Civil Rights Mechanics of Justice An Introduction to Civil Rights.

Civil Rights

Mechanics of Justice

An Introduction to Civil Rights

Major Themes

• What are a citizen’s rights and obligations?• In the U. S., who is granted citizenship &

why?• Historically, who gets excluded from full

citizenship & why?• If “majority rules” in a democratic society,

what recourse does the minority have? How do minority groups get heard?

• How does discrimination manifest itself? (e.g. the right to drink from a fountain, to vote, for those with disabilities to have full access to a building)

Some General and Specific Questions

A Few Key Civil Rights Constituencies

• African American • Arab American • Asian American • Disabled American• Gays and Lesbians• Hispanic/Latino • Native American • Prisoner Rights• Women’s Rights

»…and others…including religious groups

What are Civil Rights?

Civil Rights refer to the positive acts governments take to protect against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by a government or individuals.

Forms of Civil Rights Activism

•Direct Action: sit-ins, boycotts, and picket lines

•Legal Action: discrimination lawsuits, Supreme Court rulings (Brown decision)

•Legislative/Political Action: voting, running for office, legislative rulings (e.g. Civil Rights Act of 1964)

•Cultural Expression: freedom songs, plays, poetry, film, and visual arts

Civic Nationalism•Civic Nationalism: a belief in the fundamental equality of human beings, in every individual’s inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and in a democratic government that derives its legitimacy from the people’s consent.

Racial Nationalism

• Racial Nationalism: a belief that…– conceives of America in ethnoracial

terms, as a people held together by common blood and skin color and by an inherited fitness for self-government.

– from the perspective of this racialized ideal, Africans, Asians, nonwhite Latin Americans, and, in the 1920s, southern and eastern Europeans did not belong to the republic and could never be accepted as full-fledged members.

Part II

Civil Rights & Collective Memory

African-American Civil Rights History: Moving Beyond the

Myths •Teaching the complexities of civil rights history in light of the powerful collective memories.

•Learning to see yourself in the history of the civil rights struggle.

•The movement ultimately succeeded as the result of courageous, ordinary Americans at the grassroots level

--rather than simply the efforts of legendary leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

•Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, declared all

"slaves within any State, or designated part of a State ... then ... in rebellion, ... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

The Civil War Amendments• 13th Amendment banned all forms of

slavery and involuntary servitude• 14th Amendment guarantees equal

protection of the laws and due process to all citizens

• 15th Amendment specifically gives blacks the right to vote

Shortly after ratification the Southern states devised ways around these amendments by passing laws that restricted opportunities for Black Americans.

Women’s rights were not addressed in these Amendments!

Intent of the 15th Amendment

•To avoid the intent of the 15th Amendment Southerners moved to exclude the African American voter with –Poll taxes–Literacy Test–Whites only primaries–Grandfather clause

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)•Homer Adolph Plessy (7/8ths

white 1/8th black) boarded a train in New Orleans and sat in the “whites only” car.

•Plessy was arrested when he refused to sit in the “colored car.”

•Plessy sued arguing that the 14th Amendment made racial segregation illegal.

•The Supreme Court ruled in Plessy that the Louisiana law was constitutional and that separate but equal facilities for blacks did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.

•The high court Plessy ruling added credibility & use of Jim Crow laws.

•By 1914 every Southern state had passed laws that created two separate societies--one black, the other white.

Separate But Equal Doctrine

Black Codes

•Southern states passed laws (Black Codes) that prohibited Black Americans from…

•Voting•Sitting on juries•Or appearing in public places

Jim Crow Laws•During Jim Crow years, state laws

mandated racial separation in •schools •parks•playgrounds•restaurants•hotels•public transportation•theatres•restrooms, etc.

• These laws remained in effect throughout the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement.

Organizations Form to Push for Equality

•Formation of NAACP (1909)–National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples

–The NAACP set up a legal defense fund (LDF) to pursue equality in the nation’s courts.

