Chapter 21: Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under Law

Section 1: Diversity and Discrimination in American Society

  1. A Heterogenous Population
  1. See page 546 to see the ethnic makeup of the U.S.
  2. More females than males in the U.S.
  1. Discrimination
  1. African Americans
  1. Constitute by far the largest minority group in the U.S. More than 34 million (12.5%)
  2. Have been the victims of consistently and deliberately unjust treatment for a longer period of time than perhaps any other group of Americans
  3. Most of the gains minorities in the U.S. are a result of the struggles of African Americans
  1. Native Americans
  1. Largest minority in South Dakota
  2. Disease and warfare devastated Native Americans
  3. More than 1/3 of them live on reservations today
  4. Some of the poorest regions in the United States
  1. Asian Americans
  1. Chinese laborers were the first Asians brought in large numbers in the 1850s-1860s to work in mines and build railroads
  2. Japanese relocation in WWII
  1. 120,000 (2/3 of them) were forcibly moved inland
  1. Fastest growing minority today
  1. Over 10 million
  1. Hispanic Americans
  1. 34 million, second largest minority
  1. Mexican Americans

1)Chicanos-those born in this country of Mexican parents

  1. Puerto Ricans
  2. Cuban Americans
  3. Central and South Americans

1)Refugee-one who leaves his or her home to seek refuge from war, persecution, or some other danger

  1. Discrimination Against Women
  1. A majority, but have been discriminated against
  1. Suffrage
  2. Public office
  3. Equal Pay Act of 1963
  1. Requires employees to pay men and women the same wages if they perform the same jobs in the same establishment under the same working conditions
  1. “Glass Ceiling”
  1. Women not serving in top level, management jobs
  2. Until quite recently, only a fairly narrow range of jobs were open to most women

Section 2: Equality Before the Law

  1. The Equal Protection Clause
  1. A part of the 14th Amendment
  1. “No State shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”
  1. Reasonable Classification
  1. Government must discriminate (criminals) but may not do so unreasonably
  1. The Rational Basis Test
  1. Does the classification in question bear a reasonable relationship to the achievement of some proper governmental purpose?
  1. The Strict Scrutiny Test
  1. Deals with “fundamental rights” or “suspect classifications” (race, sex, or national origins)
  2. The State must be able to show that some “compelling governmental interest” justifies the distinctions it has drawn between classes of people
  1. Segregation in America
  1. Segregation
  1. The separation of one group from another
  2. Jim Crow laws
  1. Aimed at African Americans
  2. Required segregation by race in the use of both public and private facilities
  1. The Separate-but-Equal Doctrine
  1. Created the idea of “Separate but Equal” with the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy vs. Ferguson
  1. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka-1954
  1. Reversed “Separate but Equal” and desegregated schools
  1. De Jure and De Facto Segregation
  1. De Jure Segregation
  1. Segregation by law, with legal sanction
  2. Abolished by 1970 in public schools
  1. De Facto Segregation
  1. Segregation in fact, even though no law requires it
  2. Housing patterns, condition of schools
  1. Segregation in Other Fields
  1. Segregation still exists in public schools
  1. Classification by Sex
  1. In the last 30 years, the Supreme Court has found many sex-based statutes unconstitutional
  2. See cases on page 555
  3. Laws that treat men and women differently will not be upheld by the courts when:
  1. They are intended to serve an “important governmental objective”
  2. They are “substantially related” to achieving that goal

Section 3: Federal Civil Rights Laws

  1. Civil Rights: Reconstruction to Today
  1. Civil Rights Act of 1964
  1. Gained public and political support for the Civil Rights movement
  2. With its later amendments, it now provides three provisions
  1. No person may be denied access to or refused service in various “public accommodations” because of race, color, religion, or national origin
  2. Prohibits discrimination against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or physical disability in any program that receives any federal funding
  3. Forbid employers and labor unions to discriminate against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical disability, or age (40-65) in job-related matters
  1. The Civil Rights Act of 1968
  1. Forbids anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability, or to a family with children
  1. Affirmative Action
  1. The policy to encourage, in some cases require, employers to recruit blacks, women, and other minorities
  1. Requires that most employers take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations
  2. Quota
  1. Rules requiring certain numbers of jobs or promotions for certain groups
  2. Federal government jobs
  3. See Cases on page 558
  1. 1965 President Johnson issued an Executive Order
  1. Any contractors and unions doing business with the government had to hire some minorities
  1. Some led to Reverse Discrimination
  1. Idea that the majority is discriminated against
  2. There are some advantages and disadvantages to affirmative action

Section 4: American Citizenship

I. The Question of Citizenship

  1. Citizenship
  1. 14th Amendment-all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. are native-born citizens
  2. Jus Soli-U.S. Territory
  1. Includes the 50 States, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands as well as all American embassies and all American public vessels anywhere in the world
  1. Jus Sanguinis-right of citizenship by blood-if one of parents has lived in U.S. for at least 10 years (5 years after age of 14)
  2. Requirements change over the years
  3. Some citizens have dual citizenship
  1. Citizenship by Naturalization
  1. Legal process by which a person becomes a citizen of another country at some time after birth
  2. More that 250,000 aliens become naturalized American citizens each year
  1. Requirements for Naturalization
  1. Entered legally and established five years residence in U.S.-three years if married to citizen
  2. File a petition for Naturalization with the clerk of a federal district court or of a state court of record
  3. Read, write, speak English
  4. Good moral character
  5. Young people under 18 become citizens when parents do
  1. Collective Naturalization
  1. All peoples become citizens if state or territory becomes part of the U.S.
  1. Loss of Citizenship
  1. Expatriation
  1. Losing citizenship
  2. Rare, example: voting in foreign election or dodging the draft
  1. A Nation of Immigrants
  1. Aliens
  1. People who are citizens of other countries
  1. Illegal Aliens-enter the U.S. without permission
  1. Aliens can own property, run businesses, attend public schools, must pay taxes and obey laws
  2. Aliens can’t vote, serve on a jury, hold public office
  1. INS-Immigration and Naturalization Service
  2. Immigration Act of 1990
  1. Set the number of immigrants who may enter the United States each year at 675,000
  1. Deportation
  1. A legal process in which aliens are legally required to leave the United States
  1. Illegal entry
  2. Conviction of any serious crime, federal or state
  1. Undocumented Aliens
  1. No one knows how many exactly there are in the U.S. today
  1. Estimates are between 3 and 6 million
  1. Most come from Mexico
  1. Douglas, Arizona is a hotspot
  1. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
  1. Established an amnesty program under which many undocumented aliens could become legal residents
  2. Made it a crime for anyone to hire any person who is in this country illegally
  1. Illegal Immigration Restrictions Act of 1996
  1. Made it easier for the INS to deport illegal aliens
  2. Tougher penalties for smuggling aliens into this country
  3. Doubled the size of the Border Patrol by 2002