Lesson 4: Civil Rights

Question 1

Affirmative Action Definition

Answer 1

policy to give special consideration to women and minorities to make up for past discrimination

Question 2

César Chávez Definition

Answer 2

César Chávez (1927–1993) was an advocate for migrant farmworkers’ rights

Question 3

Civil Rights Movement Definition

Answer 3

the efforts of African Americans to win equal rights, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s

Question 4

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Definition

Answer 4

Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929–1968) was a Baptist minister who was a key leader of the civil rights movement in the United States until his assassination in 1968

Question 5

Migrant Worker Definition

Answer 5

a person who moves from one region to another in search of work

Question 6

Segregation Definition

Answer 6

the legal separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

Question 7

Sit-in Definition

Answer 7

a form of protest in which people sit and refuse to leave

Question 8

Remember: From the late 1940s to the 1970s, the United States witnessed profound changes in civil rights. Mass protests and coordinated demonstrations made it clear that discrimination against minorities would no longer be tolerated. But full equality would take time, and the struggle to get there would often be brutal.

Answer 8

From the late 1940s to the 1970s, the United States witnessed profound changes in civil rights. Mass protests and coordinated demonstrations made it clear that discrimination against minorities would no longer be tolerated. But full equality would take time, and the struggle to get there would often be brutal.

Question 9

How was discrimination inflicted upon African Americans?

Answer 9

Qualified African Americans found themselves barred from good jobs and decent housing in the North. In the South, laws enforced strict segregation, or separation, of the races in schools, theaters, restaurants, and other public places. Facilities for blacks were inferior to those for whites.

Question 10

How was discrimination inflicted upon Mexican Americans and Latinos?

Answer 10

Discrimination also limited Mexican Americans and other Latinos. They were not subject to strict segregation laws. However, other laws—as well as traditions—worked against them. In the Southwest, all-white schools closed their doors to Mexican American children. Instead, poorly equipped “Mexican schools” served them. Custom kept Mexican Americans from living in certain neighborhoods or using certain hotels or restaurants. Often, better-paying jobs were not open to them.

Question 11

For African Americans, which organization led the drive against discrimination? During World War II, how much did NAACP membership increase? Who was Thurgood Marshall? What was done under his leadership?

Answer 11

For African Americans, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) led the drive against discrimination. During World War II, NAACP membership rocketed from 50,000 to 500,000. Under Thurgood Marshall, its Legal Defense Fund mounted several court battles against segregation. It also helped blacks register to vote and fought for equal opportunity in housing and employment.

Question 12

What were the two significant events in the 1940s in the fight against segregation?

Answer 12

There were two significant events in the 1940s in the fight against segregation. (1) Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was even named rookie of the year. Not since Moses Fleetwood Walker had a black player joined the major leagues. Walker was the first African American player to join a major league team in 1884. (2) Under pressure from civil rights groups, President Truman ordered integration, or the mixing of different racial groups, in the armed forces in 1948. During the Korean War, black and white soldiers fought side by side.

Question 13

Why had war veteran become more resistant to inequality and discrimination?

Answer 13

After risking their lives abroad, veterans were unwilling to accept discrimination at home. Often they became leaders in the struggle for equal rights. “Veterans,” explained an observer, “have acquired a new courage, and have become more vocal in protesting inequalities.”

Question 14

True or False: During the 1950s, African Americans and Mexican Americans stepped up the struggle for equality. They took their cases to court but also protested in the streets. Their efforts became known as the Civil Rights Movement.

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What had the U.S. Supreme Court decided in “Plessy v. Ferguson” (1896)? Instead of attacking the idea created by the case head on, what did the NAACP argue during the 1940s? What was the result of this legal strategy? By the early 1950s, how was segregation?

Answer 15

The U.S. Supreme Court had decided in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson that “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional. During the 1940s, the NAACP did not attack this idea head on. Instead, its lawyers argued that schools for African American students were not equal to white schools. Such a legal strategy might improve black schools and other segregated facilities case by case, but those cases did little to end segregation. By the early 1950s, laws in 21 states and the District of Columbia still enforced separate black and white public schools. Virtually all of the black schools were inferior to the white ones.

