Transcript Civil Rights

Civil Rights
Chapter 6
Brown v. Board of Education
• On May 17, 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court, speaking
through an opinion written and delivered by Chief Justice Earl
Warren, found that “in the field of public education the
doctrine of ‘separate but equal has no place” because
“separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
• With the election of our first African American President in
2008, are civil rights issues no longer a problem in our
country?
• Is a comparison between North Hunterdon High School and
Camden High School a Civil Rights problem?
• What solutions can solve this educational crisis!!?`
How did we get to Brown and
where are we now?
• What are Civil Rights?
• Rights of people to be treated without
unreasonable or unconstitutional
differences- EQUAL Protection Clause-14th
• Issue is whether differences in treatment
are reasonable…
• What is Strict Scrutiny and Suspect
Classification?
• SCOTUS has ruled that a law that classifies
by race and ethnic background is inherently
suspect (suspect classification) and must
therefore meet a strict scrutiny test- HIGH
STANDARD
• “compelling public interest”
• “narrowly tailored”
• “least restrictive”
The Black Predicament
Post Civil War
13th, 14th, 15th Amendment
• Many whites felt deeply threatened by African American
integration and political action
• Racism produced some appalling actions
• Progress depended on at least one of two things
• Find more white allies
• Shift focus to the federal courts- easier starting point than
Congress
The Campaign in the Courts
• Ambiguities in the 14th Amendment-adopted in 1868
“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.; nor shall any
state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor deny to any person within jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws”
• Broad interpretation
• Narrow interpretation
• Supreme Court adopted narrow view in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Strategy to END
Separate but Equal
• NAACP campaign relied on courts—litigation didn’t require broad
coalitions or changing public opinion
• NAACP strategy went through a series of stages:
• STEP ONE: 1938-1948-Persuade the Supreme Court to declare
unconstitutional the laws creating schools that were separate but
obviously unequal
• Lloyd Gaines
• Ada Lois Sipuel
• STEP TWO Then persuade the Supreme Court to declare
unconstitutional the laws creating schools that were separate but
not so obviously unequal
• Heman Sweatt
• George McLaurin
• STEP THREE: Then have the Supreme Court rule that separate
schools are inherently unequal (even if they appear to be equal) and
therefore unconstitutional…
Brown v. Board of Education
• Topeka, Kansas
• Linda Brown wanted to enroll in school reserved exclusively for
whites
• NAACP took case to federal district court- found that black school
was equal in quality to white school
• Challenge in SCOTUS appeal- persuade the Court to overrule the
district judge on the grounds that racially separate schools were
unconstitutional even if they were equal.
• RISKY-southern states spent more money on all black schools to
make them as equal as possible
• Victory could bring a loss of revenue for building new black schools
• On May 17, 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court, speaking
through an opinion written and delivered by Chief Justice Earl
Warren, found that “in the field of public education the
doctrine of ‘separate but equal has no place” because
“separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
• RATIONALE- MORE Social Science Explanation than 14th
Amendment!
Now what…
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcRpcLy7kfw (1:34)
Now what…
• Desegregation vs. integration- what does each require?
• De jure (South) and de facto (North) segregation
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (Virginia)(1968) rejection of “freedom of choice” plan because…
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg BoE (1971) set guidelines for
subsequent school integration cases
• Plaintiff must show school system’s intent to discriminate
• Continued existence of segregated schools in district with history of
segregation creates presumption of intent to discriminate
• Remedies may include racial quotas, redrawn district lines, and
court-ordered busing
• Not every school needs to reflect the composition of the district as a
whole
The current North issue…
• Issue- Could you cross city and county lines? (Camden and North)
• Inter-city busing could be authorized only if both the city and the
suburbs had practiced segregation
• Importance of “intent” was that the Supreme Court will not
constantly redraw district lines or bus routes
• White flight may create single race schools.
