01feb2012.doc

POS 2041 01 FEBRUARY CIVIL RIGHTS TOPIC DETAILS Civil Rights Definition Rights of all americans to equal treatment under the law (14th amendment) governments role to ensure this through legislation Constitutional basis Equal Protection Clause was originally intended to protect newly freed slaves after the Civil War 13th Amendment ? freed slaves (took Texas longest to ratify) 14th amendment ? equal protection 15th amendment ? voting rights Segregation & Equality Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upholds segregation challenged ?whites only? law supreme court upheld segregation as constitutional as long as separate facilities for blacks were equal to those for white justification of segregation lasted nearly 6 decades Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned Plessy v. Ferguson beginning of public school desegregation Resisting gov laws through State legislation Jim Crow laws by late 1880s southern legislatures passed a series of segregation laws racial segregation in the use of public facilities Black Codes denied rights to newly freed slaves through legislation Civil Rights after Reconstruction Uphold discriminatory Jim Crow laws legislation supports ?whites only? schools/other public places Poll taxes block black voters small tax on the right to vote Grandfather clauses allow poor whites to vote ensured only whites could vote Civil Rights Act 1964 officially outlaws segregation in public facilities Voting Rights Act 1965 outlawed literacy test, banned property restrictions Civil Rights movement's effect on gov policy Desegregated public schools through legislation Rosa Parks Bus Boycott organized by MLK (Montgomery) 1955-1956 Civil Rights Act of 1964 Addressed discrimination in employment education voting provided for federal intervention Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ensure employers do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex attempt to eliminate de jure (legal) discrimination could do little about de facto (personal, thought) discrimination TOPIC DETAILS Economic Inequality and Civil Rights Income/opportunity poverty rate poor vs. wealthy public school districts economic problems feed on one another lower acheivement levels for students lead to lower income/less opportunity Other Civil Rights Movements Malcom X and Nation of Islam called for black separatism segregation from white society called for armed resistance American Indian Movement resisted ?assimilation? demand for ancestral lands compensation for exploitation of tribal lands Political Participation Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama have reached political success 2 African Americans elected to a state governorship Very few elected to the U.S. Senate since 1900 Continuing Challenges (Blacks) Income inequality poverty rate for blacks 3X that for whites access to quality education more challenging lack of education resources results in lower achievement levels for students affected Continuing Challenges (Native Amercians) Fregmented politically (reservations) AIM (American Indian Movement) broken apart by FBI in mid 1970s Indian Gaming Regulation Act (1988) Attempt to provide economic sustainability Has gambling on reservations changed the standard of living of all Native Americans? Why or why not? 1880 gov outlawed practice of their religion & teaching of their languages repealed 1976 Native Americans citizens 1924 Women's Equality, 1890-1954 Prohibition Wage laws/rights Suffrage movement National American Woman Suffrage Association 19th Amendment Guarantees women right to vote in 1920 Sweden 1718 (only local election; national 1919) New Zealand 1893; Norway 1913; Denmark 1915 France 1944; Italy 1945 Switzerland 1971; Kuwait 2005 United Arab Emirates nobody has the right to vote Women's Rights Movement Formation of NOW Equal Pay Act (1963) For every dollar a man earns, women on average earn 80 cents (when comparing equal titles/skills/education/experience/etc) While this is illegal, it had never been successfully enforced Female doctors & lawyers earn roughly half as much as their counterparts TOPIC DETAILS Women in the Workplace Continued wage discrimination Sexual harassment Women less likely to be laid off (because they're paid less) Feminism The goal of the movement, meant full political, economic, and social equality for women Congress adopts Equal Rights Amendment to address specific concerns and rights of women HYPERLINK "http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/" http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ amendment never ratified Now known as Women's Equality Amendment Women in Politics Today 1% more than 10,000 members that have served in US House of Rep (all time) have been women 2002 Nancy Pelosi was elected minority leader of house first woman to hold this position 2006 Pelosi elected speaker of the house Women World Leaders Indira Ghandi, India Benzir Bhutton, Pakistan Golda Meir, Israel Margaret Thatcher, UK Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland Gro Brundlandt, Norway Jenny Shipley, New Zealand Workplace Discrimination Equal pay suits @ Wal-Mart Ladbetter decision sets time limit for pay equity suits Illegal immigrants in the workplace difficult to enforce hiring practices Violations of immigrants' rights after 9/11 Racial profiling made everyone of a ?certain ethnic origin? a suspect Human Trafficking 21st century slave trade 80% affects women/children 2.5 mil persons affected each year $42.5 billion business ? only drugs and arms trafficking rank higher Kansas City, Miami, Tampa (Russian mafia), and Aruba Hispanic Americans Largest and fastest growing group in the U.S. High levels of activism and rallies begin in the 1960s as wave of Cuban immigrants establish homes in FL United Farm Workers, National Council of La Raza Voting, education, and immigration continue to be major issues concerning Hispanic population in U.S.