Question 16

How did Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, challenge the Kansas School Segregation Law? Why did Brown file a law suit, with the help of the NAACP? What happened when the “ Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” case reached the Supreme Court?

Answer 16

Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, decided to challenge the Kansas school segregation law. He asked the local school board to let his daughter, Linda, attend a nearby white school rather than the distant black school to which she had been assigned. When board members refused, Brown filed a suit against the school board with the help of the NAACP. The case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka reached the Supreme Court.

Question 17

Who did Oliver Brown hire as his lawyer? What is Thurgood Marshall’s history? What idea did he argue against? What was the Supreme Court’s decision in “ Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” in 1954?

Answer 17

To present the case in court, Brown hired lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who specialized in civil rights cases. Marshall had served as legal director of the NAACP for more than ten years. He decided to challenge the whole idea of “separate but equal.” Segregated schools, he argued, could never provide equal education. By their very nature, said Marshall, segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave “equal protection” to all citizens. The Supreme Court ruled in Brown’s favor in 1954. Chief Justice Earl Warren noted that segregation affected the “hearts and minds” of black students “in a way unlikely ever to be undone.”

We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are always unequal.

—Chief Justice Earl Warren, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Question 18

A year after the “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” decision in 1954, what did the Supreme Court order? How was the integration process in some schools? How did opposed officials react and manipulate the wording?

Answer 18

A year later, the Court ordered the schools to be desegregated “with all deliberate speed.” In a few places, schools were integrated without much trouble. In many others, officials resisted. White politicians in these places decided that the phrase “with all deliberate speed” could mean they could take years to integrate their schools. Or, perhaps they would never obey the decision.

Question 19

Why did Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus call the National Guard in 1957? What did President Eisenhower do in response?

Answer 19

Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the National Guard in 1957 in order to keep African American students from attending the all-white Central High School in Little Rock. President Eisenhower finally sent in federal troops because the Arkansas governor was defying a federal court order. Under their protection, black students entered Central High.

Question 20

1954: Brown v. Board of Education (Summary)

Answer 20

Ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment; reversed the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896

Question 21

1954: Hernández v. Texas (Summary)

Answer 21

Ruled that discrimination based on class violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection

Question 22

1960: Boynton v. Virginia (Summary)

Answer 22

Ruled that segregation of passengers on buses traveling across interstate lines was unconstitutional

Question 23

1964: Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (Summary)

Answer 23

Ruled that refusing to rent rooms to African Americans was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited racial discrimination in public places

Question 24

1967: Loving v. Virginia (Summary)

Answer 24

Ruled that state laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional, forcing 16 states to revise their laws

Question 25

True or False: Eisenhower was the first President since Reconstruction to use armed troops in support of African American rights. The action showed that the federal government could play a key role in protecting civil rights.

Answer 25

True

Question 26

What was the American GI Forum of the United States (AGIF), formed in 1948? What did it support and do?

Answer 26

Mexican Americans organized their own fight for civil rights. Mexican American veterans founded the American GI Forum of the United States (AGIF) in 1948 in order to campaign for equal rights. Similar to the NAACP, the AGIF supported legal challenges to discrimination.

Question 27

What was the Supreme Court Case “ Hernández v. Texas” (1954)? What was the decision?

Answer 27

In 1954, the same year as Brown v. Board of Education, Mexican Americans won an important legal battle when the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Hernández v. Texas. Pete Hernández, a Mexican American, had been convicted of murder by an all-white jury in Texas. Among the lawyers who appealed his conviction was Gus Garcia, one of the leaders of the AGIF. Attorney James DeAnda, another Mexican American, also helped. He had previously worked to desegregate areas of Corpus Christi, Texas, where Mexican Americans were not allowed to buy houses. Hernández’s lawyers argued that Mexican Americans in Texas were denied equality under the law because they were excluded from juries. The Supreme Court agreed. It overturned the conviction and ended the exclusion of Mexican Americans from Texas juries. In the future, other minority groups would use this decision to help win their civil rights.