• Integrated schools are usually found in integrated neighborhoods
and quality school systems
• Busing remained controversial
• Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan opposed busing.
• Congress unable to pass meaningful legislation; issue had died by
late 1980s
• DeKalb County, GA-1992 SCOTUS decision allows busing to end if
segregation was caused solely by segregated housing patterns
• 2007- Court said race could not be the decisive factor in assigning
students to schools that had either never been segregated OR where
legal segregation had long since ended
• Regarding Civil Rights, can we make acceptable distinctions between different
groups?
• YES- Tax policy example
• What test does the Supreme court use when making suspect classifications?
• Strict scrutiny
• What area of government was targeted first by the Civil Rights movement of the
50’s and 60’s?
• Federal Courts first- Legislation second
• Which Amendment appeared to grant equal rights to blacks in the 50’s and 60’s?
• 14th
• Plessy ruling
• Separate but equal is acceptable
• Lloyd Gaines and Ada Lois Sipuel ruling?
• Separate but obviously unequal is not allowed
• Heman Sweatt and George McLaurin ruling?
• Separate but not so obviously unequal is not allowed
• Brown Ruling?
• Separate but equal is NOT allowed (unconstitutional)
• Green v. County?
• De facto segregation from “freedom of choice” is rejected
• Swann v. Charlotte?
• Remedies to De facto including busing, quotas, redrawing district lines is allowed
• 1992 Court Ruling on busing to integrate?
• Remedies can end if caused by de facto segregation
• ESSENTIALLY QUIT- NORTH V. CAMDEN problems continue to this day….
• Should we just accept that????
The Campaign in Congress…
• Get issues on the political agenda by mobilizing opinion by
dramatic events
• Sit-ins and freedom rides, voter registration efforts
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks—Montgomery bus boycott
• From nonviolent civil disobedience to the “long, hot summers”
of racial violence (1964–1968)
1961
Civil Disobedience vs…
Race riots (1964-1968)
Detroit 1961….
• Civil Disobedience and Race Riots had Mixed results
• Agenda-setting success
• Coalition-building setbacks since demonstrations and riots were
seen as law-breaking by many whites
• Legislative politics-deadlock
• Opponents had strong defensive positions
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Senate Judiciary Committee controlled by southern Democrats
House Rules Committee controlled by Howard Smith (Virginia)
Senate filibuster threat
President Kennedy reluctant to submit strong civil rights legislation
• Four developments broke this deadlock
• Public opinion changed regarding school integration and access to
public facilities
• Violent reactions of segregationists received extensive coverage
by the media
• Kennedy assassination-right wing conspiracy
• Landslide Democratic victory in 1964 for Democrats-LBJ-House
and Senate Majority
Five Bills pass between 57-68
65
• 1957, 1960, 19
: voting rights laws
• 1968: housing discrimination law
64
• 19
civil rights bill: the high point—employment, public
accommodations, voting, schools
• Passed when the Senate invoked cloture (3/5 or 60 votes)to end a
filibuster that lasted 83 days
• Act did the following
• Ended Jim Crow Segregation by making racial discrimination illegal in
hotels, motels restaurants, and other places of public accommodation.
• Prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color,
national origin, religion, or gender
• Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor and
enforce protections against job discrimination
• Authorized the Department of Justice to initiate lawsuits to desegregate
public facilities and schools
• SCOTUS upheld the provisions outlawing segregation in places of
public accommodation by ruling that such segregation involved
interstate commerce and thus fell under the legislative authority of
Congress
Federalism Legacy
• One MORAL step forward ending LEGAL segregation BUT
• HOW MANY STEPS backwards from a CONSERVATIVE
FEDERALIST perspective?
• WHAT happened to states rights? 10th Amendment? Thomas
Jefferson? Antifederalists?
• OBAMACARE
• Race to the Top AND No Child Left Behind
• Where does the excuse of INTERSTATE commerce and morality
end?
• ARE WE DESTINED to have a UNITARY system of Government?