4.5 Race and rights in contemporary US Politics Flashcards
1
Q
3
Describe methods of achieving race/rights change
A
- Legal action
- Mass demonstrations and direct action
- media and social media
2
Q
3
Describe legal action to achieve race/rights change
A
- 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
Q
3
Give examples of mass demonstrations
A
- 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
4
Q
3
Give examples of smaller-scale direct action
A
- 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
5
Q
4
Describe media and social media as a method to achieve race/rights change
A
- 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
6
Q
3
Describe affirmative action
A
- 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
7
Q
3
Describe recent developments in affirmative action
A
- 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
8
Q
3
Describe recent SC cases in voting rights
A
- Shelby County v Holder 2014
- Husted v Randolph Institute 2018
- Brnovich v DNC 2021
9
Q
3
Describe Shelby v County 2014
A
- 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
10
Q
3
Describe Husted v Randolph Institute (2018)
A
- 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
11
Q
4
Describe Brnovich v DNC (2021)
A
- 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
12
Q
4
Describe recent racial rights representation in the US
A
- 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
13
Q
3
Describe recent immigration history in the US (Obama)
A
- 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
14
Q
2
Describe recent immigration history in the US (Trump/Biden)
A
- Trump - muslim travel ban, wall, First Steps Act 2018
- Biden - 2021 exec order to strengthen remaining parts of DACA
15
Q
3
List 3 recent rulings relating to immigration reform
A
- Arizona v USA (2012)
- Texas v USA (2016)
- Trump v Hawaii (2018)
16
Q
4
Describe Arizona v USA (2012)
A
- SC struck down key aspects of Arizona’s 1070 law
- Due to clash with federal law
- Law included provision that immigrants must carry registration documents
- Demonstrated limited opportunity for state action over imigration regualtion enforcement
17
Q
3
Describe Texas v USA (2016)
A
- Court split 4-4
- Struck down DACA executive order
- demsontrated weakness of Obama policy
18
Q
4
Describe Trump v Hawaii (2018)
A
- ruled that Trump travel ban was not unconstitutional
- lied within remit of executive action
- showed conservative restraint towards 1st amendment
- demonstrated clash between liberal/conservative justices, with former arguing ban was religiously motivated
19
Q
4
Describe the recent success in promoting racial equality
A
- Obama’s DACA executive order provided temporary amnesty from 2012-2016
- Upholding of affirmative action (until 2023)
- Increased diversity in political office
- Ethic vote increasingly important - greater attention to minority issues
20
Q
2
Describe examples of the growing importance of the hispanic vote
A
- Trump won Florida in 2020 on back of hispanic support
- Will make up 25% of population by 2050
21
Q
4
Describe the recent failure in promoting racial equality
A
- Failure to pass meaningful immigration reform legislation despite bipartisan support in Senate e.g. Bipartisan National Security Agreement
- Housing patterns show continuing segregation woes - Bush accussed of racism in 2005 after slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina in black area of New Orleans
- BLM protests evidence continuing inequality
- Students for Fair Admission v Havard - number of ethnics attending university has fallen despite increase in population
22
Q
4
Describe the division over the Bipartisan National Security Agreement
A
- bill addresses several national secuirty issues relating to immigration
- Passed Senate 68-32
- Supported by President Biden
- Declared ‘dead on arrival’ in House
23
Q
2
Describe Biden’s recent executive order on immigration
A
- Temporarily shuts down asylum requests once average number of daily encounters at border crossings reaches 2.5k
- Follows failure of bipartisan immigration bill
