4.5 Race and rights in contemporary US Politics Flashcards
3
Describe methods of achieving race/rights change
- Legal action
- Mass demonstrations and direct action
- media and social media
3
Describe legal action to achieve race/rights change
- Groups can appeal cases to SC - Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights + BAMN brought 2014 case challenging ban on affirmative action in Michigan state constitution
- Groups can submit amicus curiae briefs - 60 filed in Trump v Hawaii 2018 (‘travel ban’ case) including from NAACP
- Individuals can bring cases - Brown v Board of Education 1954 and Fisher v Univeristy of Texas 2016
BAMN - Fight for Equality by any means necessary
3
Give examples of mass demonstrations
- BLM after George Floyd deaths
- Hispanic/Latino community led protests against Trumps’ executive order separating families at Mexico border
- 2017 Women’s March drew 200k to DC to protests Trump’s inaugration
3
Give examples of smaller-scale direct action
- Montgommery bus protests
- Interruptions of Senate Committee room during appoitnment process of Kavanaugh
- National Council of La Raza dubbed Obama ‘deporter-in-chief’ at annual conference in 2014 after he deported 2m illegal immigrants
4
Describe media and social media as a method to achieve race/rights change
- Accelerated time for issue to reach political mainstage
- Youth factor
- e.g. 55% of black social media users aged 18-49 posted picture supportive of BLM compared to 36% of those aged 50+
- seen in quick emergence of BLM, MeToo
3
Describe affirmative action
- Executive Order 10925 (JFK) requires government contracters to ensure histrocially disadvantaged groups are favoured in employment
- Intended to create greater effective equality in university admissions, ending ‘busing’, etc
- Students for Fair Admission v Havard
3
Describe recent developments in affirmative action
- Fisher I (2013) and II (2016) upheld affirmative action in University of Texas admissions policy as ‘strict scrutiny’
- Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard (2023) - rejected affirmative action regarding race in college applications
- 9 states explicitly ban its use in employment practices as of 2024
3
Describe recent SC cases in voting rights
- Shelby County v Holder 2014
- Husted v Randolph Institute 2018
- Brnovich v DNC 2021
3
Describe Shelby v County 2014
- Struck down aspects of Voting Rights Act 1965 which required areas with historic records of disenfranchisement to gain federal clearance before changing electoral aspects
- North Carolina subsequently made photo ID requirement when voting
- Low-income and minority groups disproportionally lack such ID
3
Describe Husted v Randolph Institute (2018)
- Allowed Ohio to continue ‘voter caging’ (allows individuals to be struck from voting regsiter if they return undelivered ntoice and fail to vote in next 2 federal elections)
- NAACP brief claims it affects black voters disporportionally
- Big impact in 2018 midterms which saw Republicans retain Senate
4
Describe Brnovich v DNC (2021)
- Upheld Arizona’s laws on ballot collecting and out-of-precinct voting
- Ballot collecting - gathering of mail-in/absentee ballots to third party, rather than official ballot collecting site first
- Out-of-precinct voting - votes cast in wrong precinct ignored
- Proponents argue enfranchisement of those in remote areas, hospitals, etc; critics cite fraud/disenfranchisement
4
Describe recent racial rights representation in the US
- More AAs in cabinet e.g. Lloyd Austin - defence
- Obama - first AA president
- Harris - first female WOC to hold VP office
- 2 black justices in SC, 1 Jew, 1 Hispanic
3
Describe recent immigration history in the US (Obama)
- Obama failed to pass DREAM Act (grant temporary conditional residency to undocumented immigrants)
- Obama failed to pass Gang of Eight’s bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization bill of 2013 (gave undocumented pathway to citizenship)
- Obama used exec order DACA 2012 to allow illegal immigrants to recieve temporary removal of deportation threat under certain conditions - struck down in Texas v USA 2016
2
Describe recent immigration history in the US (Trump/Biden)
- Trump - muslim travel ban, wall, First Steps Act 2018
- Biden - 2021 exec order to strengthen remaining parts of DACA
3
List 3 recent rulings relating to immigration reform
- Arizona v USA (2012)
- Texas v USA (2016)
- Trump v Hawaii (2018)