4 Social change Flashcards
1
Q
the changing status of ethnic minorities
Andrew Hacker’s influential book Two Nations 1992
what did it claim?
A
- ‘a huge racial chasm’ remained between black and white
- same was true in temrs of equality between white people and hispanic and native americans
2
Q
political status: black americans
Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) under H.W. Bush
A
- Colin Powell
- first african american to hold the position
3
Q
political status: black americans
1988 Jesse Jackson
A
- serious run for democratic nomination for the presidency
- he was the front runner until anti-semitic remarks
4
Q
political status: black americans
NAACP lawyers won cases.
what did it do to the political landscape?
A
- hundreds that led to changes to congressional districts and voting systems
- this assisted the election of thousands of black officials by the 1990s
5
Q
political status: black americans
number of black congressman 1990-1992
A
- 1990: 45
- 1992: 62
6
Q
political status: black americans
mayors in major cities. Eg. Chicago and Philadelphia
A
- Chicago elected a black mayor in 1984
- Philadelphia did the same in 1988
(+ the rejection of Robert Bork for the supreme court)
7
Q
political status: black americans
limits to black political status: statewide elections, etc.
A
- black americans rarely won state-wide elections
- 1992: sole black governor was Douglas Wilder of Virginia 1990-1994
- sole black senator was Carol Mosely Braun from Illinois
- many white voters didn’t want to be represented by a black candidate
8
Q
hispanic americans
which organisations became much more effective in their lobbying?
A
- LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens)
- MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defence and Educational Fund)
9
Q
hispanic americans
what did LULAC and MALDEF persuade congress to do?
IRA
A
- they made the Immigration Reform Control Act 1986 more sympathetic to the status of undocumented aliens
10
Q
hispanic americans
Reagan and Hispanic Americans + House membres
A
- Reagan appointed the first Hispanic cabinet member in 1989 and the number of Hispanic Americans in the US House rose from 5 (1970) to 10 (1980) to 17 (1992)
11
Q
Native Americans
what did many Native Americans prefer?
A
separatism
12
Q
Native Americans
what did they focus on lobbying for?
A
- sovereignty and land rights 1981-1992
13
Q
Native Americans
how was their activism often effective?
Eg. Supreme Court case
A
- Eg. Supreme court siupported Native American tribal soveriegnty and tax powers in Merrion 1982
14
Q
Native Americans
however, how was the issue of native american sovereignty over federal authority also problematic?
court case example
A
- Eg. Duro v. Reina 1990 the court ruled tribal courts didn’t have criminal jurisdiction over someone who wasn’t a member of the tribe
15
Q
Native Americans
What did Duro demonstrate?
A
- full tribal sovereigntty was not possible within the US
16
Q
status in the legal system
Eg. Rodney King 1991 + trial
A
- high speed car chase, white police caught up with black suspect Rodney King and were filmed beating him up
- riots eruped in LA when an all white jury found the police innocent
17
Q
Status in the legal system
LA riots numbers
A
55 died and 2300 were injured
- riots followed in Atlanta, Birmingham and chicago
18
Q
Status in the legal system
1992 it was found the sherrids department stopped who? on the interstate highway>
A
- disproportionate number of black and hispanic american drivers on the portion of the interstate highway that ran through the county
19
Q
Status in the legal system
black/hispanic drivers vs stoppings
A
- 5% of drivers
- 70% of those stopped by the police
they were also stopped for longer than white drivers
20
Q
Status in the legal system
black men in jail?
A
- disproportionate number of black men were in jail
- common black viewpoint was this denoted unequal black status and the police unfairly victimised black americans
- white conservaitives insisted black americnas were more likely to commit crime
21
Q
Status in the legal system
1982 Chinese American Vincent Chin in Detroit
A
- clubbed to death in Detroit by 2 white car workers who thought he was japanese and culpable for car industry layoffs.
- asian americans were disgusted when the killers sentence was a mere 3 years probation
22
Q
Status in the legal system
Native Americans 1990 what did the supreme court rule
A
states could deny employment to peyote users because peyote was an illicit drug not part of essential religous practice.
