The document discusses the negative impact of Reagan and Bush administration policies on civil rights protections from the 1980s to early 1990s. It describes how Reagan appointed officials opposed to civil rights, weakened enforcement agencies, and supported judicial decisions that rolled back policies like affirmative action and voting rights protections. This led to a backlash from the African American community and scholars who argued it was making discrimination and unequal treatment more common again.

1. In Conservative Times
Grace Soto
Michael Fetchet

2. Reagan & Civil Rights
● African Americans had many plans to change the civil rights
policies in the U.S
● Bush and Reagan (Republicans) cabinets were usually
unsympathetic towards civil rights hindering their
advancement
● 1981- William Bell elected as chair of Equal Employment
Commission which most African Americans were against
because of his lack of recognition on civil rights
● Reagan rescinded his nomination of Bell and elected
Clarence Thomas due to his opposition of affirmative action
● Nov 1981 the Chair of Commission on U.S. civil
rights Arthur S. Flemming was dismissed and was
Supposed to be replaced by Clarence Pendelton
an extreme conservative. It was the first time
ever that a president removed its leader

3. ● In 1982 Reagan made it clear that he would only elect
people who were against civil rights since the beginning of
the 60'2
● People from the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the
president not to elect these people because it "tainted the
integrity" of the commission
● Reagan however fired leaders of the Civil Rights Commission
which almost decimated it
● Dec. 1985 Julius Chambers director of the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund stated clearly that Reagan fought for voting
rights, school desegregation and equal employment
● Thornburg v. Gingles- Ruled in favor of a voter, which said
that voting districts were discriminatory in North Carolina

4. George H.W. Bush and the
Supreme Court
● The courts were beginning to change
because of the death and retirement of
William J. Brennan and Thurgood
Marshall
● Richmond v. J.A. Crosson Company- The
court found it unconstitutional that
minority contractors were receiving
contracts ahead of white contractors
● June '89 Wards Cove Pcking Company v.
Antonio- Discrimination against minority
employees to promote a business would
no longer be allowed
● Many African Americans felt betrayal
from these decisions and felt that they
were treated unfairly

5. Clarence Thomas Nomination
● Educated at Yale Law School
● Under Reagan was the secretary for
civil rights in the Department of
Education. And was appointed to the U.
S. Court of Appeals under President
Bush
● Many African Americans supported this
election. But due to his conservative
nature many people weren't fully
supportive
● Many groups were against him and Anita
Hill, a fellow student had accused him
of sexual harassment, which took away
from both his experience and
education. He was ultimately selected

6. Judicial Conservatism
● During the Reagan and Bush administration this
conservatism was seen as a way to weaken black voters
● June '95- Supreme Court found Georgia's voting district
violated constitutional rights of equal protection for white
voters
● This decision also occurred in areas of North Carolina &
Louisiana
● Black voters subsequently joined the Black Caucus
● Clinton administration and scholars joined in an effort to
overcome the court's decision

7. Educational Disparities
● Racially separate and unequal schools, continued even
45 years after the Supreme Court made the decision to
outlaw segregation in public schools
● A not-so-subtle argument was being made that the
presence of "inferior" blacks was affecting the
education of whites
● The Bell Curve: Intelligence in Class Structure in
American Life published in 1994 by Richard Herrnstein
and Charles Murray, spoke on the idea that blacks
were inherently intellectually inferior
● Herrnstein and Murray agreed that blacks and whites
should not have the same educational opportunities

8. Educational Disparities continued...
● Because of the violence in suburban schools, some
black parents looked for other options to be able to
continue on the education of their children
● There were too little All-black privates schools
(Milwaukee) to take in all the students whom needed
schools
● Muslim schools and quasi-public charter schools as well
as many others were being located to try to get more
students in but the availability of room for more
students was too little to help
● Catholic schools, especially in Boston, New York, and
Chicago became very important alternatives for black
parents

9. ....
● By 1999 not enough financial support was given which
led to systematic closing of parochial schools
(religious) in many inner city areas
● Because of lack of financial support for inner city area
school black children were deprived of the opportunity
of digital divide, then becoming unprepared for the
20th century
● By mid 1960s the feared happen, colleges and
universities no longer were looking for a racially
diverse student body
● Civil right era enrollments started (diversity)
● This was in hopes to make change, but became very
criticised

10. Opposition to Affirmative Action
● In the 1990s Mainstream media became used to help a
new voice be heard louder than ever before
● The most vocal opposition to affirmative action
policies ("reverse discrimination"), were constituted by
Economist Professors Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams,
and Glenn Loury, as well as English Professor Shelby
Steele
● California Board of Regent, African American member
Ward Connerly, helped organize conservative voters in
a campaign that successfully enacted Proposition 209
in 1996

11. Opposition to Affirmative Action
● African American enrollment dropped at the
University of Washington after the passing
of a California-style law and at the
University of Texas Law school
● Cheryl Hopwood, a white women who
challenged the use of race as a factor in its
admissions process (U of Texas Law)

12. Racial Unrest
● More new was being put out about racial profiling and
violence
● March 1991, Rodney King, an African American,
arrested following a high-speed chase by white Los
Angeles police officer, severely beaten by the officer,
officer accused him of resisting arrest and that he had
been threatened
● The beating was caught on tape by surveillance
camera, because of this a public outcry for the
dismissal of Los Angeles chief of police Daryl Gates,
and that the officers be tried for using excessive force