AP Civil Rights

1. CIVIL RIGHTS
AP UNIT 5 CONTINUED

2. CIVIL RIGHTS AND EQUALITY
• civil rights – government policies created to
protect people from discriminatory actions by
individuals or the gov’t
• Ensures equal treatment according to the
Constitution and its given liberties
• America upholds equality of rights (equal
protection under the law) and equality of
opportunity (everyone has an equal opportunity
to succeed)

3. THE 14TH AMENDMENT
• Aside from the due process clause, it also
contains the:
• equal protection clause - no state can deny a
person equal protection of the laws
• Used to apply Constitution to equality
issues
• Interpreted by courts to require
standards of review of laws

4. SCRUTINY TESTS
• guidelines the SC uses to decide if a law that
classifies people violates the equal protection
clause (Is it discrimination or not?)
1.) Reasonable/Rational Basis (easiest to pass) - Is
there a reasonable connection between the law and a
gov’t goal? (ex: age, wealth, education, etc. issues; no
fundamental rights or suspect issues)
2.) Intermediate Scrutiny (somewhat difficult to pass)
– Does the law further gov’t interest in ways that is
related to that interest? (ex: gender and some 1st
Amendment issues)
3.) Strict Scrutiny/Inherently Suspect (most difficult to
pass) – Does the law infringe on a fundamental right
or involve a suspect classification? (ex: race,
ethnicity, and religion issues)

5.  SHAW V. RENO (1993) 
• *REQUIRED CASE*
• White voters in North Carolina challenged the state's new congressional
district map, which had two “majority-minority” districts (two districts with
more black voters than white voters). They claimed that the districts were
racially gerrymandered to get more blacks elected and that this violated the
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
• Importance of the Case:
• SC ruled that the district was of such an unnatural shape that
it had to have been drawn to separate voters by race. The
state went too far to ensure the districts were racially
balanced. Race cannot be the primary factor when drawing
congressional districts and are subject to strict scrutiny to see
if its classification furthers a compelling gov’t interest.

6. DISTRICT IN SHAW V. RENO

7. I. AFRICAN AMERICANS AND
CIVIL RIGHTS
• Prior to the Civil War, many African Americans
were slaves and considered to be property
without rights (Scott v. Sanford, 1857)
• 13th Amendment - (1865) Constitutionally
abolished slavery
• 15th Amendment - (1870) extended the right to
vote to all men regardless of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude (slavery)

8. PLESSY V. FERGUSON
(1896)
• Under Louisiana law, blacks and whites were to use
separate railroad cars. Homer Plessy, who was 7/8
white, refused to leave the “whites only” car and
was arrested.
• Importance of the Case:
• SC set a half-century precedent of upholding
the “separate but equal” doctrine, declaring
such racial segregation as constitutional.

9. • Civil rights activist groups, such as the
NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People), sought
change using the court system
• Targeted education equality to force courts
to decide if segregation was a violation of
the 14th Amendment Equal Protection
Clause

10. BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION (1954)
• A combination of 5 cases where black
children were denied access to white public
schools because of segregation laws.
• Importance of the Case:
SC struck down Plessy v. Ferguson. The
“separate but equal” doctrine was
unconstitutional as a violation of the 14th
Amendment and racial segregation in
schools declared to be inherently (naturally)
unequal. Led to other SC segregation cases.

11. • Brown v. Board decision effectively ended
segregation in all schools but with slow
progress and much protest (esp. in South)
• Federal law enforcement was used to uphold
the court decisions, but some state gov’ts
still fought back

12.   CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964  
• Landmark legislation that put into law
many changes in civil rights policy (put
“teeth” to the SC decisions)
• No racial discrimination in any public
accommodations (ex: hotels, restaurants, etc.)
• No discrimination in employment based on race,
color, gender, religion, or national origin
• Withheld grants from state and local gov’ts that
continued racial discrimination
• Allow Dept. of Justice to begin lawsuits to
desegregate public facilities

13. HEART OF ATLANTA
MOTEL V. U.S. (1964)
• The Heart of Atlanta Motel got most of its
business from out-of-state customers. The
business refused to accommodate African
Americans, in violation of the Civil Rights
Act. The motel argued that Congress
overstepped its commerce powers in
regulating who the motel could allow as
customers.
• Importance of the Case:
SC ruled that Congress had the power to
regulate local business, and that places of
public accommodation had no right to
choose who they served and did not serve.

