)
 Recall civil liberties as limits on government action
 What the government must do to ensure equal
protection
 What the government must do to ensure freedom
from discrimination
 History of civil rights – struggle of groups to free
themselves from discriminatory treatment (African
Americans, women, elderly, homosexuals, etc.)
 Key cases: Dred Scott v. Sanford; Plessy v. Ferguson;
Brown v. Board of Education
Constitution and
Slavery
 In apportioning congressional representation based on
population, the constitution refers to free persons and
“other persons” (or slaves)
 For purposes of representation, a slave was equal to
3/5 of a free person
 Supreme Court confirms constitutionality of slavery in
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
 Slaves not citizens of US
 Not entitled to rights/privileges of citizenship
 Constitutional servitude ends with Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and passage of
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments during
Reconstruction period following Civil War
Civil War Amendments
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End constitutional inequality
13th Amendment (1865) – neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States
14th Amendment (1868) – all persons born or naturalized
in the United State are citizens of the United States
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States cannot abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
All persons (whether or not they are citizens) are entitled to
due process
All persons are entitled to equal protection; citizens have
political rights (vote, run for office); all persons (whether
citizen or not) have right to due process and equal protection
15th Amendment (1870) – the right to vote shall not be
denied because of race, color or previous condition of
servitude
Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to
1875
 Aimed at enforcing 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments
 Civil Rights Act (1866)
 Extended citizenship to anyone born in the
United States
 Gave African Americans full equality before the
law
 Authorized the president to enforce the act
through use of force
 Enforcement Act (1870)
 Set out specific penalties for interfering with the
right to vote
Nullification of Civil Rights Acts
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Reconstruction statutes, civil rights acts did little to
secure legal equality for African Americans
Civil Rights Cases (1883)
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Supreme Court rules that the 14th amendment only prevents
official discriminatory acts by states, not by private
individuals
Met with widespread approval throughout the U.S.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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Supreme Court ruled that segregation did not violate the 14th
Amendment
Established the separate-but-equal doctrine
Provided constitutional justification for racial
discrimination/segregation throughout the U.S.
In the South, Jim Crow laws solidified segregation (separate
drinking fountains, seats in theaters, restaurants, hotels,
restrooms, waiting rooms, etc.)
Barriers to African American
Voting
 White primary – state primary election in
which only whites may vote
 Allowed because Southern politicians claimed
political parties were private entities
 Wasn’t outlawed by the Supreme Court until
Smith v. Allwright (1944!)
 Grandfather clause – restricting voting to
individuals who could prove that their
grandfathers had voter prior to 1867
 Used to exempt whites from poll taxes
 Used to exempt whites from literacy tests
Barriers to African American
Voting, cont.
 Poll taxes – required the payment of a fee to vote
 Intended to disenfranchise poor African Americans
 Outlawed in national elections by the 24th
amendment
 Outlawed in all elections by Supreme Court in 1966
 Literacy tests – required potential voters to read,
recite or interpret complicated texts
 Intended to disenfranchise African Americans
 Barriers (white primaries, grandfather clauses, poll
taxes, and literacy tests) were quite effective at
disenfranchising African Americans
 Note: the U.S. didn’t achieve universal suffrage (i.e.,
become fully democratic) until the Voting Rights Act
(1965)
Ending Legal Segregation

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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) –
Supreme Court rules public school segregation violates the
14th Amendment
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Chief Justice Earl Warren claims separation implies inferiority
Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson
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De facto segregation = racial segregation due to past social
and economic conditions and residential patterns
De jure segregation = racial segregation due to laws or
administrative decisions by public authorities
Brown v. Board of Education (1955) – orders
desegregation “with all deliberate speed”
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Court–ordered busing – transporting African American
children to white schools and white children to African
American schools to eliminate school segregation based on
residential patterns – met with considerable resistance
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Today, many schools are segregated; little public or court
support for integration efforts
Civil Rights Movement

Key developments
 Rosa Parks, Montgomery, Alabama 1955
 Martin Luther King leads bus boycott
 King’s philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience to
achieve racial justice
 Formation of Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC)
 Birmingham protest, 1963
 March on Washington, 1963
 King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
 Black Power movement
 Malcolm X

Violent response to non-violent protest movement
produced groundswell of support
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Most far-reaching in modern times
 Forbade discrimination on the basis of race,
color, religion, gender and national origin in
 Voter registration
 Public accommodations
 Public schools
 Expanded power of Civil Rights Commission
 Withheld funds from programs administered in a
discriminatory way
 Established the right to equality of opportunity
in employment (created the EEOC)
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
 Voting Rights Act of 1965
 Outlawed discriminatory voter registration tests
 Authorized federal registration and administration of
voting where discrimination took place
 Resulted in massive voter registration drive of
African Americans in the South
 Led to increasing political participation on the part
of African Americans in voting and holding office
 Increased participation of other minorities as well
 Civil Rights Act of 1968
 Forbade discrimination in housing, mortgage-lending
Immigration and Civil Rights