Question 28

What happened to Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955?

Answer 28

Court cases were not enough to end discrimination, as Rosa Parks discovered in December 1955. She was riding home from work on a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The driver ordered her to move to the back of the bus so that a white man could have her seat, as Alabama’s segregation laws required. Parks, a well-known activist and a former secretary of the local chapter of the NAACP, refused to leave her seat. She was arrested and put in jail.

Question 29

How did African Americans respond to Rosa Parks’s arrest? What did several women from the NAACP do in response? What was their planned boycott? Who was elected head of the Montgomery Improvement Association?

Answer 29

Rosa Parks’s arrest angered African Americans in Montgomery. That night, several women from the NAACP composed a letter asking all African Americans to boycott, or refuse to use, the buses. The boycott, they hoped, would hurt the city financially and force an end to segregation on the buses. The women distributed thousands of copies of the letter to the African Americans in Montgomery. To support the protest, Montgomery’s black leaders formed a new organization, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). They chose Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, as its head.

Question 30

Remember: (Montgomery Boycott) Dr. King spoke at a meeting in the Holt Street Baptist Church. Hundreds packed the church. Thousands more stood outside. “We are here this evening … for serious business,” King began. “Yes, yes!” the crowd shouted.

You know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. … We are determined here in Montgomery … to work and fight until justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream!

—Martin Luther King, Jr., Speech, December 2, 1955

By December 5, 1955, most African Americans in Montgomery refused to travel by bus.

Answer 30

Dr. King spoke at a meeting in the Holt Street Baptist Church. Hundreds packed the church. Thousands more stood outside. “We are here this evening … for serious business,” King began. “Yes, yes!” the crowd shouted.

You know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. … We are determined here in Montgomery … to work and fight until justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream!

—Martin Luther King, Jr., Speech, December 2, 1955

By December 5, 1955, most African Americans in Montgomery refused to travel by bus.

Question 31

How long did the Montgomery Boycott last? How many African Americans did MIA carpools take to work each day? What did others do?

Answer 31

The boycott lasted from December 5 to December 20 of the next year. MIA carpools took some 20,000 African Americans to and from work each day. Many people simply walked. One elderly woman coined a phrase that became a motto of the boycott: “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.”

Question 32

How did angry whites protest the Montgomery Boycott? What did police do? Why was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrested? What happened to his home?

Answer 32

Angry whites fought back. Employers threatened to fire African Americans if they did not abandon the boycott. Police handed out traffic tickets to harass boycotters, and they frequently stopped African American drivers and demanded to see their licenses. They arrested King for speeding and kept him in jail for several days. King’s house was bombed. Still, the boycott continued.

Question 33

What did Martin Luther King say concerning how his followers should fight?

Answer 33

King insisted that his followers limit their actions to civil disobedience, or nonviolent protests against unjust laws. He said, “We must use the weapon of love. We must have compassion and understanding for those who hate us.”

Question 34

What role did the church play in the Montgomery Boycott?

Answer 34

Throughout the bus boycott, African American churches were vital to its success. Churches played a central role in the lives of African Americans across the country. In Montgomery, mass meetings were held in black churches. There, boycotters sang together, prayed together, and listened to stories of sacrifice. The churches kept morale high, provided leadership, and helped boycotters give each other courage and inspiration.

Question 35

What lawsuit did the MIA file against the Montgomery Bus Company in 1956? What was the decision?

Answer 35

Finally, the MIA filed a federal lawsuit to end bus segregation in Montgomery. In 1956, almost a year after Rosa Parks had refused to move to the back of the bus, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Alabama buses was unconstitutional. The Montgomery bus company agreed to integrate the buses and to hire African American bus drivers.

Question 36

How did the Montgomery Boycott draw national attention to the Civil Rights Movement? How did the Montgomery Boycott introduce the nation to a new generation of African American leaders? What did many of these leaders work as?