The Push for Equality1890-1954

•The Progressive Era (1889-1920) saw many reforms in – Child labor laws– Monopolies– and prejudice

•However, the Supreme Court legitimized the principle of "separate but equal" in its ruling…

Plessy v. Ferguson

Major Strategies of African American Movement

1)Social Justice: Non-violent struggle for desegregation of public facilities and schools. (1955-1964)

2)Voting Rights--Political Empowerment (1963-1965)

3)Economic Justice: Shift to Militancy and Racial Separatism (1965-1970 to Present)

Litigating for Equality• The Court ruled in Sweatt vs. Painter

that it would be impossible for the State of Texas to provide an equal legal education in a separate setting.

• In 1950, the Court ruled in favor of Mr. Sweatt and forced the University of Texas Law School to admit him.

• In Sweatt vs. Painter the Supreme Court struck down the system of "separate but equal" in graduate school education and paved the way for the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

•Linda Carol Brown, was not allowed to attend a school four blocks from her house because it was for white students.

•Instead, she had to walk twenty-one blocks to the nearest all-black school.

•Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) decision struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Brown vs. Board of Education

•The NAACP argued:–the intellectual, financial and psychological damage that affected Black Americans precluded any finding of equality under the separate but equal policy.

Brown vs. Board of Education

“With All Deliberate Speed”•The Court struggled over a

remedy.•A year later, in Brown II the Court

ruled that segregated systems must be dismantled “with all deliberate speed.”

•Long & costly battle to end segregation.

•Brown vs. Board decision sparked the development of the modern civil rights movement.

The Triumph of Non-Violent Protest

•1955, Rosa Parks challenges segregation in public transportation

•A new young preacher in Montgomery selected to lead the challenge against the segregated bus system.

•After a year, boycott succeeded.

Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC)

•Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr… –founded the SCLC in 1957. –group used non-violent means such as •Freedom-rides, sit-ins & boycotts used to open segregated lunch counters, waiting rooms, public swimming pools & other public places.

•Often local police attacked the peaceful protestors or chose not to defend them.

Non-Violent Protests•Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

–advocated a nonviolent approach to forcing social change.

–modeled his philosophy on that of Gandhi…•who successfully employed the nonviolent approach in a revolt against the British in India shortly after World War II.

The March on Washington

•August 1963 •250,000+ people marched

peacefully on Washington •show of support for President

Kennedy’s request that Congress ban discrimination in public accommodation.

• King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964• Outlawed voter discrimination

• Barred discrimination in public accommodations

• Authorized US Justice Dept to initiate lawsuits to desegregate schools & public facilities

• Allowed federal government to withhold funds from discriminatory state and local programs

• Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex

• Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to monitor and enforce bans on employment discrimination

Impact of the ’64 Civil Rights Act

•Southerners argued that the Act violated the Constitution and was an unwarranted use of federal power.

•The Court ruled that state imposed (de jure) segregation must be eliminated at once.

•However, a full decade after Brown, less than 1% of African American children in the South attended integrated schools.

•Over time, these rulings and laws opened up numerous occupations to minorities but especially to women.

Social Justice: 1954-1963

•1954: Brown v. Board of Education•1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott•1957: Little Rock High School Case•1960-1963: Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides

•1963: The March on Washington•Biggest Victory: Civil Rights Act of 1964

Sample Questions from a Literacy TestState of Louisiana

One wrong answer denotes failure of the test. (10 min) 1. Draw a line around the number or letter of this

sentence. 2. Draw a line under the last word in this line.3. Cross out the longest word in this line.4. Draw a line around the shortest word in this line.5. Circle the first, first letter of the alphabet in this

line.6. In the space below draw three circles, one inside

the other.7. Above the letter X make a small cross.8. Draw a line through the letter below that comes

earliest in the alphabet. ZVSEDGMKYTPHC9. Draw a line through the letter below that comes

last in the alphabet. ZVSEDGMKYTPHC10. In the space below write the word noise backwards

and place a dot over what would be its second letter should it have been written forward.

