BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS

1. BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS

2. Overview • Civil Rights seek to correct for unequal rights for minorities in the original constitution. • Discrimination persisted for 100 years after passage of the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments • Despite 1964 Civil Rights Act, unequal treatment remains a challenge. • Affirmative Action, which goes beyond equal opportunity, faces resistance

3. What Are Civil Rights? • Laws and policies intended to redress historical inequalities in rights of minorities • Efforts under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

4. Civil Rights Distinguished From Civil Liberties • Civil Liberties: individual rights • CR: group rights • Civil Liberties: emphasize liberty • Civil Rights: emphasize equality • Civil Liberties: limit government action • Civil Rights: demand government action

5. Early Constitutional History • 3/5 compromise, fugitive slave and slave trade provisions of Constitution • Framers hoped slavery would just wither away. By 1850, monetary value of slaves exceeded monetary combined value of bank accounts, businesses, and real estate.

6. 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford

7. Wm. L. Garrison: Constitution is “a covenant with death, an agreementswith hell”

8. Civil War and Lincoln • Southern states said it was to protect states’ rights and called it “the war of northern aggression” • But Confederate state constitutions affirmed slavery • Lincoln made war about emancipation

9. Reconstruction • Constitutional amendments 13, 14, 15 • Reconstruction: Freedman’s Bureau versus Black Codes • 1875 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations

10. Post Reconstruction • Civil Rights Cases 1883—ruled 1875 Civil Rights Act unconstitutional; 14th Amendment only applies to state laws • Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 “Separate but equal” was constitutional • “Jim Crow” segregation until 1964

12. 1895-1945 4000+ Lynchings

13. 1909 Founding of NAACP

14. Great Migration • 1916-1970 6 million blacks move to North

15. 1945 Truman Desegregates Military

16. Brown v. Board of Education 1954

17. Emmit Till 1955

18. Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-56

19. Emergence of Civil Rights Leadership

20. 1963 March on Washington

21. 1964 Civil Rights Act • Discrimination by “public accommodations” against federal law • State and local government agencies will lose federal funding if they discriminate • Authorized attorney general to sue school districts that discriminate

22. 1964 Civil Rights Act-continued • Victims of discrimination may sue violators in federal court • Title VII—employment discrimination against the law. Applies to women, too. • Barred unequal voter registration procedures

23. Voting Rights • 1965 Voting Rights Act created further protections for right to vote • Justice Department registers voters and reviews any changes in voter procedures in specific states (mostly in south) • Outlawed “racial gerrymandering” • A federal crime to interfere with voting rights

24. Shelby v. Holder 2013 • Landmark Supreme Court case overturned key provision of Voting Rights Act • Voting Rights Act required pre-clearance by Justice Department for state changes in voting laws. • Court declared formula for determining which jurisdiction require pre-clearance to be outdated • Voter ID laws now in 35 states and discriminatory impact

25. Limits of Civil Rights • White flight and de facto segregation—impact on educational opportunity • Higher poverty rates—27% vs 10% • Economic inequality—average net worth of blacks $17,000 vs. Whites $170,000 • Unemployment rates—6.1% vs. 3.2% • Incarceration rates—6X whites

26. Greater Exposure to Police Violence

27. Environmental Justice Issues Flint Michigan Water

28. Institutional Racism • Racial inequalities that are not rooted in individual attitudes but in our social institutions.

29. Example: Unequal Schools

30. Example: Job Networks • Whites in general have better connections

31. Is Equal Opportunity Enough? • Equal opportunity is widely supported • The reality as President Johnson saw it—”You can’t remove the chains of oppression and simply expect a fair race.”

32. Affirmative Action • A series of government regulations, court decisions, employer and university admissions policies. • Applies mainly to employment and higher education • Federal employment practices and federal contracts that seek to increase employment of disadvantaged minorities • Similar rules adopted by state agencies and private employers

33. Is Affirmative Action Unfair? • It depends. • The ideal is being racially neutral—being judged by “the content of one’s character” • Studies reveal hidden racial biases in most of us

34. Discussion • Take the implicit discrimination test: • https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html • What gives rise to implicit discrimination? • What impact does implicit discrimination have on racial equality? • How does implicit discrimination limit federal efforts to create racial equality?

35. “Strict Scrutiny” Standard • Supreme Court applies strict scrutiny standard to affirmative action. • Any law that classifies citizens based on race or national origins must be for a compelling government interest and must be narrowly drawn. • Some affirmative action policies overturned, others affirmed by this standard.

36. Bakke v. University of California 1978 • 16 slots in UC-Davis medical school admissions class reserved for blacks, with a separate process for selection • David Bakke, white applicant, denied admission despite higher scores and grades than some blacks • Supreme Court ruled that quotas are not legal, but affirmative action is permitted as a plus factor. • Current case at Harvard claims affirmative action harms Asian applicants

37. 2003 University of Michigan Cases • Gratz v. Bollinger (undergrads); Grutter v. Bollinger (law school) • Undergraduate admissions policy offered bonus points (20 out of 150) for race • Law school admissions isn’t a rigid formula, but rather a case-by-case review that allows for consideration of applicant’s race.

38. Supreme Court Decision • Affirmative Action is constitutional: a diverse student body qualifies as a compelling state interest • Undergraduate admissions process (point system) was not narrowly tailored, was an implicit quota hence not acceptable • Law school process was narrowly tailored. • But would it be practical for undergraduate admissions?

39. Alternatives to Race-Based Affirmative Action • Racially blind admissions—merit based. • University of California looks for “relative achievement” rather than just high SATs • Texas—top 10% of all graduating high school classes are automatically accepted.

40. Current Case • Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard 2019 district court case • SFFA claims that Asian Americans must meet a higher standard for admissions in order to make more room for African Americans. • Pits two minority groups against each other

41. 2019 College Admissions Scandal • Parents bribed admissions officials, coaches, test administrators to gain admission for their children. • It is perfectly legal to give preferences to children of rich donors and alumni.

42. Discussion • “Congress Debates Reparations” • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/19/reparations-ta-nehisi-coates-cory-booker-congress-debate • Supported by C. Booker, K. Harris, and other candidates. • Are reparations a just solution to America’s racial inequalities?