Treatment FAQ

c. what was the opposition to equal treatment under the law for african americans

by Prof. Tillman Rosenbaum Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

Does the Equal Protection doctrine protect against racial biases?

As the equal protection doctrine heavily relies on the ability of neutral evaluative tools to engage in neutral selection procedures, racial biases indirectly permitted under the doctrine can have grave ramifications and result in 'uneven conditions.'

Was the Fourteenth Amendment originally designed to remedy discrimination against African Americans?

At a Harvard Law School symposium some years ago commemorating the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), I struggled to articulate the duality of the Fourteenth Amendment: its original purpose and imperative was undeniably directed at remedying discrimination against African Americans.

How did the Equal Protection Clause change the civil rights debate?

With the abridgment of the Privileges or Immunities clause, legal arguments aimed at protecting black American's rights became more complex and that is when the equal protection clause started to gain attention for the arguments it could enhance. During the debate in Congress, more than one version of the clause was considered.

Are African Americans opposed to the government?

One third of all African Americans who work are employed in the public sector. When they speak of shrinking the government this has a very sharp racist edge. African Americans are oppressed as a national group meaning all class strata are subjected to racism and inequality, even the wealthy.

image

How did African American fight for equal rights?

Resistance to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests, boycotts, “freedom rides,” and rallies received national attention as newspaper, radio, and television reporters and cameramen documented the struggle to end racial inequality.

What opposed the civil rights movement?

Opposition to civil rights was led by elected officials, journalists, and community leaders who shared racist ideologies, shut down public schools and parks to prevent integration, and encouraged violence against civil rights activists.

Who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Democrats and Republicans from the Southern states opposed the bill and led an unsuccessful 60 working day filibuster, including Senators Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and J. William Fulbright (D-AR), as well as Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who personally filibustered for 14 hours straight.

How did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 affect African American?

Civil Rights Act of 1875, U.S. legislation, and the last of the major Reconstruction statutes, which guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public transportation and public accommodations and service on juries.

When did African Americans get the right to vote?

Black men were given voting rights in 1870, while black women were effectively banned until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. When the United States Constitution was ratified (1789), a small number of free blacks were among the voting citizens (male property owners) in some states.

Who ended the civil rights movement?

Most U.S. history textbooks teach a narrative that the Civil Rights Movement began with the Supreme Court Brown v. Board decision in 1954 and abruptly ended in 1965 with the passage of federal legislation.

Who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1965?

On May 25, the Senate voted for cloture by a 70–30 vote, thus overcoming the threat of filibuster and limiting further debate on the bill. On May 26, the Senate passed the bill by a 77–19 vote (Democrats 47–16, Republicans 30–2); only senators representing Southern states voted against it.

What did the 1964 Civil Rights Act do quizlet?

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964: Passed under the Johnson administration, this act outlawed segregation in public areas and granted the federal government power to fight black disfranchisement. The act also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to prevent discrimination in the work place.

How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 try to end discrimination?

Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools.

Why did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 not protect African Americans from segregation?

Grant on March 1, 1875. The act was designed to "protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights", providing for equal treatment in public accommodations and public transportation and prohibiting exclusion from jury service....Civil Rights Act of 1875.CitationsStatutes at Large18 Stat. 335-337Legislative history8 more rows

What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 quizlet?

What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875? It declared the act unconstitutional because the constitution only protects against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.

What was the result of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 quizlet?

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 335-337), sometimes called Enforcement Act or Force Act, was a United States federal law enacted during the Reconstruction Era that guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited exclusion from jury service.

SLAVERY AND THE CIVIL WAR

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson made the radical statement that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yet, like other wealthy landowners of his time, Jefferson also owned dozens of other human beings as his personal property.

RECONSTRUCTION

At the end of the Civil War, the South entered a period called Reconstruction (1865–1877) during which state governments were reorganized before the rebellious states were allowed to be readmitted to the Union. As part of this process, the Republican Party pushed for a permanent end to slavery.

CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE COURTS

By the turn of the twentieth century, the position of African Americans was quite bleak. Even outside the South, racial inequality was a fact of everyday life. African American leaders and thinkers themselves disagreed on the right path forward. Some, like Booker T.

Link to Learning

The NAACP was pivotal in securing African American civil rights and today continues to address civil rights violations, such as police brutality and the disproportionate percentage of African American people that die under the death penalty.

