Chapter 5
Civil
Rights
Civil Rights
 Rights rooted in 14th Amendments’
guarantee of equal protection under the
law (equal treatment)
 What government must do to ensure equal
protection, 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 representation based on
population, constitution refers to free persons
and “other persons” (or slaves)
 Slave equal to 3/5 of 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 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments during
Reconstruction following Civil War
Civil War Amendments
 13th Amendment (1865) – neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall exist in U.S.
 14th Amendment (1868) – all persons born or
naturalized in U.S. are citizens
 States cannot abridge privileges or immunities of
citizens
 All persons (whether or not citizens) entitled to due
process
 All persons entitled to equal protection; citizens
have political rights (vote, run for office)
 15th Amendment (1870) – right to vote shall not be
denied because of race, color or previous condition of
servitude
Civil Rights Acts (1865-1875)
 Aimed at enforcing 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments
 Civil Rights Act (1866)
 Extended citizenship to anyone born in U.S.
 Gave African Americans full equality before law
 Authorized president to enforce act through use
of force
 Enforcement Act (1870)
 Set out specific penalties for interfering with
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 14th amendment only prevents official
discriminatory acts by states, not by private individuals
Met with widespread approval throughout U.S.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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Supreme Court rules segregation does not violate 14th
Amendment
Established separate-but-equal doctrine
Provided constitutional justification for racial
discrimination/segregation throughout U.S.
In 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 in which
only whites may vote
 Southern politicians claimed political parties
were private entities
 Wasn’t outlawed by Supreme Court until Smith
v. Allwright (1944!)
 Grandfather clause – restricting voting to
individuals who could prove grandfathers
had voted prior to 1867
 Used to exempt whites from poll taxes, literacy
tests
Barriers, cont.
 Poll taxes – required payment of fee to vote
 Intended to disenfranchise poor African Americans
 Outlawed in national elections by 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 quite effective at disenfranchising
African Americans
 Note: U.S. didn’t achieve universal suffrage (i.e.,
become fully democratic) until Voting Rights Act
(1965)
Ending Legal Segregation
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(1954) – Supreme Court rules public school
segregation violates 14th Amendment
 Chief Justice Earl Warren claims separation implies
inferiority
 Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson
 Brown v. Board of Education (1955) –
orders desegregation “with all deliberate
speed”
 Court–ordered busing (transporting African American
children to white schools and white children to African
American schools to eliminate school segregation)
met with considerable resistance
 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 (1964)
 Most far-reaching in modern times
 Forbade discrimination on basis of race, color,
religion, gender and national origin
 Voter registration
 Public accommodations
 Public schools
 Expanded power of Civil Rights Commission
 Withheld funds from programs administered in
discriminatory way
 Established right to equality of opportunity in
employment (created EEOC)
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
 Voting Rights Act (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 South
 Led to increasing political participation on part of
African Americans in voting and holding office
 Increased participation of other minorities
 Civil Rights Act (1968)
 Forbade discrimination in housing, mortgagelending
Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights
 Suffrage Movement
 Connected to abolitionist movement
 Suffragists organized first women’s
rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY
(1848)
 Established women’s suffrage
associations
 Finally won passage of 19th
Amendment (1920)
Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights
 Modern Women’s Movement
 Feminism = political, economic, and social equality
for women
 Connected to Civil Rights Movement of 1960s
 Spurred by publication of Betty Friedan’s The
Feminine Mystique (1963)
 National Organization for Women (NOW) formed
(1966)
 Argued for ratification of Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA)
 Targeted gender discrimination by challenging
policies and laws in federal courts
 Advocated and encouraged increasingly prominent
role for women in government and politics
Gender-Based Discrimination in
Workplace
 Gender discrimination = practice, policy or procedure
denies equal treatment to individual or group based on
gender

Prohibited by Title VII of Civil Rights Act (1964)
 Sexual harassment = unwanted physical or verbal
conduct or abuse of a sexual nature that interferes with
recipient’s job performance, creates a hostile
environment, or carries an implicit or explicit threat of
adverse employment consequences
 Wage discrimination = women earn $0.77 cents for
every $1.00 earned by men despite Equal Pay Act
requiring equal pay for equal work ($.59 in 1963)
 Glass ceiling = women holding few top positions in
professions or businesses
Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action = policy in admissions or hiring 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”
Court rules race can be considered as a factor in admissions, just
not only factor
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña (1995) – requires “strict
scrutiny,” must be tailored to meet 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)
Special Protection for Older
Americans
 Not protected against discrimination by Civil
Rights Act
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act
(ADEA) (1967)
 Prohibits discrimination on basis of age unless age is
shown to be bona fide occupational qualification
 Mandatory Retirement
 Forced retirement when person reaches certain age
 Prohibited forced retirement for employees under 70
in most occupations by amendment to ADEA (1978)
Securing Rights for 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)
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Requires public buildings and services be accessible to
persons with disabilities
Requires employers make reasonable accommodations
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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 Gays and
Lesbians (LGBT)
 Gay rights movement for equal rights and
protections grew in aftermath of Stonewall
incident

“shot heard round homosexual world”
 Most states had anti-sodomy laws now
considered unconstitutional
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Supreme Court upheld law in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
made homosexual conduct between two adults a crime
Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas such laws violate 14th
amendment’s due process law
12 (+) states, 230 (+) municipalities have laws
protecting homosexuals from discrimination
Outstanding Issues
 Gays in Military
 Clinton (1993) policy “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT)
 Overturned by Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of
2010 (Obama signed 12/22/10)
 Same-sex Marriages
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Highly controversial
Various states have made movement (CA,
Conflict over definition of marriage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage
 Child Custody and Adoption
 Courts no longer deny custody or visitation to
persons solely on basis of sexual orientation