23
Q
Economic status
1970-1990: % of black americans living in poverty?
A
- 30%
24
Q
Economic status
statistics demonstrating the continued inferiror economic status of black, hispanic, and native americans
A
- Black Americans were more than twice as likely to be poor than white Americans
- black unemployment was 2x that of whites
- 1990: median black household income as $24,000 compared to $40,000
- 1/4 of hispanic americans lived below the poverty line
- native american income was less than half tethe national average
25
# affirmative action
what did it help?
- In universities particularly, the number of ethnic minority students attending college
26
# affirmative action
**1983** % of black high school students enrolled in colleges after graduating compared to **1992**
- 38.2% (55% white)
- 51.5% (still lower 63.9% white)
27
# affirmative action
number of native americans with a college education increased %
by 20% between **1970-1990**
28
# affirmative action
average black income rose by how much (%) **1981-1992**
- 20%
29
# affirmative action
reaction to affirmative action in the supreme court
- increasingly conservative supreme court limited the scope of affirmative action programmes in *City of Richmond v. Croson Company* **1989**
this demonstrated a wider battle between conservatives and liberals over affirmative action
30
# affirmative action
*City of Richmond v Croson Company* **1989**
| what happened?
- the court ruled against Richmond City Council's policy, which guaranteed a minimum of 30% of the value of city contracts would go to minority owned firms.
31
# affirmative action
How did congress retaliate? Bush's involvement?
- issuing a civil rights billl that provided new legal remedis for anyone who suffered workplace mistreatment **1990**
- **Bush** vetoed it claiming it would lead to frivolous lawsuits and force buisinesses to set racial hiring quotas.
32
# affirmative action
however what did Bush accept
a modified version of the bill in **1991**
33
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
**1992** half the black population lived in which neighbourhoods?
- neighbourhoods that were more than 50% white
- number of interracial marriages and cohabitants was slowly rising
34
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
southern school desegregation in **1988**
- 43% of black school children attended schools that were more than 50% white
35
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
9% of black americnas however, lived where?
- de facto segregated, overcrowded and impoverished inner-city ghettos where life expectancy was lower
36
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
average life expectancy for Black Americnas **1990** vs white americans
- black: 69.1
- white: 76.1
37
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
white opposition: what did it mean
- black people's social status remained inferior
- southern schools slowly became re-segregated after **1988**
38
# social status: the extent of racial tolerance and intergration by 1992
hispanic americans and resegregation
Between **1968-1995** the proportion of Hispanic Americans in mostly minority schools rose from 55%-74%
39
# the role of the federal government
Reagan and bussing
- supported a constitutional amendment to outlaw it.
- the democrat controlled congress rejected the proposal, but his administration refused to press lawsuits to enforce it.
40
# the role of the federal government
conflict between the supreme court, congress, and the president **1984-1988**?
- **1984** Supreme Court ruled *Grove City College v. Bell* that the only area of Grove City College that required compliance with antidiscrimination laws was its financial aid programme
- congress retaliated with **1988** Civil Rights Restoration Act that Reagan vetoed.
- congress overrode this
41
# the role of the federal government
what did the **1988** Civil Rights Restoration Act stipulate?
- recipients of federal funds must comply with civil rights laws in all areas
42
# the role of the federal government
reaganisation of the judiciary
- most of the 368 federal judges who he appointed where young white males
- of the rest only 7 were black, 15 hispanic and 2 asian
43
# tolerance
**1986** Proposition 63 in the californian constitution approved: what was it?
'English is the official language of california amendment'
- coutnered hispanicisation of the state
44
# tolerance
Chief Justice William Rehnquist **1985** and Reagan **1988** remarks about native america
- they called their culture 'inferior'
- congress though issued the **Native American Grave Protection and Reparation Act 1990** which enabled native americans to retrieve remains of their ancestors from museums and universities.
