Transcript Chapter 21 Civil Rights

Chapter 21
Civil Rights
Kelly Engebretson
Casey Berg
Scott Conley
Diversity and Discrimination in
American Society

“All animals are created equal, but
some animals are more equal than
others.” – George Orwell Animal
Farm
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White Americans have been
historically reluctant to yield to
nonwhite Americans a full and
equal place in the social, economic,
and political life of this nation.

The white-male-dominated power
structure has also been slow to
recognize the claims of women to
a full and equal place in American
society.
Discrimination Against African Americans
Civil Rights
Leader:
Martin
Luther King
Junior
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African
American
Slaves
African Americans are the second largest minority group in the U.S.
They have been the victims of consistent and deliberate unjust treatment.
Most of the gains the U.S. has made toward granting all citizens equal rights have come out of efforts
on behalf of African Americans.
Native Americans
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In the 17th century some
one million Native
Americans lived in the
United States.
By 1900 that number had
decreased to less than
250,000.
Today more than 2.7
million Native Americans
live in this country. More
than a third of them live
on or near reservations.
Hispanic Americans
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Hispanics now make up
the largest minority group
in America.
More than half of all
Hispanics in the U.S.
were born in Mexico or
trace their ancestry there.
The largest amount of the
Mexican American
population lives in
California, Arizona, New
Mexico, and Texas.
Asian Americans

Chinese laborers were the
first Asians to come to the
U.S. – 1850’s-1860’s
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The Chinese Exclusion Act
of 1882 limited the amount
of Chinese, Japanese, and
other Asians that could
enter the U.S.
Discrimination Against Women
Today Women hold little
more than 10% of the seats
in Congress
 Today only 8 of 50 women
are governors
 Fewer than 20% of the
nation’s doctors, lawyers,
and college professors are
women.
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Equality Before the Law

“No state shall… deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” – U.S.
Constitution

The Supreme Court applies the rational basis test which
asks the question “Does the classification in question
bear a reasonable relationship to the achievement of
some proper governmental purpose?”

A higher standard test known as the strict scrutiny test is
applied in cases that deal with fundamental rights or
suspect classifications.
Rosa Parks
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In 1955 Rosa Parks
disobeyed the law and
refused to give up her
seat on the bus for a
white man in
Montgomery, Alabama.
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During this time the Jim
Crow Laws were in
effect. These were laws
that separated people on
the basis of race.
Segregation in America
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1896- the Supreme Court provided a constitutional
basis for Jim Crow laws by creating the separatebut-equal doctrine.

