Equal rights, or civil rights, are terms that refer to the right of every person to equal protection under the law and equal access to society's opportunities and public facilities. The chapter begins with a history of the struggle of various minorities for equality in America. It addresses the situations of African Americans, women, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, the disabled, aged and other similarly disadvantaged groups. The chapter includes both constitutional amendments and legislation designed to provide legal equality. The chapter concludes with a discussion of equality of result and continuing concerns regarding discrimination in American society.

1. The Struggle for Equality
   
   The meaning of the concept of equality has been subjected to scrutiny and review since Jefferson's time. The history of America shows that disadvantaged groups have rarely achieved an additional degree of legal equality without a struggle.
   1. African Americans were faced with overcoming the barriers stemming from the condition of slavery. Though subjected to considerable discrimination even after the Civil War amendments and Civil Rights acts, they did not begin to receive favorable consideration from the
   2. Supreme Court until the 1930s. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decisionwas a significant breakthrough in combating racial discrimination. It paved the way for negation of the prevailing "separate but equal" doctrine, and encouraged the modern civil rights movement. Although African Americans have made some legal progress since the 1960s, the economic and legal situation of African Americans has not improved significantly. The only area in which
   3. African Americans have made notable progress is in winning election to public office.
   4. Women are not technically a minority, yet carry a long history of second class status and discrimination. Women were given the vote in 1920 but failed to get an Equal Rights Amendment ratified in the 1970s. While women have made progress in winning political office, they still suffer inequality of treatment in job-related issues such as family leave, comparable worth and sexual harrassment.They seek greater support from acts of violence.
   5. Native Americans suffered ill treatment at the hands of early American settlers that persists despite attempts in the modern era to address their condition. The Indian Bill of Rights passed by Congress in 1968 provides Native Americans the same constitutional guarantees as other Americans. Current government policy is intended to promote self-government and economic self-sufficiency.
   6. Hispanic Americans are estimated to become the largest racial/ethnic minority in America by the year 2000. Hispanic Americans come from differing Spanish-speaking backgrounds and cultures. Improvement of their status is often hampered by issues of immigration, alien status, and citizenship but will be helped by increased political activity.
   7. Asian Americans have experienced discrimination since the late 1800s, especially regarding immigration opportunities. Though benefiting from the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Asian Americans still suffer from employment and other discrimination.
   8. Other groups who have benefitted from legislation are the disabled and elderly. Disabled Americans have been helped by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and other education-related legislation. Elderly Americans are protected from forced retirement and some job discrimination.
   9. Discrimination based on sexual orientation and life style issues has recently come to public attention and is being addressed slowly by the courts and society.
      
      
2. Equality Under the Law
   
   The equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been used by the courts to protect minorities from discrimination at the hands of government. There are three judicial guidelines associated with government actions that categorize individuals by groups and then treat them differently.
   1. The reasonable-basis test allows unequal treatment under the law if it is related to a legitimate government interest. It cannot be applied to racial or ethnic classifications. For example, courts have upheld law that set age requirements for drinking alcohol or getting a driver's license.
   2. The strict-scrutiny test holds that any law that discriminates on the basis of racial and ethnic classifications, especially when these categories serve to discriminate against minority group members, is unconstitutional in the absence of an overwhelmingly convincing argument that the law in question is necessary. The Supreme Court has held that race and national origin are suspect classifications, which means that such classifications have invidious discrimination as their purpose and therefore any law containing such a classification is in all likelihood unconstitutional.
   3. Sex discrimination is not included in the suspect classification test and falls under an intermediate-scrutiny test which permits justifiable different classification and treatment.
      
      
   Since the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to action by the government and not private parties, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed by Congress to aid minorities in the struggle for equal rights in the private sector. Of especial concern is that the areas for political participation in America are accessible and available to all qualified citizens. This includes voting and drawing of congressional districts.
   
   
3. Equality of Result
   
   Equality of result aims to reduce or eliminate de facto discrimination effects so that members of disadvantaged groups may obtain the same benefits as members of advantaged groups.
   1. The text makes the distinction between de jure and de facto discrimination.
   2. Affirmative action programs aim to provide full and equal opportunities in employment, education and other areas for women, minorities, and individuals belonging to other traditionally disadvantaged groups. Opposition to affirmative action, especially to what has been called reverse discrimination, has intensified in recent years and may be subject to alteration.
   3. To overcome patterns of residential segregation in order to achieve social integration, schools began using the device of busing children from one neighborhood to another. Though busing has provided some equality of result for children, it is an unpopular remedy for most Americans. Busing has been discouraged as a result of Supreme Court decisions in 1995 and 1997 as the judiciary shifted its attention more to the broader issue of improving the quality of inner-city schools.
      
      
4. Persistent Discrimination: Superficial Differences, Deep Divisions
   
   One of the biggest challenges faced by Americans is to extend their professed commitment to equality for all in the legal area to genuine opportunity for all to share fully in what American society has to offer.