14. VOTING AND DISCRIMINATION
• Many states tried to sidestep the 15th Amendment
to continue to discriminate against African
Americans
• Methods:
• Literacy tests, poll taxes, racial gerrymandering
• Grandfather Clause – if you could vote before
1867, or were a descendant of someone who
could, you can vote (enacted to let poor whites
vote, but not poor blacks)
• White primary - only white voters could vote in
primary elections (to dilute black influence on

15. VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
• Another piece of landmark civil rights legislation
focused on voting discrimination
• Prohibited any gov’t level from using voting
methods that would deny someone the right to
vote based on race or color
• Prohibited literacy test requirements
• Enforced by federal officials manning state polls
to ensure proper procedures and access to
registration
• Later amended in 1982 to prohibit racial
gerrymandering

16. II. OTHER MINORITY GROUPS
AND CIVIL RIGHTS
NATIVE AMERICANS
• Oldest minority group
• Long history of exploitation and loss of land,
property, and civil rights at hands of
expanding white population (+ forced
assimilation into society)
• Have used legislation (Indian Rights Act of
1968) and courts to slowly restore rights of
individuals and property

17. HISPANIC AMERICANS
• Are currently the largest minority group in U.S.
• Have suffered a history of discrimination, esp. in
southwest U.S.
• Hernandez v. Texas (1954) - applied 14th
amendment to Hispanics who were denied jury duty
• Plyler v. Doe (1982) - struck down state laws that
denied education to illegal immigrant children

18. ASIAN AMERICANS
• Fastest growing minority group
• Along with other immigrant groups, have
suffered discrimination in employment,
housing, education, etc. throughout history
• Intense discrimination esp. during WWII

19. KOREMATSU V. U.S.
(1944)
• Following the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt signed
executive order 9066, relocating 100,000
Japanese Americans to internment camps
for national security reasons. Korematsu
was convicted of trying to avoid internment.
• Importance of the Case:
SC ruled that the need for national security
was more important than Korematsu’s
rights against racial discrimination.

20. ARAB AMERICANS/MUSLIMS
• Following the events of 9/11/01,
discrimination and threats have increased
against this minority group
• Many detained in name of national security,
but SC upheld their right to challenge their
detention

21. III. WOMEN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
• Since the Seneca Falls Convention (1848),
women have struggled for equal rights and
suffrage
• 15th Amendment extended suffrage to men,
but not women
• 19th Amendment - granted women the right
to vote (no discrimination in voting based on
sex)

22. • After women gained suffrage, there was a break
in opinion on the role of women in society
• Equal Rights Amendment (1923) - a proposed
Constitutional amendment that stated the
equality of rights could not be taken away by
any level of gov’t
• Passed by Congress in 1972, but fell 3 states
short of ratification in 1982

23. REED V. REED (1971)
• Under Idaho state law, estates were
preferred to be passed to males in the family
over females. The Reeds fought over who
should be named the administrator of their
late son’s property.
• Importance of the Case:
SC struck down the Idaho state law as
arbitrarily discriminating based on gender
and thus was a violation of the 14th
Amendment.

24. WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE
• Women have increasingly become a larger
portion of the workforce and have faced
discrimination as a result
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employment
discrimination based on sex; Title IX of
Education Act forbids gender discrimination
in federally-funded schools

25. WOMEN AND DISCRIMINATION
• Wage gap: female-based jobs make only 80% of
what comparable male-jobs make
• Sexual harassment is prevalent against females
- SC has ruled this is a form of discrimination
(if it creates a hostile/abusive work
environment)
• Esp. found in male-dominated work
environments

26. • Military standards
• women are not included in the required
registration for the military draft at age
18
• Until recently, for most areas of the U.S.
Armed forces, women were not allowed to
serve in combat situations

27. IV. OTHER GROUPS AND CIVIL
RIGHTS
• Aging Americans:
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) -
banned age discrimination in the workplace
(esp. against older employees)
• Americans with Disabilities:
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) -
required employers and public facilities to
provide reasonable accommodations for the
disabled; prohibited employment discrimination
against the disabled

28. • Gays and Lesbians
• Have faced discrimination in jobs, housing,
education, and public accommodations and
services
• Considered by many to be a “modern” civil rights
movement (debate over this classification)
• Most controversy comes from debate over same-
sex marriage

29. U.S. V. WINDSOR
(2013)
• Edith Windsor was left the estate of her late spouse,
but was taxed $363,000 because federal law did not
recognize same-sex marriage as a legal union under
DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).
• Importance of the Case:
SC ruled that DOMA was an unconstitutional
violation of the 5th Amendment due process clause.
As a result, federal benefits for married couples
were extended to same-sex unions.

30. OBERGEFELL V. HODGES
(2015)
• Several groups of same-sex couples sued their
respective states for banning same-sex marriage
and/or not recognizing such marriages performed in
other states.
• Importance of the Case:
SC ruled that state laws banning/not recognizing
same-sex marriage violated the Due Process Clause
and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th
Amendment.

31. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
• Affirmative action - policies that give special
attention or preference to minority groups
that have been disadvantaged/discriminated
against in the past
• Appears especially in education and
employment/hiring opportunities
• Has had mixed reactions from SC
• Upheld if race/gender/etc. is only one
aspect of the process
• Struck down if race/gender/etc. is the
only aspect of the process

32. REGENTS OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA V.
BAKKE (1978)
• Alan Bakke was a white male applying to
the University of CA, which had a quota of
16/100 positions reserved for minority
students. Bakke’s academic record far
exceeded the average records of these
students, but he was still denied admission.
• Importance of the Case:
SC ruled that affirmative action would be
allowed in this case if race was one of many
factors considered for admittance, NOT
when it was the only factor in determining a
quota.