Immigration rates today are historically high
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High rate of immigration
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Positive effects = expand work force; help support government
programs
Increasing blurring of racial lines
Significant for civil rights agenda because government has
traditionally used racial categories to determine benefits and
track trends
 Government now uses 6th mixed census category (in addition
to white, black, American Indian, Alaskan native, and
Asian/Pacific Islander)
Questions: Should the government ask/track racial
identification? Is it possible to promote equality without
this data?
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One million/year immigrate to the U.S.
Foreign-born constitute 10% of population
Charges of
Discrimination
EEOC 2002
Still a long way to go…
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights
 Women’s Suffrage Movement
 Connected to the abolition movement
 Suffragists organized the first women’s
right convention at Seneca Falls, NY in
1848
 Established women’s suffrage
associations
 Finally won passage of the 19th
Amendment in 1920
U.S. in Comparative
Perspective, 106
Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights
 Question: How many of you are
feminists?
 Modern Women’s Movement
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Feminism = political, economic, and social equality for
women
Connected to Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s
Spurred by the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine
Mystique (1963)
National Organization for Women formed (1966)
Argued for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
 Failed to win the necessary states for ratification
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Targeted gender discrimination by challenging policies and
laws in federal courts
Advocated and encouraged an increasingly prominent role for
women in government and politics, with some success
Gender-Based Discrimination in
the Workplace
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Gender discrimination = any practice, policy or procedure
that denies equal treatment to an individual or group based on
gender
 Prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Applies even to “protective policies,” policies designed to
protect women of child-bearing age
Sexual harassment = unwanted physical or verbal conduct or
abuse of a sexual nature that interferes with a recipient’s job
performance, creates a hostile environment, or carries an
implicit or explicit threat of adverse employment consequences
Wage discrimination = women earn 76 cents for every $1.00
earned by men despite the Equal Pay Act requiring equal pay
for equal work
Glass ceiling = phenomenon of women holding few of the top
positions in professions or businesses
Question: What additional policies are needed to promote gender
equality?
Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action = a policy in admissions or hiring that gives special
consideration to traditionally disadvantaged groups to overcome present
effects of past discrimination
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Regents of CA v. Bakke (1978)
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Original aimed at advancing women and “minorities”
Goes beyond strict interpretation of equal protection
Bakke argued UC Davis affirmative action policy constituted “reverse
discrimination,” discriminates against those who do not have minority status
Court does not rule against affirmative action
Rules that race can be considered as a factor in admissions, just not the only
factor
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña (1995) – requires “strict scrutiny,” must
be tailored to meet a compelling state interest
Other recent cases have upheld constitutionality of affirmative action
programs
CA’s passage of Proposition 209 (1996) outlawed affirmative action
programs in all state-sponsored institutions (e.g., hiring and college
admissions)
Question: Should affirmative action be extended or abolished? Is bilingual education a civil
rights issue? (note: CA banned bilingual education in 1998)
Aging Population
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
Special Protection for Older
Americans
 Older Americans not protected against discrimination by
Civil Rights Act
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
(1967)
 Prohibits discrimination on the basis of age unless
age is shown to be a bona fide occupational
qualification
 Mandatory Retirement
 Forced retirement when a person reaches a certain
age
 Prohibited forced retirement for employees under 70
in most occupations by an amendment to the ADEA
(1978)
Securing Rights for Persons
with Disabilities
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Like older Americans, persons with disabilities not protected
from discrimination by Civil Rights Act
Protection afforded through Rehabilitation Act, Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, and Education for All
Handicapped Children Act
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990)
 Requires all public buildings and services be accessible to
persons with disabilities
 Requires employers make reasonable accommodations for
people with disabilities
 Defines “disabilities” as physical or mental impairments that
substantially limit everyday activities (e.g., blindness,
alcoholism, heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, etc.)
 Conditions that can be medically corrected (medication,
glasses) do not fall under ADA
Rights and Status of Gay Males
and Lesbians
 Question: Should homosexuals have the same
rights as heterosexuals?
 Gay rights movement for equal rights and protections
grew in aftermath of Stonewall incident
 “the shot heard round the homosexual world”
 In decades past, most states had anti-sodomy laws;
now considered unconstitutional
 Supreme Court upheld a law in Bowers v. Hardwick
(1986) that made homosexual conduct between
two adults a crime
 Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that such laws
violate 14th amendment’s due process law
 Now 12 states and 230 municipalities have laws
protecting homosexuals from discrimination
Outstanding Issues
 Gays in the Military
 Clinton (1993) policy “don’t ask, don’t tell”
 Same-sex Marriages
 Highly controversial
 Various states have made movements along
these lines
 Still highly controversial issue
 Conflict over definition of marriage
 Child Custody and Adoption
 Courts now no longer deny custody or visitation
to persons solely on the basis of sexual
orientation
Rights and Status of
Juveniles
 Parents viewed as protectors of children’s rights
 26th amendment grants 18-21 year olds the right to
vote
 Most contracts entered into by minors cannot be
enforced
 Parents can be held liable for minor’s negligent
actions
 Minors are sometimes viewed as incapable of criminal
intent
 When minors are tried as adults, they are afforded
the same protections, but are subject to adult
penalties (including the death penalty)
Discussion Questions
 What should the government’s
responsibility be when equal
protection under the law is not enough
to ensure truly equal opportunities for
Americans?
 What still needs to be done in the area
of civil rights to achieve greater
equality of opportunity and protection
from discrimination?
Hot Links to Internet Resources
 Book’s Companion Site:
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/
schmidtbrief2004
 Wadsworth’s Political Science Site:
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com
 American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org
 The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King
 NAACP: http://www.naacp.org
 Feminist Majority Foundation:
http://www.feminist.org
 ADA Hotlinks and Documents Center:
http://janweb.icdi.wvu.edu/kinder