Then in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education the
Supreme Court unanimously held that segregation
by race in public education is unconstitutional.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
It was passed after the longest debate in the Senate’s history
(83 days), and only after the Senate had invoked cloture to
kill a filibuster.
 With its several later amendments, the law’s major sections
now:
 Provide that no person may be denied access to or refused
service in various “public accommodations.”
 Prohibit discrimination against any person on grounds of
race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or physical
disability in any program that receives federal funding.
 Forbids employers and labor unions to discriminate against
any person on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical
disability, or age in job-related matters.
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The Little Rock Nine
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On September 4, 1957, Governor
Orval Faubus defied the court,
calling in the Arkansas National
Guard to prevent nine African
American students--"The Little
Rock Nine"--from entering the
building.
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Ten days later in a meeting with
President Eisenhower, Faubus
agreed to use the National Guard
to protect the African American
teenagers, but on returning to
Little Rock, he dismissed the
troops, leaving the African
American students exposed to an
angry white mob
•Under federal protection, the "Little
Rock Nine" finished out the school year.
The following year, Faubus closed all the
high schools, forcing the African
American students to take
correspondence courses or go to out-ofstate schools
The Civil Rights Act of 1968
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Also called the Open
House Act- it forbids
anyone to refuse to
sell or rent a dwelling
to any person on
grounds of race, color,
religion, national
origin, sex, or
disability.
Affirmative Action
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A policy that requires most employers take
positive steps to remedy the effects of
past discriminations.
 The
adoption of affirmative action programs
in 1965
 The rules that require certain numbers of jobs
or promotions for members of certain groups
are called quotas
Reverse Discrimination
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Decided in 1978, Regents of the
University of California v. Bakke,
involved Allan Bakke, a white
male, who had been denied
admission to medical school.
The school had set aside 16
new seats each year for
nonwhite students.
He sued, charging the university
with reverse discrimination and,
so, a violation of the 14th
Amendment’s Equal Protection
Clause.
By a 5-4 vote the Court held
that Bakke had been denied
equal protection and should be
admitted into the medical
school.
Citizenship
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“All persons born or naturalized in the United States
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of
the United States and of the State wherein they
reside.” – United States Constitution
Jus soli- the law of soil, which determines
citizenship based on where a person was born
Jus sanguinis- the law of blood, which determines
citizenship based on one’s parents’ citizenship.
Naturalization
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The legal process by which a person becomes a
citizen of another country at some time after birth.
Congress has the exclusive power to provide for
naturalization.
More than 800,000 aliens now become naturalized
American citizens each year.
At various times, most often when the United States
has acquired new territory, entire groups have been
naturalized en masse.
Losing Citizenship
Although it rarely happens, every American
citizen, whether native-born or naturalized, has the
right to renounce– voluntarily abandon– his or her
citizenship. This process is called expatriation.
 Naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship
involuntarily through denaturalization. This can
only happen by a court order and only after it has
been shown that the person became a citizen by
fraud or deception.
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Immigration Policies
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The Immigration Act of 1990governs the admission of aliens
to the United States.
The law provided for a
substantial increase in the
number of immigrants who may
enter the United States each
year.
The annual ceiling is now set at
675,000
Deportation is a legal process in
which aliens are legally
required to leave the United
States.
Population as of 2000
Undocumented Aliens
No one knows how many undocumented
aliens reside in the United States today.
 The Census Bureau now puts their number
at about nine million– which is more than
double of their estimate for a decade ago.
 The number increases by at least half a
million a year.
 Over half of all undocumented aliens come
from Mexico.
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Issues with Illegal Immigrants Today
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It was reported on CNN April 4 that some Senators are in favor of a guest worker
program. Advocates of a guest worker program want to give illegal aliens a green card
after they've worked in the country for six years.
The net result, a bit of a stalemate. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have
the 60 votes that would be necessary to cut off debate and move to a floor vote.
One problem with attempting to control the
amount of illegal aliens that are in the United
States is that there is no definite answer for the
question of how many are actually here?
•One side of the argument is that we need
illegal aliens to do jobs that U.S. citizens are not
willing to do.
•The opposing side claims that we barely have
enough work for all the people that are citizens
which is proven through the unemployment
rates.
Civil Rights Issues of Today
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The major debate in society today
is gay marriage.
It parallels to when our country
faced the decision of whether or
not to allow interracial marriages.
Wisconsin voters recently got to
voice their opinion on the ballots.
Many believe that gay marriage is
wrong and goes against what is
natural in our society.
Others think that there is nothing
wrong with same sex marriage
and we are just going in reverse
in our history.
Issues of Today
Another issue that we have
faced in the past and are
now facing today is the
issue of abortion.
 People that believe in the
rights of women are prochoice.
 Others who believe in the
rights of the baby are prolife.
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The right of a woman to
have an abortion performed
on her has recently been
revoked in the state of
South Dakota.
 The law makes it a felony to
perform any abortion except
in a case of a pregnant
woman's life being in
jeopardy.
 The law will go into affect in
July.
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Issues of Today
in my (kelly’s) opinion
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It seems that the issues today are
caused by a conflict of opinion of
the government and the church.
Americans are so worried about
making sure that our laws are not
at all influenced by the church it
seems that sometimes they lose
sight of the issue and focus more
on refuting the church.