Civil Rights
rights guaranteed to all American citizens by law; usually refers to social freedoms and equal treatment under the law
Discrimination
use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion
The Supreme Court originally interpreted the 14th amendment
very narrowly
Civil war amendments
13th, 14th, 15th
13th Amendment
one of three Civil War amendments; it abolished slavery.
14th Amendment
one of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed equal protection and due process under the law
15th Amendment
one of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed voting rights for African American men.
Civil rights
obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies and of other private citizens.
Equal protection clause
provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens 'the equal protection of the laws.' This clause has been the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, women, and other groups.
Jim Crow laws
laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans.
separate but equal rule
doctrine that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be considered equal.
Brown v. Board of Education
the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the 'separate but equal' doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to interv
Strict scrutiny
a test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights that places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional.
De jure
literally, 'by law'; refers to legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s.
De facto
literally, 'by fact'; refers to practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today.
Gerrymandering
the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party.
Redlining
a practice in which banks refuse to make loans to people living in certain geographic locations.
Intermediate scrutiny
a test used by the Supreme Court in gender discrimination cases that places the burden of proof partially on the government and partially on the challengers to show that the law in question is unconstitutional.
Affirmative action
government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups with access to educational and employment opportunities.
The Struggle for Civil Rights
1. With the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, civil rights became part of the Constitution, guaranteed to each citizen through "equal protection of the laws." This equal protection clause launched a century of political movements and legal eff
Extending Civil Rights
1. The protections won by the African American civil rights movement spilled over to protect other groups as well, including women, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, disabled Americans, and gays and lesbians.
2. In the 1970s, the Supreme Court h
Affirmative Action
1. By seeking to provide compensatory action to overcome the consequences of past discrimination, affirmative action has expanded the goals of groups championing minority rights.
2. Affirmative action has been a controversial policy. Opponents charge that
In which case did the Supreme Court find that rigid quotas are incompatible with the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
The Supreme Court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger was significant because
it stated that diversity is a compelling state interest and that university admissions that take racial categories into account are constitutional as long as they are highly individualized.
When did the federal government start adopting policies that sought to increase minority employment in the federal civil service and in companies doing business with the federal government?
1960s and 1970s
Government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups with access to educational and employment opportunities are called
affirmative action
Proposition 209 was a California referendum that
outlawed affirmative action programs in state and local governments.
What are the two forms of sexual harassment that the Supreme Court has found to be forms of sex discrimination?
quid pro quo and hostile environment
What did the 1996 Supreme Court decision United States v. Virginia, which concerned the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), do?
ended the practice of supporting all-male colleges with public funds
In Lau v. Nichols (1974), the Supreme Court protected the civil rights of language minorities by ruling that
schools must provide instruction that students with limited English ability can understand.
By what year did African Americans and women both have the constitutional right to vote?
1920
Which of the following represents a major landmark discrimination case for lesbians and gay men?
Romer v. Evans
Which of the following civil rights measures dealt with access to public businesses and accommodations?
the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act
The laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans were called
Jim Crow laws
Which provision of the Fourteenth Amendment has been the basis for recognizing the civil rights of African Americans, women, and other groups?
equal protection clause
Which act does your textbook call the most important piece of legislation passed by Congress concerning equal opportunity because of its attention to discrimination in public accommodations, schools, and employment?
civil rights act of 1964
The separate but equal doctrine asserted that
public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be considered equal.
In 1954, the Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine as fundamentally unequal and provided the federal government with the power to rectify discriminatory actions. In what case did the Court do this?
Brown v. Board of Education
Ten years after Brown, what percentage of black school-age children in the Deep South were attending schools with whites?
less than 1 percent
Civil liberties are primarily concerned with _______________; civil rights are focused on
liberty; equality.
The Seneca Falls Declaration addressed civil rights for which group?
women
What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
It declared the act unconstitutional because the Constitution protects only against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed discrimination in
public accommodations and employment.
Which constitutional amendment guaranteed voting rights for African American men?
Fifteenth
The separate but equal doctrine
permitted a system of segregated social facilities.
Plessy v. Ferguson established the principle of
separate but equal.
Segregation or discriminatory practices that occur even when there is no explicit legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today, is called _____________ segregation.
de facto
Southern government officials used gerrymandering to
dilute African American voting power through the drawing of district lines.
Which of the following is not an example of an area in which women have made progress since the 1970s in guaranteeing certain civil rights?
the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
According to your textbook, which was the most important pre-1954 case because it addressed racial discrimination in housing and property ownership?
Shelley v. Kraemer
In their response to Brown v. Board of Education, southern states did all of the following except
quickly desegregate the schools.
What level of scrutiny does the Supreme Court use in cases related to sex and gender discrimination?
intermediate scrutiny
According to the authors of the textbook, what is the current status of school desegregation?
The Court has ruled that race cannot be a factor in assigning students to schools to achieve greater racial diversity, so one of the few strategies to promote racial integration has been eliminated.
Laws passed in the 1970s make it more difficult for banks to engage in redlining, which is the practice of
refusing to lend money for housing mortgages for entire neighborhoods.
The judicial test that places the burden of proof on government to show that a race-based policy serves a compelling government interest and is narrowly tailored to address identifiable past discrimination is called
strict scrutiny.
Which agency hears claims of discrimination brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
EEOC
In what way does the struggle for gender equality most resemble the struggle for racial equality?
Changes in government policies to a great degree produced political action
Since the 1960s, rights for Latinos have been intertwined with debates about
immigration
In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy was
constitutional, since race was used only as a plus factor and not a quota.
Which of the following represents the Brown v. Board of Education case for lesbians and gay men?
Romer v. Evans
What Supreme Court case first restricted the use of racial quotas in university admissions?
University of California v. Bakke
What organization is the major lobby for seniors and actively works for the adoption and enforcement of laws that prohibit age discrimination in employment and public accommodations?
AARP