Govt 2305 Chapter 5 Fall 2019 Civil Rights - Abernathy 2e Textbook Professor Seymour EPCC

2. Chapter 5
Securing Civil Rights
How Equal Is Equal?

3. Introduction
• Central purpose of government
– Guard and protect the fundamental rights and
freedoms of citizens
• Rules and institutions set out in Constitution and
amendments
– Detailed form to federal government
– Institutions require
o Actions of those within government
o Actions of Americans to advocate for and protect
their civil rights
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
3

4. Definition of Civil Rights
• Fundamental guarantees ensuring equal treatment and
protecting against discrimination under the laws of a
nation
• Not binary
– Protection of civil liberties requires negative
freedoms
– Civil liberties require positive action
o Positive freedoms
• Fundamental rights and freedoms that require
action by individuals to express and by
government to secure them
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4

5. Securing Rights for
Americans with Disabilities
• Judith Heumann
– Experienced discrimination in education and work
throughout life
– Fought to pass protective legislation
o Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
o Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990
• Shows the need for positive action with regard to civil
rights
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
5

6. Judith Heumann on
25th Anniversary of ADA
6
https://youtu.be/o3mqgrmKz7s

7. Civil Rights Amendments
and Imperfect Protection
• Dred Scott v. Sandford
• American Civil War and the Emancipation
Proclamation
• Reconstruction amendments
• Jim Crow laws
• Plessy v. Ferguson
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
7

8. Dred Scott v. Sanford
8

9. The Legacy of The
Emancipation Proclamation
9

10. The Reconstruction Amendments
10

11. Jim Crow Laws
11

12. Plessy v. Ferguson
12

13. Challenges to Legal Segregation (1 of
3)
• Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board of Education
• Devising a strategy to end school segregation
– NAACP and Charles Hamilton Houston
– Precedent cases and victories
• Supreme Court ruling
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
13

14. Brown v. Board of Education Case
• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson Standard
• Separate but equal inherently unequal
• Segregated schools unconstitutional
• DeJure vs. DeFacto Segregation
– DeJure – “by law”
– DeFacto – “by practice or custom”
• Desegregation efforts
– Forced bussing and integration
14

15. Challenges to Legal Segregation (2 of
3)
• Southern resistance to desegregation
• New forms of civil disobedience and protest
– Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Supreme Court and strengthening civil rights
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
15

16. Is Brown v. Board Dead?
16

17. Analyze Data –
Desegregation in Southern Schools
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
17

18. Challenges to Legal Segregation (3 of
3)
• The limits of equal protection
– De jure and de facto segregation
– Affirmative action
o A policy designed to address the consequences of
previous discrimination by providing advantages to
individuals based upon their identities
o Court rulings
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
18

19. Affirmative Action Court Cases
• Regents of University of California v. Bakke
– Quotas declared unconstitutional but affirmative action itself
was not
• Gratz v. Bollinger
– Ruled “point system” unconstitutional
– Did not strike down use of racial or ethnic identity as
consideration for admissions decisions
• Grutter v. Bollinger
– “Compelling interest” for use of race as a standard
• Fisher v. University of Texas
– Fisher argued that race-based affirmative action was unfair, as
admission should be based solely on academic merit.
– Court narrowly upheld the “compelling interest” of race as a
standard.
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
19

20. Securing Civil Rights for Women
• Two waves
– Effort to secure vote for women (leading to 19th
Amendment)
– Extending scope of civil rights protections to
women’s lives in classroom workplace, freedom from
sexual harassment and control over their own bodies
(reproductive rights)
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
20

21. First Wave of Civil Rights for Women
(1 of 4)
• Early efforts centered around education
– Prudence Crandall
• Protection from elements of public life used to justify
suppression of rights
– Legal aspects: no legal identity outside of marriage
– Social aspects: acceptable behavior and taking
action in the public space
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
21

22. First Wave of Civil Rights for Women
(2 of 4)
• Sarah and Angelina Grimké
– Antislavery speaking tour
– An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free
States
• Excluded from male-dominated abolitionist movement
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
22

23. First Wave of Civil Rights for Women
(3 of 4)
• Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
– Seneca Falls Convention
o Declaration of Sentiments
o Gave energy to the movement
• Women’s rights activists
– Pursued mostly legislative strategy
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
23

