1970s Individual and Civil Rights Topic 3

Question 1

Roe V Wade 1973?

Answer 1

The case of an impoverished texas women who didn’t want to bear a child into poverty.

Question 2

RVW verdict

Answer 2

Women could abort within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy

Question 3

Opposition to rvw

Answer 3

National Right to Life Committee (Catholic)
Anti Abortion Activists - used mass mailings, 1978 - “stop the baby killers”
Phyllis Schlafly
Henry Hyde led the passage of a law that banned fed funds for abortion 1977

Question 4

Who was Phyllis Schlafly?

Answer 4

Catholic lawyer, “Sweetheart of Silent Majority”, campaigned for women’s skirts to be 2 inches below the knee, associated with Republicans

Question 5

Political significance of rvw

Answer 5

> Fuelled the New Right - those voters helped elect Reagan

>After 1973, both Republican and Democratic presidents used RVW as limits tests

Question 6

Social significance of rvw

Answer 6

> Accelerated new attitudes towards sexuality
Enhanced second wave feminism which focussed on sexuality, family and the reproductive rights
Very decisive, NRTL committee formed in 1973 with explicit goal to reverse the verdict

Question 7

Political insignificance of rvw

Answer 7

> Many states didn’t repeal their pre 1973 legislation
States used obstructed abortion access - no funding, barely any clinics
Clarence Thomas - SC judge appointed by Reagan as he doubted abortion
Brown V Kendrick 1988 denied funding for pro abortion programmes

Question 8

Social insignificance of rvw

Answer 8

> Second wave feminism petered out as a political force in 80s
Increase in violence by pro life groups, discouraged abortions
Didn’t produce massive increase in abortion

Question 9

What had women achieved since the 60s?

Answer 9

> Right to abortion, greater sexual freedom

>Attitudes towards women and work changed: 2/3 female college students didn’t believe women belonged at home

Question 10

What % of professional men’s salaries did professional women recieve in?

Answer 10

73%

Question 11

66% of US adults classified as poor were

Answer 11

women

Question 12

Feminists failed to obtain the ERA which

Answer 12

protected women’s rights

Question 13

They failed to obtain the ERA due to

Answer 13

the belief that it would lead to gay marriages, women in combat, unisex toilets and the end of the nuclear family.

Question 14

Phyllis Schlafly led ‘STOP ERA’ org in 1972 that attracted 50,000 members, conservative states agreed and the ERA

Answer 14

never obtained the assent of 75% of states

Question 15

Opposition to women’s rights

Answer 15

> 70% of NRTLC voted in congressinal elections in 1978 (double)
1979 Concerned Women for America (CWA)

Question 16

Who were the CWA?

Answer 16

Established by Beverly LaHaye to fight against the ERA and abortion, 500,000 members by mid 80s

Question 17

Gay rights in the 1970s?

Answer 17

> Homosexuality considered a mental illness

>Police harrassed bars and restaurants that served homosexual customers

Question 18

What impact had stonewall riots had?

Answer 18

Generated growth in gay pride and political militancy in 70s -e.g New York Gay Liberation Front encouraged gays to come out

Question 19

Progress in public attitudes towards homosexuality

Answer 19

> employment discrimination banned on sexual orientation in 1972 (SANFRAN) 1979 (NYC)
1973 NOW endorsed Gay Rights
1974 No longer a mental illness
1978 proposition 6 defeated
1980 Democratic party supported equality for all

Question 20

What was proposition 6?

Answer 20

A repeal for a 1975 law that protected homosexual teachers from discrimination and took away authority to schools to fire gay teachers

Question 21

Conservative backlash, religious right, to Gay Rights

Answer 21

> 1977 Tim LaHaye and Jerry Falwell got national attention for successful battle against Miami pro gay rights ordinance

Question 22

What problems did NAs face in early 1970s?

Answer 22

Lived on reservations which had high unemployment, poverty and alcoholism

Question 23

Aim of Red Power

Answer 23

> To monitor police racism
To stress positive imagery of NAs
Organise marches liek 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties
To establish survival schools - Heart of Earth School 1972 - NA language and culture

Question 24

Red Power meant

Answer 24

‘the political and economic power to run our lives in our on way’ they didn’t want to be forced into mainstream life

Question 25

Successful NA litigations

Answer 25

> 1973 Northern Cheyenne of Montana won case to renegotiate mining contracts
Indian Health Care Improvement Act (1976) $1.6bn to help improve NA healhcare
American Indian Religious Freedoms Act (1978) Gave right to practice cultural traditions

Question 26

Limitations of NA litigations

Answer 26

> Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Acts (1975) had insufficient funding but was believed to pave way for future laws
American Indian Relgious Freedoms Act (1978) was weakend by consevarive SC in 1990.

Question 27

NA rights in 1980

Answer 27

Treaties were still frequently ignored and reservations remained economically disadvantaged

Question 28

Problems African Americans still faced in 1970s?

Answer 28

> 1/3 of blacks lived below poverty line
1/3 had low status, low skilled jobs
Black infant mortality rate was 19% higher than those in some developing countries

Question 29

Successes for African Americans in the 70s?

Answer 29

> SC ruled in favour of affirmative action to end economic inequality (Griggs v Duke Power Company 1971)
Nixon ensured that over 250,000 companies employed a fair proportion of blacks
1/3 were middle class by 1980

Question 30

Full implementation of desegregation in schools even if it meant bussing was ruled in

Answer 30

1971

Question 31

More blacks were elected as mayors of cities such as

Answer 31

Detroit (1973), LA (1973), Washington DC (1974) and Birmingham (1979)

Question 32

Examples of strikes over worker’s rights?

Answer 32

> In 1970, 200,000 workers went on strike, gov approved their bargaining rights but not right to strike
1.8million employees were impacted by strikes and lo lockout in 1974 when 31.8million working days were lost

Question 33

Employers disliked unions because

Answer 33

> Anti-communism (unionism often associated with communism)
Corruption scandals
The belief that unions and strikes damaged the nations’ economy

Question 34

Reasons for union decline

Answer 34

> Manufacturing industry was in decline - unions were strongest in these industries
The south’s econonomy boomed(anti union traditions) so unions failed to attract large numbers
Not many jobs so businesses could squeeze unions
Foreign workers would work for less

Question 35

How could employers squeeze unions?

Answer 35

They made threats to move their plants where labour costs were lower - RCA moved its production of TVs to Mexico in 1980