Answer 36

The effects of the bus boycott reached far beyond Montgomery. The boycott brought national attention to the Civil Rights Movement. It launched nonviolent protest as a key tactic in the struggle for equality. Finally, the boycott introduced the nation to a new generation of African American leaders. Many were ministers from African American churches.

Question 37

What was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s background? Who were his inspirations and what were his ideologies?

Answer 37

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the son of a prominent Baptist minister. King had graduated from Morehouse College, a leading African American college. Later, he had earned a Ph.D. in religion and served as pastor of an African American church in Montgomery. King had studied a wide range of philosophers and political thinkers. He had come to admire especially Mohandas Gandhi, a political leader who had pioneered the use of nonviolence to end British rule in India.

Question 38

After the Montgomery victory, what was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), created by King and other African American leaders? Who was elected treasurer (two people)? What did the SCLC urge African Americans to do?

Answer 38

Following the Montgomery victory, King and other African American leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to carry on the crusade for civil rights. The group, consisting of nearly one hundred black ministers, elected King president and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy treasurer. The SCLC urged African Americans to fight injustice by using civil disobedience.

Question 39

True or False: Discrimination and segregation remained widespread. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s would soon grow into a howling wind of protest that would sweep across the country.

Answer 39

True

Question 40

In 1963, what did Anne Moody and her friends do at a lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi? What was the aftermath?

Answer 40

In 1963, Anne Moody was a senior in college when she and two friends sat down at a “whites-only” lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. The waitress told them to move to the black section. Anne and her friends, all African Americans, stayed put. “We would like to be served,” Anne said politely. A crowd of whites pulled Anne and her friends from their seats. They beat one of Anne’s friends, who was promptly arrested. When Anne and her other friend returned to their seats, they were joined by a white woman from her school. “Now there were three of us,” Anne recalled, “and we were integrated.” The crowd smeared them with ketchup and mustard and dragged them from the lunch counter.

Question 41

What form of protest were Anne Moody and her friends using in their 1963 act of civil disobedience? When and where did the first sit-in take place?

Answer 41

Anne and her friends were using a form of protest called sit-ins, in which people sit and refuse to leave. The first sit-in took place at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960. During the 1960s, thousands of blacks and whites were conducting sit-ins at public places across the South.

Question 42

What were the influence of sit-ins?

Answer 42

Segregation laws in the South limited the rights of African Americans not only at lunch counters but also in bus stations, restrooms, and other public facilities. In the 1960s, sit-ins and other forms of protest fanned the crusade for equality. The protests signaled a new determination to end segregation and discrimination.

Question 43

Although Civil Rights groups planned protests, who carried them out? What were “Freedom Rides”, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)? What did Martin Luther King, Jr., describe as “nonviolent direct action”? How were peaceful protesters forced to move?

Answer 43

Civil rights groups planned the protests, but it was often young people like Anne Moody who carried them out. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), for example, organized “Freedom Rides.” Busloads of young Freedom Riders—black and white—rode from town to town to integrate bus terminals in the South. These early civil rights groups held firmly to the tactics of what Martin Luther King, Jr., called “nonviolent direct action.” Sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and other peaceful methods were used to achieve their goals. Police sometimes responded by using attack dogs or water hoses against protesters.

Question 44

What happened to the houses and churches of black leaders in the Civil Rights Movement? What happened to many civil rights workers? How did protesters gain a moral advantage by remaking nonviolent? In 1963, how many Americans marched on Washington, D.C.? What did they want?

Answer 44

Houses and churches of black leaders were bombed. Civil rights workers—black and white—were sometimes injured or killed. By remaining nonviolent, protesters gained a moral advantage and the sympathy of many Americans. In 1963, more than 200,000 Americans marched on Washington, D.C. They wanted Congress to pass laws to end discrimination and to help the poor. Among the speakers that day was Martin Luther King, Jr.

Question 45

How did the civil rights demonstrations spur federal action? What did Kennedy and Johnson do? What did Johnson succeed in passing that Kennedy failed at? What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?