24. First Wave of Civil Rights for Women
(4 of 4)
• Divisions within the movement
– Inclusion of women’s suffrage in the 15th
Amendment
– Two separate organizations
o National Woman’s Suffrage Association
o American Women’s Suffrage Association
• Wyoming and the right to vote
• Ratification of the 19th Amendment
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
24

25. Second Wave of Civil Rights for
Women (1 of 3)
• Began in 1960s
– Focused on securing civil rights of women
o Addressed inequalities at work and in the home
o Addressed protection from violence and sexual
harassment
• Crucial role of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Title VII prohibition of discrimination in employment
based on sex
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
25

26. Second Wave of Civil Rights for
Women (2 of 3)
• Efforts of Betty Friedan and NOW
• Legislative victories in 1960s and 1970s
– Equal pay for equal work and equal opportunity
– Protections against discrimination based on gender,
pregnancy or childbirth
– Protections against retaliation for filing or
participating in discrimination claims
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
26

27. Second Wave of Civil Rights for
Women (3 of 3)
• Title IX of Higher Education Act
– Equal access to educational and athletic programs
for women
• Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
– Proposed but not ratified amendment seeking
guaranteed equality of rights based on sex
– Debate on its failure
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
27

28. Supreme Court Standards
on Gender Discrimination (1 of 2)
• High standard: strict scrutiny
– Applies to racial discrimination
– Must show “compelling interest” to justify unequal
treatment
• Lowest level: rational basis review
– Applies to age and other issues
– Differential treatment must be shown to be
reasonable and not arbitrary
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
28

29. Supreme Court Standards
on Gender Discrimination (2 of 2)
• Intermediate scrutiny
– Applies to gender discrimination
– Higher security than age or disability
– Differential treatment unconstitutional except when
justified as serving important objectives or necessity
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
29

30. Sexual Harassment
• Discrimination provisions of Title VII of Civil Rights Act
of 1964
• Cases involving sexual harassment
– Quid pro quo
o Occurs when employers request or demand sexual
favors in return for advancement or employment
– Hostile working environment
o Involves actions statements, or conditions that
unreasonably interfere with the ability of
employees to do their jobs
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
30

31. Overlapping Forms of Discrimination
• Sojourner Truth and multiple forms of oppression
• Intersectionality
– Presence of multiple and overlapping identities and
inequalities
• Effects on early African American women activists
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
31

32. Other Minorities
• Native Americans
– Worked to preserve traditions and identities since
first arrival of European colonists
• LGBT rights
– Obergefell v. Hodges overturns DOMA and legalizes
same-sex marriage in all states
• Latinos and Latinas
– Continue to employ tactics of protest, organization,
education in mobilization to challenge discrimination
– Areas of concern: immigration and labor policy
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
32

33. Concept of Racial Identity
• Complication of multicultural identity
– Multicultural Americans: individuals with more than
one distinctive racial heritage
• Increasing numbers of self-identification as multiracial
in U.S. Census
• Fastest growing youth group: multiracial children
• Impact on regulations from broadening demographic
self-selection and categories
Abernathy, American Government, 2e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
33

34. Hate Crimes
in the Age of Trumpism
What Does The Data
Tell Us?

35. A Statistic To Start Our Discussion
• Each year, across America, an average of 250,000 people are
victimized by hate crimes – criminal expressions of bigotry that
terrorize entire communities and fray the social fabric of our
country.
• Source: Southern Poverty Law Center
– https://www.splcenter.org/20180415/hate-crimes-explained

36. What is a Hate Crime?
• A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson,
or vandalism with an added element of bias.
• For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has
defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a
person or property motivated in whole or in part by an
offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender
identity.”
• Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of
protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.
– Source: FBI https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-
rights/hate-crimes

37. Hate Crimes Reported in the U.S.
1993-2017
Trump
Campaign
Begins in
2014/2015
Source: FBI and Justice Department Statistics

38. Hate Crimes Rose During and After
Trump Election
There Were
Nearly 900
Hate Related
Incidents in the 10
Days Following
Trump’s Win!
Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

