AP U.S. Government and Politics Ch. 5 Study Guide

Civil Rights and Public Policy

Readings:

C Edwards, Chapter 5, “Civil Rights and Public Policy”

C Audre Lorde, "There is no Hierarchy of Oppressions"

C Cornell West, “Race Matters”

C Mary Ann Glendon, “Rights Talk”

Guiding Questions:

C How should we resolve conflicts between liberty and equality?

C What are the implications for democracy if some citizens do not enjoy basic rights or suffer

discrimination?

C How far should government go to protect civil rights?

C Is an increase in the scope of government to protect some people’s rights an unacceptable threat to the

rights of other citizens?

Objectives:

Students will

C Understand how civil rights have been used to extend more equality to groups that historically have

been subject to discrimination.

C Analyze different interpretations of equality, such as equality of opportunity contrasted with equality

of results.

C Identify provisions of the Bill of Rights that have implications for equality.

C Explain how the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of "equal protection of the laws" has been

applied to the idea of equality.

C Summarize the reasoning of the Court in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education and use this

case to show how the Court set aside its earlier precedent in Plessy v. Ferguson.

C Understand the significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and why efforts for civil rights legislation

were finally successful in the mid-1960s.

C Trace the attempts of southern states to deny African Americans the right to vote even after the

passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

C Identify the major public policy milestones in the movement toward gender equality.

C Determine the ways in which Americans with disabilities have become the successors to the civil

rights movement.

C Describe the opposing positions of those who favor affirmative action and those who claim that

these policies simply create reverse discrimination.

C Analyze how the important democratic principles of equality and individual liberty may actually

conflict with each other.

C Determine how civil rights laws increase the scope and power of government.

Vocabulary (Quiz Friday, 5/1): You should be able to define and use these terms appropriately and accurately

in context. You DO NOT need to write out definitions unless that is what will help you learn them.

civil rights

Fourteenth Amendment

equal protection of the laws

Thirteenth Amendment

Civil Rights Act of 1964

suffrage

Fifteenth Amendment

poll taxes

white primary

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Nineteenth Amendment

Equal Rights Amendment

"intermediate scrutiny"

affirmative action

equal opportunity

equal results

social contract*

Reading Responses: Answer the following questions and be ready to discuss them in class.

Edwards (Due Friday, 5/1)

1. Distinguish "civil rights" from "civil liberties."

2. Identify and explain the Supreme Court’s three standards of review for classifying people under the

equal protection clause.

3. Discuss the several court cases that led up to the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Why was segregation addressed first in education and not in other areas, such as employment or

housing?

4. The Fifteenth Amendment appeared to grant African-Americans the right to vote, yet the time gap

between the amendment and its implementation was large. What were some of the primary means

used by states to limit voting by African Americans? How were they able to do so in light of the specific

wording of the Fifteenth Amendment?

5. The history of discrimination in the United States often focuses on the discrimination faced by African

Americans, but other minority groups have also struggled for civil rights. In what ways were these

struggles similar to the struggle of African Americans? In what ways were they different?

6. Summarize the eras and the major milestones of the women’s rights movement.

7. What are arguments (social, political, practical, and other) for and against opening up combat branches

of the military to women? In what ways have advances in technology perhaps impacted this issue?

8. What are some of the arguments for and against affirmative action? In your answer, consider both the

historical and the current context of affirmative action. Do you think affirmative action is

constitutional? Explain your answer.

9. How might civil rights laws, despite their intent to promote democratic values, actually work to

threaten the liberties of individuals?

Significant Supreme Court Decisions (to be done in class): Be able to connect each case with (1) the civil right

at issue, (2) the part of the Constitution applied, and (3) the decision of the Court, including reasoning.

Scott v. Sandford

Plessy v. Ferguson

Brown v. Board of Education

Hernandez v. Texas

Korematsu v. United States

Reed v. Reed

Craig v. Boren

Bowers v. Hardwick

Romer v. Evans

Lawrence v. Texas

United States v. Windsor

Regents of the University of

California v. Bakke

Adarand Constructors v. Pena