LEGISLATING CIVIL RIGHTS

Beyond these favorable court rulings, however, progress toward equality for African Americans remained slow in the 1950s. In 1962, Congress proposed what later became the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, which banned the poll tax in elections to federal (but not state or local) office; the amendment went into effect after being ratified in early 1964.

Link to Learning

The 1987 PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize won several Emmys and other awards for its coverage of major events in the civil rights movement, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the battle for school integration in Little Rock, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the march on Washington, DC.

CONTINUING CHALLENGES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

The civil rights movement for African Americans did not end with the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. For the last fifty years, the African American community has faced challenges related to both past and current discrimination, and progress on both fronts remains slow, uneven, and often frustrating.

Which amendments should have rectified the legal disparities that affected black Americans?

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments should have rectified the legal disparities that affected black Americans, but it took more than a century for Congress to pass legislation to say “No, we really mean it.”.

Why are civil rights denied?

If civil rights protections are widely denied, particularly to one group of people, because they are routinely ignored and capriciously violated by police officers, those rights lose all tangible meaning to that population.

Why do police redouble their efforts to quell the violence?

Police naturally redouble their efforts to quell the violence and, in so doing, may increase the mistreatment of citizens because the antipathy is mutual. Such is the plight of many black neighborhoods in America today. What happened and continues to happen in Ferguson, Missouri is a breakdown of the social order.

What does Blanks say about civil rights?

Blanks says that disregard for civil rights and police abuse continue to undermine the social fabric in black communities, despite hard‐​won formal legal equality.

What was the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s?

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s was a multifaceted effort by a group of people that were sick of legal and extralegal mistreatment by its government and the white‐​dominated society from whence that government came.

Why was the drug war so effective?

The Drug War is the most effective tool to harass and incarcerate young black men, but the underlying problem— that black people are treated differently, and thus fundamentally unfairly—is as old as America itself. This is not to excuse criminality.

Why did African Americans support the Double V campaign?

During World War II, many African Americans had supported the “Double-V Campaign,” which called on them to defeat foreign enemies while simultaneously fighting against segregation and discrimination at home. After World War II ended, many returned home to discover that, despite their sacrifices, the United States was not willing to extend them any greater rights than they had enjoyed before the war. Particularly rankling was the fact that although African American veterans were legally entitled to draw benefits under the GI Bill, discriminatory practices prevented them from doing so. For example, many banks would not give them mortgages if they wished to buy homes in predominantly African American neighborhoods, which banks often considered too risky an investment. However, African Americans who attempted to purchase homes in white neighborhoods often found themselves unable to do so because of real estate covenants that prevented owners from selling their property to blacks. Indeed, when a black family purchased a Levittown house in 1957, they were subjected to harassment and threats of violence.

What was the NAACP's goal in 1950?

In 1950, the NAACP brought a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that they hoped would help to undermine the concept of “separate but equal” as espoused in the 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which gave legal sanction to segregated school systems. Sweatt v.

What did the Women's Political Council do to support Montgomery?

To support her, the Women’s Political Council, a group of African American female activists, organized a boycott of Montgomery’s buses.

How long did the Alabama boycott last?

Others paid for rides in African American-owned taxis, whose drivers reduced their fees. Most walked to and from school, work, and church for 381 days, the duration of the boycott. In June 1956, an Alabama federal court found the segregation ordinance unconstitutional.

What was the purpose of the Journey of Reconciliation?

This victory emboldened some civil rights activists to launch the Journey of Reconciliation, a bus trip taken by eight African American men and eight white men through the states of the Upper South to test the South’s enforcement of the Morgan decision. Other victories followed. In 1948, in Shelley v.

What documentary shows African Americans trying to move to a white suburban community?

For a look at the experiences of an African American family that tried to move to a white suburban community, view the 1957 documentary Crisis in Levittown. The postwar era, however, saw African Americans make greater use of the courts to defend their rights.

When was segregation legal in schools?

Until 1954 , racial segregation in education was not only legal but was required in seventeen states and permissible in several others ( [link] ). Utilizing evidence provided in sociological studies conducted by Kenneth Clark and Gunnar Myrdal, however, Thurgood Marshall, then chief counsel for the NAACP, successfully argued the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas before the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Marshall showed that the practice of segregation in public schools made African American students feel inferior. Even if the facilities provided were equal in nature, the Court noted in its decision, the very fact that some students were separated from others on the basis of their race made segregation unconstitutional.