Answer 45

The demonstrations spurred Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to press for federal civil rights laws. Kennedy failed, but Johnson succeeded in pushing through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protected the right of all citizens to vote. It also outlawed discrimination in hiring and ended segregation in public places.

Question 46

At the Democratic National Convention in 1964, how did Fannie Lou Hamer and others help gain voting rights for African Americans? In 1965, what was the Voting Rights Act? What did it do?

Answer 46

At the Democratic National Convention in 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer, an African American, told of her experiences while trying to register to vote in Mississippi. Her efforts, along with the help of others, were successful in gaining voting rights. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act allowed federal officials to register voters in states practicing discrimination. It also ended literacy tests used to block African Americans from voting. As a result, tens of thousands of African Americans voted for the first time.

Question 47

True or False: The new civil rights laws did not end all discrimination. In the North, no formal system of segregation existed. Informally, though, housing in certain neighborhoods and employment in many companies remained closed to African Americans.

Answer 47

True

Question 48

What did some African Americans believe about nonviolent protests? What did radical groups such as the Black Panthers tell African Americans to do?

Answer 48

Some African Americans believed that nonviolent protest had failed. The Black Panthers and other radical groups told African Americans to arm themselves. Blacks, they said, had to be ready to protect themselves and to fight for their rights.

Question 49

What did black Muslims, such as Malcom X, believe concerning separation? How did his views change before his assassination in 1965?

Answer 49

Black Muslims, such as Malcolm X, argued that African Americans could succeed only if they separated from white society. Before being assassinated in 1965, Malcolm X began to change his views. He called for “a society in which there could exist honest white-black brotherhood.”

Question 50

How did both moderates and radicals find common ground on “black power” and “black pride”?

Answer 50

Both moderates and radicals found common ground in talk of “black power.” They urged African Americans to achieve economic independence by starting their own businesses and shopping in African American-owned stores. Leaders also called for “black pride,” encouraging African Americans to learn more about their heritage and culture.

Question 51

In crowded city neighborhoods, what were African Americans angry about? Beginning in 1965, what did this lead to? What happened in Watts (in Los Angeles) in August 1965? What was the aftermath of the riot?

Answer 51

In crowded city neighborhoods, many African Americans were angry about discrimination, lack of jobs, and poverty. Beginning in 1965, their anger boiled over into violence. A confrontation between a white police officer and an African American man in Watts, an African America neighborhood in Los Angeles, triggered a riot there in August. During the next six days, rioters set fire to buildings and looted stores. Some 4,000 people were arrested, 34 were killed, and 1,000 were injured. Over the next two years, Chicago, Detroit, and dozens of other cities exploded with violence, destruction, and death.

Question 52

How was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated? What was his influence? What was done to remember him in 1986?

Answer 52

Martin Luther King, Jr., continued to preach nonviolence. In April 1968, he went to Memphis, Tennessee, to support a strike of black sanitation workers. When he stepped outside his motel room, a white gunman killed him. King’s life has continued to inspire Americans to work for peaceful change. To honor his memory, his birthday was declared a national holiday in 1986.

Question 53

How were the results of the Civil Rights Movement starting to show?

Answer 53

The Civil Rights Movement began to show some results in the 1970s. African Americans won public offices in small towns and large cities. Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans, and Los Angeles had all elected black mayors by 1979. African Americans also made gains in the federal government. In 1967, Edward Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black senator since Reconstruction. A year later, President Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. Many businesses and universities adopted affirmative action programs. These programs sought to hire and promote minorities, women, and others who had faced discrimination. By the 1970s, more African Americans were entering such professions as medicine and law. Yet, for all their efforts, African Americans still had to contend with bias in hiring, promotions, and pay.

Question 54

Remember: By the end of the 1970s, more than 10 million Latinos lived in the United States, and they worked hard to gain equal rights. They were joined by Asian Americans and American Indians in the fight for equality.

