Lecture 5: Civil Rights PDF

Lecture 5 Civil Rights Civil Rights Discrimination __________________________________ De Jure discrimination – discrimination by laws De Facto discrimination – discrimination based on life circumstances, habit, custom, or socioeconomic status Civil Rights ____________________________...

Lecture 5 Civil Rights Civil Rights Discrimination __________________________________ De Jure discrimination – discrimination by laws De Facto discrimination – discrimination based on life circumstances, habit, custom, or socioeconomic status Civil Rights ____________________________ The freedom of groups to participate fully in the public life of a nation. Rather than limiting government action, civil rights often empower the government to act. Amendment 13 Amendment 13 (1865): Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Amendment 13 Key Rights & Protections Abolition of slavery __________________________________________– No person can be legally enslaved. Ban on involuntary servitude __________________________________________– Forced labor is prohibited, except for criminal punishment. Congressional enforcement __________________________________________– Allows federal laws against modern forms of slavery, such as human trafficking and forced labor. Amendment 13 Limitations Key Rights & Protections State Resistance & Loopholes – Practices like Black Codes. Labor restrictions _____________________________________________________– Forced African Americans into low-wage labor through vagrancy laws and strict work contracts. Limited legal rights _____________________________________________________– Denied Black people the right to serve on juries, vote, or testify against whites in court. Apprenticeship laws _____________________________________________________– Allowed officials to take Black children from their parents and place them under white "guardianship.“ These convicts were Harsh punishments ______________________________________________________– African leased to harvest timber in Florida, circa Americans could be arrested for minor offenses (e.g., not having a job) and 1915. forced into convict leasing, a system similar to slavery. Amendment 14 Amendment 14, Section 1 (1868): All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Amendment 14 Key Rights & Protections Citizenship clause ______________________________________________________– Anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. is a citizen. Due process clause ______________________________________________________– Protects individuals from state laws that infringe on fundamental rights. Equal protection clause ______________________________________________________– Requires states to provide equal protection under the law. Privileges or immunities clause ______________________________________________________– Prevents states from restricting national citizenship rights. ______________________________________________________– Congressional enforcement Congress can pass laws ensuring these protections. Amendment 14 Limitations State resistance __________________________________________– Some states historically ignored or circumvented protections by imposing Jim Crow Laws: Segregation ______________________________________– Required separate public facilities for Black and White people (e.g., schools, transportation, restrooms). Voting Restrictions ______________________________________– Used literacy tests & poll taxes to disenfranchise Black voters. Civil Rights Act of 1964 segregation Banned ___________________________________in public places (restaurants, hotels, theaters, etc.). discrimination Prohibited ________________________________in government facilities. federal funds Denied ___________________________________to discriminatory programs. Outlawed employment discrimination and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. Amendment 15 Amendment 15 (1870): The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Amendment 15 Key Rights & Protections Voting rights for African American men – __________________________________ Prohibits racial discrimination in voting. Federal enforcement ___________________________________– Congress can pass laws to uphold voting rights.  Amendment 15 Limitations Loopholes allowed discrimination ________________________________________________ – Did not ban literacy tests, poll taxes, or other barriers. Violence & intimidation ______________________________________________– Groups like the kkk suppressed black voting. Required later reforms to enforce protections like the Voting Rights Act Of 1965 ___________________________________________– Enforced protections by banning literacy tests and other voter suppression tactics, allowing federal monitoring of elections in high-risk areas, and protecting against racial gerrymandering. Amendment 19 Amendment 19 (1920): The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Amendment 19 Key Rights & Protections Voting Rights for Women ________________________________________________– Women gained full legal suffrage in all U.S. elections. Federal Protection ________________________________________________– States could no longer deny voting rights based on gender. Inspired Title IX 1972 ________________________________________________ - Ensures equal opportunities in K-12 and higher education, including athletics, funding, and resources, protects against sexual harassment and assault, and enforces compliance by threatening loss of federal funding for violations. What Is The Equal Rights Amendment? Timeline of the ERA Originally authored by Alice Paul in 1923 “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” 1972 In _____________ the amendment passed both the House and the Senate and was sent to the states for ratification (with a time limit of 7 years). 38 states needed to ratify, but this did not occur with the first deadline. ______ Congress voted to extend the time limit for an additional three years, but 3 the amendment was ________ states shy of 38. 5 Between 1973 and 1978, ________ states rescind their vote —Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee Even after the deadline, states have been encouraged to ratify the ERA in Nevada ratified in hopes that Congress will disregard the deadlines. ___________ Illinois in 2018, and lastly _____________ 2017, followed by __________ Virginia in 2020. Legislation removing the deadline has been stalled in Congress.