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Chapter Outline (See related pages) Chapter Introduction ABC TV, Urban Institute found discrimination persists against African Americans
"Full equality is far from being a universal condition of American life" "Equal rights" or "civil rights"
Members of differing groups treated equally by government/private parties? Right of every person to equal protection under laws Equal access to society's opportunities/public facilities The chapter's main points:
Disadvantaged groups have struggled for equal rights Americans have attained substantial equality under the law Legal equality for all Americans has not led to de facto equality
The Struggle For Equality Introduction
Jefferson: Equality meant similar moral worth and equal legal treatment
Slaves were not entitled to legal equality Equality: the powerful seldom bestow it on the less powerful African Americans
Introduction
Civil War did not end "institutionalized racism" Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) justified "separate and unequal" treatment The Brown Decision (1954) reversed Plessy doctrine
Majority of southern whites opposed decision Southern Manifesto governors planned to resist forced integration Slim majority of whites outside South agreed with decision The Black Civil Rights Movement
King's nonviolent Birmingham protest in 1963 King's "I have a dream" speech (August, 1963) Civil Rights Act of 1964; 1965 Voting Rights Act The Aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement
King's dream of a color-blind society has remained elusive African Americans have made substantial progress since the 1960's is the winning of election to public office Women
Introduction
English common-law tradition of political disregard for women
Women could not vote, hold public office, serve on juries 1848: first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 gave women right to vote Women's Legal and Political Gains
Equal Rights Amendment failed, three states short of ratification (1982) Equal Pay Act of 1973 and Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education Women have made gains in appointive/elective offices
Sandra Day O'Connor first woman on Supreme Court Geraldine Ferraro as VP nominee in 1984 Major "gender gap" more women vote for Democratic party Job-Related Issues: Family Leave, Comparable Worth, and Sexual Harassment
Three in five women worked outside home in 1995 Gains in law, managerial slots, enrollments in college Family and Medical Leave Act twelve weeks of unpaid leave, no job loss Earning power Women earn only about three-fourths as much as men
Comparable worth would eliminate salary inequities Sexual harassment Native Americans
Nearly 10 million Native Americans in 1600's, by 1900 less than 1 million Today more than 1 million, half live on or close to federally run reservations most poor, illiterate, jobless Self-government and economic self-sufficiency is now promoted on the reservations Militant protests in early 1970's High infant mortality rate, low life expectancy, low college attendance Some tribes have recently erected gaming casinos on reservation land Indian Bill of Rights, 1968 gave them constitutional guarantees Little chance of reclaiming ancestral lands Official citizens of the United States only since 1924 Hispanic Americans
Introduction
Fastest-growing minority; 35 million in 2000 Emigrated mainly from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico Caribbean Hispanics (FL, NY, NJ); Mexico ancestry (CA, TX, AZ, NM) Hispanics cover a wide political spectrum Legal and Political Action
Hispanic Americans have benefited from Civil Rights Act of 1964 Hispanics also had their own civil rights movement De Canas v. Bica (1976): Supreme Court upheld a state law barring illegal aliens from employmentSimpson-Mizzoli Act (1986): offered citizenship to qualified illegal aliens; mandated fines on employers who hired aliens without work permits California Proposition 187: proposition to cut off public services to illegal immigrants Growing Political Power
Will likely become largest single population group in California Nationwide, more than four thousand Hispanics hold public office About twenty Hispanic Americans hold House seats Asian Americans
Historic pattern of discrimination against Chinese, Japanese Lau v. Nichols (1974) schools had to teach English using the children's first languageUpwardly mobile group, emphasis on academic achievement Account for 5 percent of professionals/technicians, less than 2 percent of managers Other Groups and Their Rights
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act extended rights to persons with physical or mental disability (5 percent of population) Laws to protect the elderly Homosexuals
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986): the Supreme Court upheld a state law banning sexual acts between consenting homosexual adultsRomer v. Evans (1996): the Supreme Court struck down a Colorado constitutional amendment that nullified all existing and any new legal protections for homosexuals
Equality Under The Law Equal Protection: The Fourteenth Amendment
Prevents state and local discrimination Reasonable-basis test laws may treat individuals unequally if purpose is related to legitimate government interest Strict-scrutiny test has eliminated race/ethnicity as factors in deliberate bias Suspect classifications have "invidious discrimination as their purpose" Craig v. Boren (1976): sex classifications permissible in some circumstances Rostker v. Goldberg (1980): Exclusion of women from combat duty legitimateRecently, Supreme Court has invalidated most laws with sex classifications Equal Access: The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968
Accommodations and Jobs
equal access to accomodations, no discrimination in jobs Housing
Despite legal prohibitions, housing remains highly segregated Due to low income of black families and bank "redlining" Race is still a factor in the lending practices of many banks Equal Ballots: The Voting Rights Act of 1965, as Amended
Earlier discriminatory devices poll taxes, rigged literacy tests, white primaries Voting Rights Act of 1965 federal agents can register voters; literacy tests banned
Officials must provide ballots in languages other than English where appropriate Voting turnout among African Americans increased The 1982 extension renews act for twenty years Issue of race in drawing district lines still unsettled by courts Easley v. Cromartie (2001): regarding congressional district boundries
Equality of Result Introduction
Most forms of government-sponsored discrimination are now banned, but problems remain Minority families still have lower incomes than white families De facto discrimination based on social, economic, cultural biases/conditionsDe jure discrimination discrimination based on lawEquality of result the aim of policies intended to reduce or eliminate de facto discriminatory effects Affirmative Action: Workplace Integration
Introduction
After 1964 Civil Rights Act, many employers still had an unwritten preference for white male employees Affirmative Action provided a broader remedy for discrimination practices Opinions on Affirmative Action
Most Americans see "reverse discrimination" against white males as a bigger problem than discrimination against blacks Ambivalent public attitudes toward affirmative action programs Affirmative Action in the Law
University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978): racial quotas impermissibleFullilove v. Klutnick (1980): upheld quota systems in federal public worksSupreme Court in the 1980s narrowed scope of affirmative action policy The Civil Rights Act of 1991
Burden of proof shifted back to employers Adarand v. Pena (1995): sharply curtailed the federal government's affirmative action authorityCalifornia's Proposition 209 bans public employment, education, or contracting programs based on race, ethnicity, or sex Further restrictions on affirmative action likely Social Integration: Busing
The Swann Decision and Its Aftermath
Busing was a permissible way to compel integration Angry reaction to forced busing (Detroit, Boston, Charlotte, etc.) Northeast and Midwest have most segregated communities Does Busing Work?
Study results Less white students now in public schools Busing fatigue Diversity and America's Schools
Integration peaked in the 1980's Population and residential changes have also contributed to the decrease in school integration As busing recedes, the focus has shifted to parity in school financing
Persistent Discrimination: Superficial Differences, Deep Divisions Races differ in access to the most basic resources of society No greater challenge for Americans than rooting out discrimination