Which court held that laws prohibiting interracial marriages violated Equal Protection?

Virginia that the Supreme Court held that laws prohibiting interracial marriages violated Equal Protection.

Which amendment was intended to end segregation?

Historians have debated whether the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to end such segregation, but in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court ruled by a 7-1 vote that so-called “separate but equal” facilities (in that case, train cars) for blacks and whites did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.

What is the Supreme Court's Equal Protection Clause?

The Supreme Court has also used the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit discrimination on other bases besides race. Most laws are assessed under so-called “rational basis scrutiny.”. Here, any plausible and legitimate reason for the discrimination is sufficient to render it constitutional.

Why is the Fifth Amendment read?

For example, despite its reference to “state [s],” the Clause has been read into the Fifth Amendment to prevent the federal government from discriminating as well. Near the end of the nineteenth century, the Court considered whether racial segregation by the government violated the Constitution.

What did the Supreme Court decide in 1978?

Bakke, the Supreme Court found that race-conscious measures designed to address the effects of discrimination were as presumptively unconstitutional as was discrimination rooted in racial antipathy and the belief in racial inferiority.

What was the Equal Protection Clause intended to do?

Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Ratified as it was after the Civil War in 1868, there is little doubt what the Equal Protection Clause was intended to do: stop states from discriminating against blacks.

Why do people believe racial preference programs may not survive court challenges for much longer?

Indeed, new empirical arguments are the reason why many people believe racial preference programs may not survive court challenges for much longer. First, some people believe that the individuals who take opportunities on account of racial preferences are actually wealthier than those who are displaced.

What was the WPA's major effort to interview former slaves?

The WPA undertook a major effort to interview former slaves – an extraordinary resource for historians and citizens alike . Alan Lomax and others were paid to travel through the South recording the songs of folk and blues musicians, creating a magnificent repository of African American music.

What was the New Deal criticized for?

Modern commentators have rightly criticized the New Deal for the exclusion of farm workers and domestic workers from the Social Security Act and National Labor Relations Act in 1935 – two of the most important pieces of New Deal legislation.

How many Justices were added to the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court also began to change under the influence of the New Deal and as FDR added eight new justices, 1937-43. Five of those —William Douglas, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, Stanley Reed and Robert Jackson—would be part of the unanimous decision to desegregate public schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

What did Eleanor Roosevelt do?

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and deeply committed to social justice. When she died, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The impact of her personality and unwavering devotion to high principle and purpose cannot be contained in a single day or era” [10]. Furthermore, President Roosevelt “appointed an ...

What was the Roosevelt Administration's first order of business?

In sum, the Roosevelt Administration came into office at a time when White Supremacy was in full flower and the Great Depression was the first order of business in saving the country. Yet, despite the odds, the New Deal brought significant gains for African Americans.

What was the norm before the New Deal?

It should be remembered, however, that residential segregation had been the norm for decades before the New Deal. White people overwhelmingly preferred it that way and protected their neighborhoods through incorporation, deed covenants, zoning, steering, and mob action.

What was the failure of the New Deal?

Another failure of New Deal policy was in the long-term effects of the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which saved millions of families from losing their homes in the Depression and underwrote a huge increase in homeownership after the Second World War.

What is the Equal Protection Clause?

t. e. The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".

Who was the principal framer of the Equal Protection Clause?

Background. Congressman John Bingham of Ohio was the principal framer of the Equal Protection Clause. Though equality under the law is an American legal tradition arguably dating to the Declaration of Independence, formal equality for many groups remained elusive.

What did Bingham say about equality?

Bingham said in a speech on March 31, 1871 that the clause meant no State could deny to anyone "the equal protection of the Constitution of the United States ... [or] any of the rights which it guarantees to all men", nor deny to anyone "any right secured to him either by the laws and treaties of the United States or of such State." At that time, the meaning of equality varied from one state to another.

What did the Alabama Supreme Court rule in 1872?

In 1872, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on mixed-race marriage violated the "cardinal principle" of the 1866 Civil Rights Act and of the Equal Protection Clause. Almost a hundred years would pass before the U.S. Supreme Court followed that Alabama case ( Burns v. State) in the case of Loving v.

Which amendments prohibit voting based on race?

The Supreme Court ruled in Nixon v. Herndon (1927) that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited denial of the vote based on race.