11. Give your age in days.

Voting Rights: 1964-1965

•1964: Freedom Summer and founding of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

•1965: The Selma Campaign•Biggest Victory: The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Economic Justice: 1965-early 1970s

•1966: Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Chicago Campaign

•1968: The Poor People’s Campaign

•Late 1960s: The Rise of the Black Panther Party

•Biggest victory: Affirmative Action policies

Other Groups Mobilize for Rights

•Denial of civil rights led many other disadvantaged groups to mobilize to achieve greater civil rights.

•Their efforts to achieve those rights have many parallels to the efforts made by African Americans.

Native Americans•Native American status under U.S. law is unique.

•“Indian tribes” under the Constitution are considered distinct governments.

•AIM (“American Indian Movement”) See handout

• Hispanic Americans borrowed tactics from the African American civil rights movement including sit ins, boycotts, marches, and activities that draw publicity.

• The Hispanic community also relied heavily on litigation strategies.

• See handout on Cesar Chavez

Hispanic Americans

"One of the heroic figures of our time."

Senator Robert F. Kennedy

Cesar Estrada Chavez founded and led the first successful farm workers' union in U.S.

history.

Gays and Lesbians

•Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund

•Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)•“Don’t ask, don’t tell”•Romer v. Evans (1996)•Boy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale (2000)

Percentage of adults ages 18-24 who have completed high school by race & Hispanic

origin, 1980-97

Affirmative Action

•policy designed to redress prior discrimination.

•Bakke v. Regents of the University of California (1978)

•Hopwood v. Texas (1996)•Prop 209 (1996)

Hopwood v.Texas (1996) • Applications to the University

of Texas Law School from black students dropped 42 percent in one year, and only 4 black and 26 Hispanic students are among the 468 students in the school's freshman class.

• Applications to the school's undergraduate program fell 26 percent for blacks and 23 percent for Hispanics.

Continuity and Change

• It took over 100 years from the first shot of the Civil War until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights of 1965 for African Americans to begin to fully exercise their rights.

• Women only achieved the right to vote in 1920.

• Still no consensus in America about race and gender relations.

• Many argue that racism & sexism are alive and well in America.

Prompts

hate.com prompts

1. Hate speech should not be protected under our freedoms of expression. Agree/Disagree? EXPLAIN

2. One should not draw attention to hate groups…just leave them alone and they will eventually go away. Agree/Disagree? EXPLAIN

3. A government that does not act aggressively to eliminate hate groups is irresponsible & guilty of neglecting its society. Agree/Disagree? EXPLAIN

Please respond thoroughly, thoughtfully & slogan-free to

the following prompts.

Make several points for each item… (either

bulleted or sentences)

Women’s Movement I promptsPlease respond thoroughly, thoughtfully &

slogan-free to the following prompts.

Make several points for each item…bullets or sentences 1. What were some of the most significant contributions Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others made during the early years of the Women's Movement?

2. Describe the Declaration of Sentiments -- its spirit, design and purpose.

3. Discuss the factors, individuals and events that provided support, motivation and opportunity for the women's movement to gain momentum and credibility.

Women’s Movement II promptsPlease respond thoroughly, thoughtfully &

slogan-free to the following prompts.

Make several points for each item…bullets or sentences 1. How did Betty Friedan, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (’64),

the National Organization for Women (NOW) and Title IX, independently--and collectively--contribute to a new wave in the Women’s Rights Movement? EXPLAIN

2. What was the ERA, and why did it fail to pass? If one could reintroduce it today would it meet the same fate? EXPLAIN

3. Choose four (4) issues from the list on pg.5, and discuss your team’s views on those topics facing women today. EXPLAIN

Write a thoughtful, reflective analysis of the debate topic. Due in-

class today.

