Wilson 6A

Race and Civil Rights

Who Governs? To What Ends?If the law supports equality of opportunity, why has affirmative action become so important?Under what circumstances can men and women be treated differently?

Since Congress enacts our laws, why has it not made that all groups have the same rights?After the Supreme Court ended racial segregation in the schools, what did the president and Congress do?

Key Questions

When a group is denied access to facilities, opportunities, or services available to other groups.Reasonable differences in treatment• Progressive taxation•QuotasUnreasonable differences in classification• Voting rights•Housing

Civil Rights

Whites threatened by integration• Majority black• Compete for jobs• Political power

Racism• 3,600 lynchings• Property restriction• Belief in segregation

Strategy• Needed white allies• Move issue to the Courts• Civic protest (public awareness)

Black Predicament

“Equal protection of the laws”• Broad interpretation – Constitution is color blind and can make no distinction of race•Narrow interpretation – equal legal rights for all, but with reasonable distinctions• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)•Narrow view• Separate but equal doctrine

14th Amendment

NCAAP • Started to stop lynchings• Worked through the Courts to end segregation• Require equality of education• Missouri Law School – Llyod Gaines• Oklahoma Law School – Ada Lois Sipuel• Attack constitutionality of segregation• Texas Law School – Herman Sweatt• Oklahoma PhD Program – George McLaurin• Force integration• Topeka Public Schools – Brown• Charlotte Public Schools – Swan

Separate But Equal

Unanimous opinion overturned Plessy• 14th Amendment not intended to abolish segregation•Relied on social science, racist paradigm• Segregation created a sense of inferiority

Implementation• Class action – “similarly situated”•Done through local federal courts• “all deliberate speed”• Southern Manifesto – “abuse of judicial power”• Resistance for decades

Brown v. Board of Education

De jure (south) – required by lawDe facto (north) – resulting from patterns of residential settlement• “Freedom of choice” plan in New Kent County, VA•Did not produce a “unitary, non-racial system”• Swan v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg• Prove intent to discriminate•History of segregation•Quotas, redrawn district lines, court-ordered busing•Not every school needs to reflect district numbers

Integration

Mandated if city and suburb had practiced segregationNot necessary to continually redraw lines and bus routes•White flight may create single-race schools• Integrated schools found in integrated neighborhoods•Controversial until ended in 1992 (DeKalb County, GA)• Partisan issue• Republicans in opposition• Local control

Court-ordered Busing

Strong opposition• Southern democrats on judiciary committee•Howard Smith headed rules committee• Senate filibuster• Kennedy reluctantBreak deadlock• Changing public opinion•Media coverage of violence• Kennedy assassination•Democratic control of government

Civil Rights in Congress

Voting rights• 1957, 1960, 1965

Housing discrimination• 1968

Civil rights bill• 1964•Mood of Congress favors civil rights• African American voting and representation•White elitism declined

Civil Rights Legislation

• Mobilize opinion by dramatic events• Sit-ins• Freedom rides•Marches•Voter registration•Montgomery Bus Boycott• Nonviolent civil disobedience• Seen as law-breaking by many whites• Racial violence and threats• Conscious and agenda-setting

Civil Rights Protests

Law enforcement more likely to stop someone of a particular race or ethnicity• Insufficient data on how police make judgments• Balance between safety and rights•Opponents say profiling is discrimination• Proponents willing to stop innocent people for the sake of public safety; some groups more likely to break law• 9/11 raised debate and stakes

Racial Profiling