When was the 14th amendment proposed?

The 39th United States Congress proposed the Fourteenth Amendment on June 13, 1866 . A difference between the initial and final versions of the clause was that the final version spoke not just of "equal protection" but of "the equal protection of the laws".

Which Supreme Court case legalized same sex marriage?

While the Equal Protection Clause itself applies only to state and local governments, the Supreme Court held in Bolling v.

Which party has organized and financed a secret effort to suppress the votes of the opposition especially the votes of African Americans

While this administration goes around the world calling for free elections, in the last two presidential election the Bush Administration, their campaigns and the Republican Party have organized and financed a secret effort to suppress the votes of the opposition especially the votes of African Americans.

How many black people are in the labor movement?

Over 90% of Black Americans are working class and 2.5 million Black are in the US labor movement. In fact one out of five Black workers (20%) are unionized. There is a long standing working alliance between the trade union movement and the African American liberation movement.

What percentage of African Americans work in the public sector?

One third of all African Americans who work are employed in the public sector. When they speak of shrinking the government this has a very sharp racist edge. African Americans are oppressed as a national group meaning all class strata are subjected to racism and inequality, even the wealthy.

What is the poverty rate for African Americans?

The poverty rate for African Americans is 24.4% or more then twice the 10% rate for whites. The median income for black American household is $30,000 as compared to $48,000 for non-Hispanic white households.

What percentage of the US population will be black by 2050?

Based on Census Bureau projections since the black population is growing at a faster rate then the overall rate, by 2050 African Americans will reach 61.4 million or 15% of the US population overall.

Is the working class more politically organized than the upper stratum?

When you look at the internal class dynamics of the African American people the working class is not only numerically larger but is much more politically organized then the upper stratum . This is a feature that must be fought for and preserved if there is to be struggle and progress.

Is the unemployment rate in the African American community at depression levels?

The unemployment rate in the African American community is at depression levels. Presently a majority of African American children are living near or in poverty. Hunger among racial minorities including children is a growing national scandal. There is a racial disparity in housing, education and healthcare.

image

Themes

  • When American children are taught about the Civil Rights Era, the focus tends to be on laws like Jim Crow, people like Bull Connor and Martin Luther King Jr., and issues like equality and justice.
See more on libertarianism.org

Significance

  • But then, given the opening lines of the Declaration of Independencethat all men were created equal is a self-evident truthwhy were those amendments necessary in the first place? Though the Declaration was never legally binding, its opening lines became the primary and guiding principle of the nation. What gives?
See more on libertarianism.org

Quotes

  • The answer is simple: American rhetoric and law has been hypocritical since its inception and nowhere has this been more evident than in legal protections and law enforcement for black people. Black Americans have, for the entire history of this country, faced a legal system that treats them differently than white citizens. Its gotten better, sure,...
See more on libertarianism.org

Impact

  • As weve seen over the years, property rights, even more than tax rates, are more important to the development of markets and growing economies. Simply, if a nation-state wants investmentof both capital and effortpeople who make those investments must have a reasonable belief that a return on that investment is possible in a successful venture. A state with shaky property rights…
See more on libertarianism.org

Premise

  • Cooperation with law enforcement must suffer as the trust required between a police department and its citizens is eroded by the rightly perceived unbalanced enforcement. Criminals become emboldened through weakened law enforcement capabilities, and the citizens become less safe. The community divests itself from the relationship with the police and societal norms become t…
See more on libertarianism.org

Advantages

  • In absence of civil rights protectionsin tandem with the limited educational and economic opportunities among certain populationsthe incentive to play by the rules of society naturally decreases. A person still has to survive, and absent decent job opportunities or avenues for self-improvement, illicit means for income become more attractive.
See more on libertarianism.org

Effects

  • More troubling, aggressive policing can fuel more violence (e.g., in the drug trade) and mistrust of the police may result in outright antipathy, as neighborhoods come to view police as an occupying force. Police naturally redouble their efforts to quell the violence and, in so doing, may increase the mistreatment of citizens because the antipathy is mutual.
See more on libertarianism.org

Summary

  • The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s was a multifaceted effort by a group of people that were sick of legal and extralegal mistreatment by its government and the white-dominated society from whence that government came. The symptoms of that mistreatment took many forms, and one of the most prominent was citizen abuse by law enforcement.
See more on libertarianism.org

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9