Equal Rights: Struggling

Toward Fairness

Chapter 5

Struggle for Equality

Equal rights – right of every person to equal

protection under the laws and equal access to

society’s opportunities and public facilities

African Americans

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Black civil rights movement

March on Washington, 1963

Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965)

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Struggle for Equality

Women

Legal and political gains

19th amendment

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964)

Title IX of the Education Amendment (1972)

Gender gap

Job-related issues – glass ceiling

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

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Struggle for Equality

Native Americans

Citizenship in 1924

Suits to regain land

Negative discrepancy in health, wealth, and education

Reservations – states have no direct authority and federal

government is limited

Indian Bill of Rights

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Hispanic Americans

Legal and political action: Cesar Estrada Chavez,

(1927-1993)

Guest workers

Growing political power (Democratic leanings)

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Struggle for Equality

Asian Americans

Long tradition of immigration restriction, ended

1965

Over 12 million Asian Americans

Emphasis on academic achievement in Asian

American communities

Upwardly mobile group

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Struggle for Equality

Other groups and their rights

Older Americans

Disabled Americans

Gays and lesbians

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Equality Under the Law: the

Fourteenth Amendment

Equal protection clause – allows inequalities that are

reasonably related to a legitimate government interest

Strict scrutiny test

Suspect category—assumed unconstitutional in the absence of an

overwhelming justification

Applies to race, ethnicity, etc.

Brown V. BOE

Intermediate scrutiny test

Almost suspect category—assumed unconstitutional unless the law

serves a clearly compelling and justified purpose

Applies to gender

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Reasonable basis test

Not suspect category—assumed constitutional unless no sound

rationale for the law can be provided

Applies to age, income, etc.

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Equality Under the Law:

Equal Access

The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968

Accommodations and jobs

Public accommodations cannot refuse to serve

customers based on race

Most employers cannot refuse to consider applicants

based on race

Housing

Housing in America is still highly segregated

Prohibition of redlining

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Equality Under the Law:

Equal Ballots

Barring of whites-only primaries, 1940s

Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibited poll

taxes, 1960s

Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed federal

agents to oversee voter registration

Some race-based gerrymandering is allowed

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Equality of Result

De facto discrimination

Social, economic, cultural biases discrimination

More difficult to root out

De jure discrimination

Specific law discrimination

Equality of result – aim of policies intended to reduce

de facto discriminatory effects

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Equality of Result

Civil Rights Act put the burden of proof on the

person denied the job or promotion

Affirmative action: workplace integration Full and equal opportunities in education, employment, etc. for all

Burden of proof on the provider of opportunity

Affirmative action in law University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978) – quotas were

unconstitutional

Adarand v. Pena (1995) – narrowly tailored remedy

University of Michigan

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Equality of Result

School integration – not required to compel races to

go to school together

Busing: controversial policy to end de facto

segregation of public schools

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Bd. of

Education (1971)

Higher minority performance vs. long hours and white

flight

2007 ended forced busing

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Persistent Discrimination

Superficial differences

Decline in overt racism

Growing numbers of minorities in higher

education

Growing number of minorities in white-collar

professions

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Persistent Discrimination

Deep divisions

Continuing inequality in:

health care and mortality rate

nutrition

education

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