Transcript Other Groups Seek Rights

Section 4
Other Groups Seek
Rights
• Main Idea: In the 1960’s and
1970’s, growing numbers of
women, Hispanic Americans,
Native Americans, and disabled
Americans entered the struggle
for equal rights
• Feminist, Hispanic
• Essential Question: What steps
did women and minorities take to
improve their lives?
Women’s Rights
• The effects of the civil rights
movement reached well beyond
the African American community
• Women, Native Americans, and
people with disabilities found
inspiration in the struggles of
African Americans
• President Kennedy set up the
Commission on the Status of
Women in 1961
• In 1963 Kennedy convinced
congress to pass the Equal Pay
Act
• This act prohibited employers
from paying women less than men
for the same work
Uniting for Action
• In 1966 feminists created the
National Organization for Women or
NOW
• NOW fought for equal rights for
women in all aspects of life
• NOW and similar groups worked to
increase the number of women
entering the work force
• In the early 1970’s, NOW launched
a campaign for the Equal Rights
Amendment or ERA to the
Constitution
• The amendment stated that “equality
of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United
states or by any state on account of
sex”
• Some warned it would upset the
traditional roles of society
• Some people argued that the
amendment was not needed because
the Constitution already provided
women with enough protection
• In the end, not enough
states ratified the
amendment to make it law.
Women Gain
Opportunities
• Women gained more job
opportunities and more women rose
to higher-level jobs
• More women began entering law and
medical school than ever
• Women also made progress in the
political arena
• Women began to be elected to
the Senate, House of
Representatives, and began being
appointed to the president’s
cabinet
• In 1981 President Ronald Reagan
appointed Sandra Day O’Connor
as the first female justice of the
Supreme Court
Hispanic Americans
• The Hispanic population began
growing rapidly in the 1960’s
• The largest Hispanic group in the
United States comes from Mexico
• The fight for rights started
among Mexican American migrant
farmworkers
• In the early 1960’s, migrant
farmworkers formed unions to
fight for better wages and
working conditions
• Their leader, Cesar Chavez,
organized thousands of
farmworks into the United Farm
Workers or UFW
• Puerto Ricans were another major
group of Hispanics to come to the
United States
• By 1970 they made up 10 percent of
the population of New York City
• Had the same issues as African
Americans as they faced
discrimination in their job searches
which led to no work or low paying
jobs
• After the Cuban Revolution of 1959,
dictator Fidel Castro established a
Communist government
• More than 200,00 people from Cuba
opposed Castro and fled to the
United States during the 1960’s
• The largest number of Cubans
settles in south Florida, where they
still have established a thriving
community
Native Americans
• Starting in the early 1950’s the
federal government urged Native
Americans to leave the reservations
to work in cities
• Many could not find jobs in the cities
• More than one third of Native
Americans lived below the poverty
line
• In the 1960’s Native Americans
organized to combat these problems
• The National Congress of American
Indians or NCAI sought more control
over Native American affairs
• The federal government recognized the
Native Americans’ issues
• Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights
Act of 1968
• This act formally protected the
constitutional rights of all Native
Americans
American Indian
Movement
• Younger Native Americans believed
change was taking too long and
formed the American Indian
Movement or AIM
• AIM worked for equal rights and
improvement of living conditions
• AIM carried out several protests
• In February of 1973, AIM took over
the town of Wounded Knee, South
Dakota
• Wounded Knee was a part of a large
Sioux reservation
• AIM leaders vowed to stay until the
government met demands for change
• It ended on May 8 but it had focused
in on the terrible conditions under
which Native Americans lived
Americans With
Disabilities
• People with disabilities also fought
for equal treatment during the
1960’s and 1970’s
• Congress passed several laws
• One law removed barriers that might
prevent some people from using
public facilities
• Another law required employers to
offer more opportunities in the
workplace for people with disabilities
• Another asserted the right of
children with disabilities to equal
educational opportunities
• Essential Question: What steps
did women and minorities take to
improve their lives?