45
# tolerance
Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Art Show *'the west as america: reinterpreting images of the frontier, **1820-1920**'
- emphasised white mistreatment of native americans
- but infuriated conservatives and led some republicans to threaten to cut the museum's budget.
46
# tolerance
*The Cosby Show* and *The Robert Guillaume Show* commentary
- * The Cosby Show*: about a black family. White audiences were less enthusaistic about tv depictions of romantic relationships between black and white americans
- *The Robert Guillaume Show* was cancelled because the audience couldn't deal with an interracial relationship
47
# tolerance
debates over affirmative action
- some liberals suggested white anxiety about national disunity limited the tolernace of white people towards ethnic minority assertiveness
- equally, some ethnic minority members also considered minority assertiveness as a barrier to intergration
48
# the impact of black american success
*The Oprah Winfrey Show*
- became a phenomenal success
- talk show covering celebrities, self-help, book reccommendations and controversial social issues was the number 1 daytime show for 2 deades.
- estimated 48m americans watched it every week.
49
# the impact of black american success
how many watched *The Cosby Show*
- 30m american households wathced it in **1986/7**
50
# the impact of black american success
musical superstars who were black americnas
- Michael Jackson
- Prince
- Whitney Houston
51
# the impact of black american success
top albums by black americans in **1986**
- 8 out of the top 12
52
# the impact of black american success
black sports stars
- Basketball's michael jordan was a national hero
- **1992** Jordan earned $21m endorsements, appearance money and royalties
53
# the impact of black american success
black athletes and team sports
- **1986**: 63% of top football players, 33% of baseball players and 75% of basketball players were black.
54
# the impact of black american success
black american food companies success
- Glory Foods **1989**
- sold corn bread mixes, okra and beans
55
# the impact of black american success
**Jerry Rubin**
- **1960s**: antiwar protest
- helped found the yuppies
- black power; he was one of the chicago eight
- **1980**: wall street stockbroker
- established the buisiness networking salons
56
# a positive or negative impact?
Positive impact? Jesse Jackson **Eg.**
- inspirational impact through their success in buisiness and politics
- **Eg. Jesse Jackson** demonstrated a black american could stage an impressive run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency
- he attracted lots of white support at the DNC **1988** and came second to the eventual candidate Micahel Dukakis
57
# a positive or negative impact?
negative impact... Who were white people more willing to support? what was the reality?
- little problem idolising successful black americans in sport and pop culture, but this didn't necessarily make them more willing to accept black neighbours or to support initiatives to help the ghetto poor
58
# positive or negative impact?
who did black ghetto youths idolise
sports stars such as michael jordan rather than politicians and buisinessment
59
# positive or negative impact?
what did some argue black sporting success was a real reflection of? what about sports management?
- some argued it was reflective of white prejudice that black people were natural athletes and they were aggressive, and lacked in intelect
- sports mamnagement was much more white dominated.
- first black baseball manager was appointed in **1975**, but when Cito Gaston became a Major League baseball manager in **1989**, he was still only the fouruth black american to do so
60
# positive or negative impact?
michael jordan v sociologists
- michael jordan argued parcipation in athletics helped black students to become more connected to academics
- some sociologists claimed many black school children neglected their studies to concentrate on sporting success
61
# the changing status of women by 1992
the ERA: opposition and the rights it guaranteed
- opposition made sure it never passed
- but, women were guaranteed most of the rights the ERA would have guaranteed through federal gov acvtions such as:
1. civil rights act 1964
2. title IX of the Education amendments of **1972** which protected americans from gender discrimination in educational programmes
3. court decisions
4. decrees by the federal bureau
62
# the changing status of women by 1992
women felt their status
remained inferior in politics and the workplace, and their reproductive rights were being eroded by resurgent social conservativism
63
# women and work
why were more women working? what did the RR think?