39. Examples of Hate Rhetoric Following
Election of Donald Trump
Campaign Sign for Tennessee
Congressional Candidate
Graffiti Left on Baseball Dugout in
Wellsville, New York
Graffiti Left on the Campus
of the University of Michigan

40. Hate Crimes in Three Major Texas Cities
Up by 100% or more in the past year
Source: Study on Hate and Extremism,
California State University Santa Barbara

41. Hate Crimes Rising For Past Three
Years

42. Overall Crime Rates Have Fallen But
Hate Crimes are on the Rise Since
2015

43. But Hate Crimes are On The Rise
in
30 of the Nation’s Largest Cities

44. Hate Crimes by Bias Type 2017

45. Who Commits Hate Crimes (By Race)
By a wide margin, in incidents
where the offender is identified,
Non-Hispanic Caucasians have
been identified more often than
any other race or nationality.
Source: FBI and Justice Dept. Statistics

46. White Extremists Play a Major Role

47. Extremism on the Rise since 2016

48. Marked Rise in Hate Groups Since
2014
Number of Active Hate Groups Monitored by SPLC 1999-2018

49. Where Are Hate Crimes More Common?
Texas was tied with Florida at #2
among states with the most
REPORTED hate crimes in the U.S.
In 2017

50. Hate Crimes Related to Social Media

51. Anti-Hispanic Hate Crimes On the Rise

52. Hispanics as Victims of Hate Crime
• More than one in five suspected hate crimes
victimized Latinos, according to an analysis of
responses to the National Crime Victimization
Survey data from 2012 to 2016.
• More likely to be unreported, especially among
undocumented population.

53. Rise in Anti-Hispanic Rhetoric Starts
at the Top!
We’ll get them out, secure the border,
and once the border is secured, at a
later date we’ll make a determination
as to the rest. But we have some bad
hombres here and we’re going to get
them out.
Comments Made in Presidential Debate with
Hillary Clinton, October 2016

54. Mass Shootings
• No Universally Accepted Definition
• Generally recognized as 4 or more Killed in
one event by a lone gunman
– Not tied to gang violence or drug violence

55. What Do the Deadliest Mass
Shootings Have in Common?
Semi-Automatic Weapons!

56. Active Shooter Incidents Quick Stats

57. Active Shooter Incidents Sharply
Rising

58. U.T. Survey on Gun Control
http://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/poll/features/g
un_control_feature/slide1.html
Source: Texas Politics Project
University of Texas at Austin

59. Is Texas Ready for Gun Control?
• General feeling is NOT in a red state like Texas
• After El Paso and Midland shootings Governor Abbott started
espousing SOME pro gun control rhetoric
• Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told The Dallas Morning News that he
was "willing to take an arrow" and defy the NRA by pressing Texas
to close one loophole in gun-purchaser background checks.
• "When I talk to gun owners, NRA members and voters, people
don't understand why we allow strangers to sell guns to total
strangers when they have no idea if the person they're selling the
gun to could be a felon, could be someone who's getting a gun to
go commit a crime or could be a potential mass shooter or
someone who has serious mental issues,“
• Political scientists (especially Democrats) are skeptical
conservative Texans will ever support gun control (2nd Amendment
Issue)

60. Recent National Quinnipiac Poll
November 2018
• American voters support 65 – 31 percent a
nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons
• Voters in gun households support a ban 51 – 43
percent
• Voters support 60 – 36 percent stricter gun laws and
a number of specific gun measures:
– 91 – 7 percent for a ban on the sale of guns to people convicted of a
violent crime;
– 62 – 34 percent for stricter regulation of ammunition sales;
– 74 – 24 percent for a ban on gun modifications that can make a gun
work more like a fully automatic weapon.

61. Solutions?
• Call for Gun Control Laws?
– Uniform background checks
– Stronger registration laws
– Outlaw assault weapons?
• Tone down the rhetoric
• Leaders should take caution as to what they say and who they address
their messages to
• Stronger measures to find purveyors of hate online and in mass groups
• Stronger Electronic Counter-Intelligence
• Restrictions on speech? (First Amendment Issue)
• Mental Health Issue?
– People who suffer from mental health issues are more likely to be
victims of crime than perpetrators of violent crime
– Stronger Mental Health Laws? (Red Flag Laws)