Chap 5: Civil Rights Flashcards
Civil Rights
guarantees of equal opportunity and protection through obligations imposed on government to protect individuals
Social Movements
sustained campaigns brought by and on behalf of disadvantaged populations in support of a political or social goal
collective action
process of a group of people organizing and acting based on a shared goal
equal protection clause
provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens “the equal protection of the laws.” This clause has been the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, women, and other groups
burden of proof
responsibility of an individual, organization, or government to provide sufficient evidence in support of a claim in court
2 important distinctions between civil rights/liberties
the way they are established
the way they are protected
*civil liberties are basic personal freedoms outlined in the constitution/civil rights are ever evolving and changing
*civil liberties require a limitation on gov’t power/civil rights require an expansion of gov’t power to secure certian freedoms
inside strategy
strategy used by social movements to achive protection for a civil right by working withing the political system - securing presedential executive order, passing legislation, winning a court case
outside strategy
strategy used by social movements when political intervention is impossible
organizing to transform public opinion - sit-ins, protests
discrimination
the use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion
13th ammendment
abolished slavery (1865)
14th ammendment
guaranteed equal protection and due process (1868)
15th ammendment
guaranteed voting rights for African American men (1870)
Jim Crow Laws
laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans
separate but equal
doctrine that established that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be considered equal
Brown v Board of Ed
1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal; this case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions
*focused exclusively on public education/other areas of life were still segregated
strict scrutiny
test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights that places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional
de jure
literally, “by law”; refers to legally enforced practices
de facto
literally, “by fact”; refers to practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement
Civil RIghts Act of 1964
landmark legislation that ended segregation in public spaces and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, sex, and national origin
the long civil rights movement
black people’s journey from being taken and enslaved to achieving political and legal equality in the 20th century
dred scott v sandford
enslaved person who sued for his freedom when transported by owner to Illinois and Wisconsin (which outlawed slavery). Supreme court ruled against him because he was property and not a US citizen so laws did not apply to him (1857)
Reconstruction Ammendments
Ammendments 13-15
Plessy v Ferguson
1896
Supreme Court approves Jim Crow Laws
Court upholds Louisiana law enforcing racial segregation in public spaces
Homer Plessy (1/8 black) sits in “whites-only” train car and found guilty of violating law
creat
established doctring separate-but-equal
NAACP
national association for the advancement of colored people (1909)
W.E.B Du Bois founding member
Formed to fight against rising racial violence against Black People
Oranized mass demonstration, wrote news stories, lobbied Congress for passing of anti-lynching bill, won landmark Supreme Court case against mob violence
most notably fought for education civil rights
Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955-56
Began with Rosa Parks (Dec 1, 1955)
40000 Black Bus riders (majority of bus riders in general) boycotted Montgomery buses
Supreme Cour ruled Montgomery bus segregation unconstitutional ending boycott
student sit-ins
1960-61
4 black college students asked to be served at “whites only” lunch counter, Woolworth’s department store Greensboro, North Carolina, February 1, 1960
Over 70000 participants, black and white
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Aug 28th 1963
over 200000 demonstrators and several civil rights organization
MLK delivers “I Have a Dream” speech
Selma-to-Montgomery Marches
part of greater civil rights movement in deep south
Alabama activist groups organize 54 mile march to capital (Montgomery)
March 7th - first attempt violently stopped by Alabama law enforcement at Edmund Pettus Bridge (tear gas, club beatings)
March 9 - MLK leads march. Stopped at Bridge by troopers and police. Stop for praying and return to Selma
March 21-25 - march is completed
leads to signing of Voting RIghts Act of 1965 (Aug 6) by Pres Lyndon Johnson
Little Rock Nine
9 students recruited by NAACP to integrate into Little Rock Central Highschool, Little Rock, Arkansas (1957)
Integration met with violence
Pres Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division paratroops to enforce
Voting Rights Act 1965
barred literacy and other tests as a condition for voting, set criminal penalties for interference with efforts to vote, provided for the replacement of local registrars with federally appointed ones in counties designated by the attorney general as significantly resistant to registering eligible Black people to vote
nineteenth ammendment
guaranteed the right to vote to women
ratified 1920
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
historic piece of legislation in which the federal government formally acknowledged the forced removal and internment of Japanese people as an injustice that had been motivated largely by racial prejudice
Obergefell v Hodges
court decision that guaranteed the right to marry to same-sex couples
affirmative action
government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups with access to educational and employment opportunities
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
government program intended to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors to legally remain in the country to study or work
Ammendments 24, 26
24 - the right to vote cannot be denied based on a failure to pay a tax
26 - 21 to 18 voting age
civil rights act 1957
originated as proposal of civil rights legislation by Pres Eisenhower
empowered federal prosecutors to obtain injuctions against voting interferance
established federal Civil Rights Comission with authority to investigate discriminatory conditions
weakned by congress (lack of democrat support)
civil rights act 1960
aimed at strengthening act of ‘57
limited in scope and effect because of failure to enforce law
civil rights act of 1875
proposed by Sen Charles Sumner
predecessor to CR act of ‘64
did not consider businesses or social life as public accomadations
struck down by supreme court in 1883
conpromise of 1877
informal agreement between southern Democracts and allies of Republican Rutherford Hayes to settle dispute of 1876 pres election and end of reconstruction
required hayes to withdraw troops from south
Redlining
a discriminatory practice involving the denial of services, mortgages, insurance loans, and other financial services, to residents in certain areas based on race or ethnicity