Answer 54

By the end of the 1970s, more than 10 million Latinos lived in the United States, and they worked hard to gain equal rights. They were joined by Asian Americans and American Indians in the fight for equality.

Question 55

Who is the largest group of Latinos in the United States today? From 1960 to 1980, where did most U.S. immigrants come from? What were the jobs of Mexican Americans? How did Mexican Americans experience discrimination?

Answer 55

Mexican Americans are the largest group of Latinos living in the United States today. From 1960 to 1980, the greatest number of immigrants to the United States came from Mexico. Many Mexican Americans lived and worked in cities. Many more labored as migrant workers who traveled from farm to farm looking for work. Low wages and harsh working conditions made life difficult for them. Discrimination made things worse. Mexican Americans were often barred from better-paying jobs and from better neighborhoods. Few schools offered programs for those whose first language was Spanish. Migrants moved so often that it was hard for their children to attend school regularly.

Question 56

Which group made up the majority of Latinos entering the eastern United States? Where did many Puerto Ricans settle, and what jobs did they have? How did they experience discrimination?

Answer 56

Latinos in the eastern United States often came from Puerto Rico. In the 1950s, thousands left Puerto Rico in search of work in the United States. Many took jobs in the factories of New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Some went to Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Puerto Ricans also faced discrimination in housing and jobs wherever they settled.

Question 57

What were the two waves of immigration to America by Cubans? How did they become a strong force in Florida?

Answer 57

A third group of Latinos came in two waves from Cuba. Between 1959 and 1962, some 200,000 people fled to southern Florida when Fidel Castro set up a Communist government in Cuba. These immigrants were often middle class and well educated. They adapted quickly to their new home. A second wave of immigrants came in 1980 after Castro allowed thousands of people to leave the island. Many of the new refugees were unskilled. They had a hard time making a living. As their numbers grew, Cuban Americans became a force in southern Florida. Miami took on a new look. Shop windows displayed signs in Spanish. Cuban restaurants and shops opened. Cubans published Spanish-language newspapers and operated radio and television stations. Cuban American politicians were soon elected.

Question 58

Who was César Chávez? What was the United Farm Works, and what did they do (established in the 1960s)?

Answer 58

In the 1960s, new Latino organizations sought change. César Chávez formed a union of migrant workers, the United Farm Workers. When farm owners refused to talk to the union, Chávez called for a nationwide boycott of farm products. In the end, the owners recognized the union, and workers won higher wages.

Question 59

By the mid-1960s, how were Latinos taking pride in their culture in America? How were they making advancements through voting laws? What was the Voting Rights Act of 1975? What were the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 and 1973?

Answer 59

By the mid-1960s, Latinos began to publicly take pride in their history and culture. Mexican Americans called themselves Chicanos, a name that comes from the Spanish word Mexicano. Latino groups also registered voters and made sure that voting laws were enforced. These new voters helped to elect more Latino officials to represent their interests. One result of these efforts was the Voting Rights Act of 1975. It required areas with many non-English-speaking citizens to hold bilingual elections. Bilingual means in two languages. In a bilingual election, information is provided in more than one language. With a ballot that was written in Spanish, it was easier for Latinos to vote. The Bilingual Education Acts of 1968 and 1973 promoted bilingual programs in public schools with Spanish-speaking and Asian students.

Question 60

How did Asian Americans start fighting discrimination? In 1968, what was the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA)? What did universities do between 1968 and 1973?

Answer 60

Asian Americans began their own fight against discrimination. In 1968, students at the University of California at Berkeley founded the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA). Students of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and other Asian descent joined to promote the rights and culture of Asian Americans. As a result, between 1968 and 1973, universities across the nation created programs in Asian American studies.

Question 61

How did American Indians combat discrimination? What was the American Indian Movement (AIM)?

