Chapter 5
Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness
Learning Objectives
Having read the chapter, the students should be able to do each of the following:
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Trace the history of equality through the law.
Demonstrate knowledge of the context of the African American civil rights movement.
Demonstrate knowledge of the civil rights movement for women.
Identify civil rights battles being fought by minority groups.
Evaluate the significance of demographic changes in the United States.
Chapter Outline
I.
Equality through Law
A. The Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection
1. Segregation in the Schools
2. Judicial Tests of Equal Protection
B. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
1. The Black Civil Rights Movement
2. The Movement for Women’s Rights
3. Hispanic Americans and the Farmworkers’ Strikes
4. Native Americans and Their Long-Delayed Rights
5. Asian Americans and Immigration
C. The Voting Rights Act of 1965
D. The Civil Rights Act of 1968
E. Affirmative Action
II. The Continuing Struggle for Equality
A. African Americans
B. Women
C. Native Americans
D. Hispanic Americans
E. Asian Americans
F. Other Disadvantaged Groups
III. Discrimination: Superficial Differences, Deep Divisions
IV. Summary
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Focus and Main Points
This chapter examines the major laws relating to equality and the conditions that led to their
adoption. The chapter concludes with a brief look at some of the continuing challenges facing
America’s historically disadvantaged groups. The chapter emphasizes these points:
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Americans have attained substantial equality under the law. In purely legal terms,
although not always in practice, they have equal protection under the laws, equal access
to accommodations and housing, and an equal right to vote.
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Legal equality for all Americans has not resulted in de facto equality. African Americans,
women, Hispanic Americans, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have a
disproportionately small share of America’s opportunities and benefits. However, the
issue of what, if anything, government should do to deal with this problem is a major
source of contention.
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Disadvantaged groups have had to struggle for equal rights. African Americans, women,
Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and a number of other groups
have had to fight for their rights in order to achieve a fuller measure of equality.
Chapter Summary
During the past half century, the United States has undergone a revolution in the legal status of
its traditionally disadvantaged groups, including African Americans, women, Native Americans,
Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Such groups are now provided equal protection
under the law in areas such as education, employment, and voting. Discrimination by race, sex,
and ethnicity has not been eliminated from American life, but it is no longer substantially backed
by the force of law. This advance was achieved against strong resistance from established
interests, which only begrudgingly and slowly responded to demands for equality in law.
Traditionally disadvantaged Americans have achieved fuller equality primarily as a result of their
struggle for greater rights. The Supreme Court has been an instrument of change for
disadvantaged groups. Its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), in which racial
segregation in public schools was declared a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equalprotection clause, was a major breakthrough in equal rights. Through its affirmative action and
other rulings, such as those providing equal access to the vote, the Court has also mandated the
active promotion of social, political, and economic equality. However, because civil rights policy
involves large issues concerned with social values and the distribution of society’s opportunities
and benefits, questions of civil rights are inherently contentious. For this reason, legislatures and
executives have been deeply involved in such issues. The history of civil rights includes
landmark legislation, such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act.
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© 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
In more recent decades, civil rights issues have receded from the prominence they had during the
1960s. The scope of affirmative-action programs has narrowed, and the use of forced busing to
achieve racial integration in America’s public schools has been largely eliminated.
The legal gains of disadvantaged groups over the past half century have not been matched by
material gains. Although progress in areas such as education, income, and health care has been
made, it has been slow. Tradition, prejudice, and the sheer difficulty of social, economic, and
political progress stand as formidable obstacles to achieving a more equal America.
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© 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.