- the religous right blamed feminism for more women in work
- but actuall,y it was financially making sense for women to work because this best served their famileis well being
64
# women and work
% of women in the workforce **1970-1990**
- **1970**: 43%
- **1990**: 57.8%
65
# women and work
the NOW campaigning and womens wages
- the economic status was improving but it was still inferior to men
- groups such as the NOW campaigned for equal pay and job opportunities
- womens wages were 62% of mens wages in **1980** but 72% by **1990** they still remained unequal.
66
# women and work
women and job types
- they held less than 1/5 of doctors and lawyer positions
- this reflected sexism and many womens desire to interrupt their careers to have children
67
# sexual harrassment
**1980** Equal Employment Opportunities Commission stated what?
- sexual harrassment was a form of discrimination, prohibnted by Title VIII of the **1964** civil rights act
68
# sexual harrassment
*Meritor Savings Bank v Vinson* **1986**: what did it enable?
- women could take legal action against sexual harrassment in the workplace
- by **1991** the number of sexual harrassment cases filed annually reached 6000
69
# the Tailhook scandal
what happened?
- over 100 navy and marine officers sexually assulted and sexually harassed 80 women.
- this led and a subsequent assistant secretary of the navy's involvement resulted in over 100 resignations
70
# reproductive rights and social conservativism
cases that pleased the anti-abortion lobby
*Webster v Reproductive services of missouri* **1989** and *planned parenthood of southeasern pennsylvania v casey* **1992**
71
# reproductive rights
*Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey* **1992**: what did it strike down?
struck down the pennsylvania provision that a married woman had to produce 'a signed statement that she has notifid her spouse that she is about to undergo an abortion'
72
# reproductive rights
How was *planned parenthood v casey* significant?
1. Sandar Day O'Conner, who spoke extensivelty about the case, was the first female supreme court judge appointed in **1991**. This demonstrated the changning status of women
2. O'Conner's arguments demonstrated the importance of the female viewpoint in the federal government
3. the case served as a remninder that decisions about women were made by a federal government dominated by white old men
73
# women in politics
Gerald Ford + cabinet
- became the first PM to appoint a woman to the cabinet
- most of his successors did the same
- when reagan didnt, he was thoroughly criticised
74
# women in politics
choice of Geraldine Ferraro as the Democrats Vp candidate?
- huge step forward
- but, there were many sexist responses
- **Eg.** *Denver Post* asked, *'what if she is supposed to push the button to fire the missiles and she can't because she's just done her nails?'*
75
# women in politics
legislative branch: **1979-1980** femlale congresswomen and **1991-1992**
- **1979-1980**: 16 female house members, no senators
- **1991-1992**: 28 house members, 2 senators
76
# the impact of clarence thomas
the appointment of clarence thomas: sexual harrassment allegations
- **1991** confirmation hearings
- during which a black law professor Anita Hill accused him of sexual harrassment
- her testimony was dismissed by a 96% male senate
77
# the impact of clarence thomas
what did his election do to the numbers of women standing for local, state, and national office in **1992**?
- number of women elected doubled
- nwe congress in January **1993**, there were 47 female congress members out of 435 house members
- 7 among the 50 senators
(still a dramatic under representation)
78
# the impact of women in the workplace
what did the reliugous right emphasise about women in the workplace?
- women were taking mens jobs
- working mothers couldn't look after their families and were leading to higher divorce rates.
79
# the impact of women in the workplace
divorce rates 1970-1990
- **1970**: 33%
- **1990**: 49%
80
# the impact of women in the workplace
what did the NOW argue about increasing women at work?
- employment opportunities had a positive impact
- it helped them fulfil their potential and achieve satisfaction
- also increased family finances and improved standard of living
81
# the impact of women in politics
Martha Griffiths and women in congress
- she played a vital role in getting congress to pass the ERA
- women in congress were important in the passage of lkegislation that helped women, **Eg.** the Child Support Recovery Act **1992** which ensured delinguqent fathers paid child support
82
# the impact of women in politics
**1988** Women's Buisiness Ownership act
- gave financial aid to women to help them establish buisinesses
83
# the impact of women in politiccs
**1992** Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer
both elected to the senate as california's two senators.