Answer 61

American Indians also worked for their full rights. They claimed rights not only as individuals but also as members of tribal groups. Over the years, the federal government had recognized tribal governments by signing treaties with them. During the late 1940s and the 1950s, the federal government tried to break up tribal governments. They also encouraged American Indians to leave the reservations. By the late 1960s, more than half of all American Indians lived off the reservations, mainly in cities. Gradually, city life weakened traditional customs. American Indians organized against these government policies. The National Congress of American Indians regularly sent delegations to Washington to defend Indian rights. The American Indian Movement (AIM) protested the treatment of Indians. In 1973, AIM members occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota, for several weeks. As you have read, the United States Army had killed nearly 300 American Indians at Wounded Knee in 1890. AIM wanted to remind people of the government’s failure to deal fairly with American Indians. Protests and court cases have won sympathy for Indian causes and more rights for American Indians.

Question 62

True or False: Women had long fought inequality. Since the 1960s, their drive for equal rights has been known as the Women’s Rights Movement. Meanwhile, a movement for equal rights for homosexuals began to gain attention.

Answer 62

True

Question 63

How did women fight discrimination? What did Betty Friedan do in 1966? What was the National Organization for Women? What was the Strike for Equality Parade in 1970? What was the Equal Pay Act of 1963?

Answer 63

In the workplace qualified women found that male employers were unwilling to hire them for certain jobs, and women were usually paid less than men, even for the same work. They were fired before men and promoted less quickly. In 1966, writer Betty Friedan helped to set up the National Organization for Women (NOW), which worked for equal rights for women in jobs, pay, and education. It also helped women bring discrimination cases to court and campaigned for maternity leave and child-care centers. Urging women to be more politically active, NOW organized the Strike for Equality Parade down New York’s Fifth Avenue in 1970. Some 50,000 women marched. New laws helped women make some gains. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required equal pay for equal work. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in hiring based on gender and on race.

Question 64

How did Phyllis Schlafly and other women lead the opposition against the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972? What was their reasoning?

Answer 64

In the 1970s, the women’s movement suffered a major defeat. In 1972, Congress passed a proposal for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution. The amendment would ban discrimination based on gender. However, Phyllis Schlafly and other conservative women led a successful campaign against ratification of the amendment. They said the ERA would lead to women being drafted into the military and would harm the traditional family. Despite this defeat, the women’s movement brought women more power and equality.

Question 65

How did gays and lesbians fight discrimination?

Answer 65

Gay rights is one of the most strongly debated social issues of our time. In 1924, the first gay rights organization, The Society for Human Rights, was founded. However, the group received so much political pressure that it broke up shortly afterward. Gays and lesbians continued to be exposed to discrimination, even by their own government. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower banned the hiring of gay men and lesbians for government jobs. Around the nation, gays and lesbians also suffered harassment by the police. Gay and lesbian activists began to protest what they saw as unfair treatment. In 1950, Chuck Rowland and Harry Hay formed the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles. This was a gay rights group of mostly male members. In 1955, the Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian group, was formed in San Francisco by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Both groups started chapters around the nation. They also began to publish magazines promoting rights for gays and lesbians. In the 1960s, activists protested against employment discrimination in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. At this time, homosexuality was against the law in most of the United States. In 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City—a known gathering place for homosexuals—aiming to arrest people just for being there. Police had been making such arrests for years. That night and for several days afterwards, homosexuals from around New York City rioted against the police. The events of Stonewall inspired gay men and lesbians elsewhere to fight for equal rights. The next year, 5,000 gay men and women marked the first anniversary of the riots with a march in New York City. The event became a yearly celebration.

Question 66

Remember: Many Americans opposed gay men’s and lesbians’ growing demands for equal rights. Many condemned homosexuality because they considered it immoral for religious reasons. Due to this opposition, efforts to eliminate discrimination in jobs and housing had little success during the 1960s and 1970s. Gay and lesbian Americans continued to fight for equality.

Answer 66

Many Americans opposed gay men’s and lesbians’ growing demands for equal rights. Many condemned homosexuality because they considered it immoral for religious reasons. Due to this opposition, efforts to eliminate discrimination in jobs and housing had little success during the 1960s and 1970s. Gay and lesbian Americans continued to fight for equality.