1)What were three of the strongest arguments for Pro…and…for Con? EXPLAIN with detail

2) What were the three most significant emerging ideas from your research and/or the debate? EXPLAIN with detail

3) To what extent did your debate preparation and the discussion reinforce or revise your views on the topic? EXPLAIN with detail

4) Propose a plan to reach a compromise and resolution with this increasingly divisive issue. EXPLAIN with detail

Debate “Reflections”

MLK PromptsPlease respond thoroughly &thoughtfully

to the following prompts.

Make several points for each item… (either bulleted or

sentences)1.Describe the spirit of Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr.’s speech. EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

2.Identify several (4-6) specific messages Dr. King presented. EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

3.What made this speech effective, in terms of summarizing, and reflecting upon, “the movement?” EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

Malcolm X Documentary

Please follow the documentary closely for discussion in your teams. Make note of the following points.1.Malcolm’s Background

2.Malcolm’s Spirited Approach

3.Investigations

4.Relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr.

5.Revelations in Mecca

6.Threats

7.Assassination

8.Legacy

Malcolm X Prompts

1.In what way(s) <at least three> did Malcolm X differ from Martin Luther King, Jr. in his approach, tactics & style in an effort to gain civil rights? EXPLAIN w) Details

2. Which leader might you have chosen to follow? EXPLAIN w) Details

3. Why did the U.S. government fear Malcolm X? EXPLAIN w) Details

Please respond thoroughly &thoughtfully. Make several points for each item…

(either bulleted or sentences)

Gauging the Gangs Prompts

Please respond thoroughly &thoughtfully to the following prompts.

Make several points for each item… (either bulleted or

sentences)1.Describe the issues. EXPLAIN w)

DEPTH

2.This issue does have a resolution. Agree/Disagree? w) DEPTH

3.To what extent is racism at work here and why do you suppose it appears to span color boundaries? EXPLAIN w) DEPTH

Asian Discrimination

1.Compare & contrast the experiences of discrimination among various Asian cultures/nationalities. EXPLAIN w) Details—BE SPECIFIC

2. Choose one of the areas of discrimination (pp. 3-5), and discuss why it may be the most damaging--citing specifics from each of the other areas as well. EXPLAIN w) DetailsNOTE: This is a double-depth,

extended response prompt

Please respond thoroughly &thoughtfully.

Make several points for each item… (either bulleted or

sentences)

Security Speculation Prompt

How best can a nation balance security with civil liberties?

Please explain in detail… Make specific references Avoid sweeping generalizations

& slogans

Unit Issues Projection Prompt

What are the short and long-term futures of race relations within the U.S. and world?…and what needs to happen in order to bring about positive change?Please explain in detail… Make specific references Avoid sweeping generalizations

& slogans

EXAM

FORMATMultiple ChoiceMatchingShort Answer

TOPICS

Women

Hispanic-American

African American

Asian American

Misc.

SOURCES

PowerPoint Notes

Handouts: see board

Immigration Reform Points

•Undocumented workers three-year work visas, which the plan dubs "Z" visas.

–renewable indefinitely

–$3,500 each time.

Undocumented workers legal status with the visasHave to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.Require 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in placeElectronic monitoring of the southern border More green cards available to skilled workers Limit visas for parents, children and siblings of U.S. citizensProhibit temporary workers from bringing family members

Electronic Monitoring

•Fiber-optic cable buried 8 to 20 inches underground serves as the sensor. Any pedestrian or vehicle that crosses the line would trip the signal, alerting a monitor to the exact location.

Imus Suspended From CBS Radio, MSNBC pulls show off the air

P & G, Staples, GM, Sprint, American Express and others have yanked ad commitments

The Rutgers women’s basketball team blasted radio host Don Imus Tuesday for “racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable and abominable” and agreed to meet with the embattled radio host.“It was comedy. It wasn’t a malicious rant. I’m not a racist. I’ve demonstrated that in my words and my work.”- Don Imus

Imus referred to members of the mostly black Rutgers team as "nappy-headed hos."

GALLERY

ACW 02.27.07

BLACK PANTHERS