Civil Rights Notes

Hi class!

I'll be posting the notes on this website from now on, so if you missed something, you can always check here.

Also, if you want to print them up for your own references, I suggest you highlight the notes, then copy and paste it into Microsoft Word, where you can then fiddle with margins and font sizes to make it take up less space.

Enjoy!

Prof J

Civil Liberties/Civil Rights

Let’s start with Civil Rights

14^th Amendment – EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW

In US – it’s the right of minority groups to be free of discrimination and unfair treatment

In this class, we’ll focus on the African-American experience

Let’s jump right into Dred Scott vs Sanford (1857)

Dred Scott was the name of a slave, lived in Missouri under his master, who was in the Army.

His master then moved to Illinois (a free state), where they lived for a long time. The Army ordered his master to go back to MO, where he then died.

Dred Scott then sued for his freedom, claiming he had lived on free soil for many years and could not be taken back into slavery.

What did the Supreme Court say in 1857?

The court ruled, 7-2, that Scott was still considered a slave.

Why? Determined that as a slave, Scott was PROPERTY, which the court could not take from slaveholders

In addition, they ruled that because Dred Scott was a “Negro,” not just a slave, that he was not a citizen of the US, and could never BECOME a citizen of the US.

In effect – the SC decision said that not only are slaves not US citizens, but free blacks in the north are also not citizens.

Also, SC said there are no distinctions between a slave and property, according to the constitution

This decision really propelled the US towards Civil War – Northerners saw this as a moment of revelation, and that drastic action needed to be taken, while the South, while they had “won” in the decision, realized that the Court did have the power to change this reality of slavery.

So, the Civil War comes and goes - North wins decisively, resolves the slavery issue once and for all – 13^th, 14^th, 15^th Amendments

Civil Rights Acts of 1865 to 1875

Civil Rights Act of 1866 – all individuals born in the US are citizens, including blacks

AND President is allowed to enforce the law with special forces

Enforcement Act of 1870 ­– criminal sanctioned for interfering with the right to vote

Civil Rights Act of 1872 ­– aka the Anti-Ku Klux Klan Act – federal crime to provide anyone of their rights

Second Civil Rights Act – 1875 – everyone is entitled to use public institutions and accommodations

Civil Rights Cases – these were separate cases that were consolidated into one case for the US SC to decide.

1875 – Court nullified the Civil Rights Act of 1875, saying it was unconstitutional

Why? According to Justice Bradley, the 14^th Amendment does not give Congress the authority to enforce these measures – it’s a state matter

Also said that the Thirteenth Amendment just outlaws the holding of slaves – does not regulate how people should treat freed blacks

However, Justice Harlan did not agree, and wrote a famous passage:

"My brethren say that when a man has emerged from slavery, and by the aid of beneficient legislation has shaken off the inseparable concomitants of that state, there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen, and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his rights as a citizen, or a man, are to be protected in the ordinary modes by which other men's rights are protected. It is, I submit, scarcely just to say that the colored race has been the special favorite of the laws. What the nation, through congress, has sought to accomplish in reference to that race is, what had already been done in every state in the Union for the white race, to secure and protect rights belonging to them as freemen and citizens; nothing more. The one underlying purpose of congressional legislation has been to enable the black race to take the rank of mere citizens. The difficulty has been to compel a recognition of their legal right to take that rank, and to secure the enjoyment of privileges belonging, under the law, to them as a component part of the people for whose welfare and happiness government is ordained."

Harlan’s dissent would be used in future SC cases, which we’ll discuss

So you can see that the idea of equal protection under the law wasn’t totally established for a really long time

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – another landmark case

Challenged segregation in public facilities (in this case, a train)

Homer Plessy – 1/8 black

Intentionally traveled in the white car in Louisiana to challenge the law

Court decided 7-1 that Plessy did not have the right to sit in a ‘white’ car

“Separate but equal” doctrine – saw nothing wrong with separation of the races, and did not perceive any inferior treatment of former slaves

Ex: no difference in the quality of the cars

However, there were MONUMENTAL differences in the state of public toilets, educational facilities, theatres, etc etc

Some court justices still uphold that Plessy was the correct ruling.

William Rehnquist, who was the Chief Justice until 2004 (when he died) wrote this:

"I realize that it is an unpopular and unhumanitarian position, for which I have been excoriated by 'liberal' colleagues but I think Plessy v. Ferguson was right and should be reaffirmed."

Basically, ruling let racial discrimination run rampant throughout the US for decades

JIM CROW LAWS

Re-enforced public segregation between races in Southern states

How?

White primaries – state primary election that restricts voting to whites only

Grandfather Clause – said only those whose grandfathers could vote before 1867, could vote now – ensured only whites could vote

Poll tax – special pax to pay while voting.

LITERACY TESTS – even if blacks passed it, white voting operators wouldn’t let them vote anyway

So, now you know why the federal gov’t allowed Jim Crow laws to exist for so long – due to the SC decision in the Civil Rights Cases decision

THIS EXISTED FOR 60 YEARS.

What changed it?

BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION

1954

Landmark decision of the Warren Court

1951 – class-action suit was brought against the Board of Ed of Topeka, Kansas for refusing to allow black children to attend the same schools as white children

Wanted to reverse racial segregation in education

It actually combined four cases – Briggs v. Elliott (filed in SC), Davis v County School Board of Prince Edward County (VA), Gebhart v. Belton (Delaware)

NAACP sponsored each of these cases

THE DECISION WAS UNANIMOUS – “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”

Declared educational segregation to be legally unconstitutional, and called for the desegregation of all schools in America

Did not rule on public segregation other areas, like fountains or bathrooms

Brown II – 1955 – the conclusion to the Brown I decision – said that the desegregation of schools should proceed “with all deliberate speed” – which really angered many people

And now the impetus for the civil rights movement began

Reactions to Brown decision –

Arkansas governor called in the nat’l guard to prevent blacks from entering Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957

Universities remained segregated

Federal gov’t: Busing policies

Court-ordered busing: Recognizing that neighborhoods were already racially segregated, the courts wanted to ensure that every effort to desegregate schools was followed, and so forced states and towns to bus children from different areas into different schools

Particularly disastrous in Boston – lots of racial flare-ups

"Sometimes when I look out this window," White reportedly said to an aide during one hellish day at the office, "I see Belfast out there." Police had to escort and unload buses at several Boston high schools every morning and afternoon while snipers stood guard on the surrounding rooftops. Metal detectors were installed and troopers patrolled the cafeterias, hallways, and stairwells, and still racial brawls broke out daily. Garrity also ordered equal numbers of black and white police officers to guard the schools, provoking racial hostility even within the police force. "It’ll be lucky if the Boston police don’t kill each other before the day is out," said one state trooper at the time. For three years, as many as 300 state police officers a day patrolled South Boston High. One teacher compared the school to a prison: "We can’t leave school, we can’t come early or on the weekends to do preparatory work. We are like prisoners. Everyday when I get up, it’s like getting up to go to prison."

Recognized difference between De Jure Segregation and De Facto Segregation

De Facto Segregation: occurred due to past social/economic conditions and residential patterns – so slums were majority black, suburbs majority white

De Jure Segregation – racial segregation occurred because laws had decreed that it should occur

Has integration worked? Open up for discussion

Resurgence of Minority Schools

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Movement for greater INTEGRATION through NON VIOLENCE

Martin Luther King Jr –

Was a Baptist minister in Alabama who got his PhD in divinity from Harvard

Did not set out to become the leader of the civil rights movement, but after the movement to boycott the buses in Birmingham, he became a figurehead

Was greatly influenced by Gandhi – and his approach of non-violence

NON VIOLENCE – denounces violence as a legitimate means to bring about political change

Prefers civil disobedience and persuasion

Why? Sometimes, for religious reasons

There is a practical element to it as well - Among these is the idea that the power of rulers depends on the consent of the populace. Without a bureaucracy, an army or a police force to carry out his or her wishes, the ruler is powerless. Power, nonviolence teaches us, depends on the co-operation of others. Nonviolence undermines the power of rulers through the deliberate withdrawal of this co-operation

Involve the following: hunger strikes, pickets, vigils, petitions, sit-ins, tax refusal, go-slows, blockades, demonstrations

Civil rights movement used all of these

Famous “March on Washington”

Do you feel it was the best way to go? Was it quick enough? Did it really accomplish all it intended to?

The civil rights movement "had a different experience in each place," Robert J. Norrell observed in Reaping the Whirlwind: The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee. Because of the differences in each community's experience, there wasn't a single civil rights movement. There were, instead, civil rights "movements" all across the South.

Not everybody wanted INTEGRATION

BLACK POWER MOVEMENT –

They did not want to integrate

They figured, they wanted to expel us, and even now, we’re still being oppressed, so let’s just create our own parallel society and advance amongst ourselves

They believed in “separate but equal” – and were determined to make it equal

SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee were major partners

But Black Power/Panther movement was not as convinced that non-violence was the route to go – were very militant and forceful in their positions

STOKELY CARMICHAEL - "It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations."

Stokely Carmichael is credited for coining the phrase institutional racism. Institutional racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) is a form of racism that occurs in institutions such as public bodies and corporations, including universities. In the late 1960s he defined the term as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin".^[

After all this pressure continually builds, LBJ passes significant civil rights legislation

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

Really JFK’s legislation, but he had since been assassinated (conspiracy theory)

However, LBJ was also committed to civil rights, despite his earlier record in TX

Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements

Outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce; exempted private clubs without defining the term "private."

Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U. S. Attorney General to file suits to force desegregation.

Title VI of the Act prevents discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funding. If an agency is found in violation of Title VI, that agency can lose its federal funding.

Title VII of the Act, codified as Subchapter VI of Chapter 21 of Title 42 of the United States Code, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., outlaws discrimination in employment in any business on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin

Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to ensure equality

Important implication of CRA – also applied to WOMEN, and banned discrimination of WOMEN

Voting Rights Act – 1965

Got rid of the poll tax, grandfather clause, literacy tests – effectively abolished Jim Crow legislation

Urban Riots – swept the nation in the 60s….

“Long hot summer” of 1967

Riots in 32 cities, death of 100 African-Americans

But in reality – there were a series of long, hot summers:

Burn, baby, burn!" That was the exultant cry first heard in the Los Angeles district of Watts. It marked a historic shift from the era of sit-ins and nonviolent marches, of songs and prayers, to the era of ghetto rioting. The worst outbreaks: New York City, July 1964. At a rally held in Harlem to protest the killing of a black youth by a white off-duty police officer, black leaders denounced the police and called for community action. When the crowd marched to a Harlem police station, scuffles with police erupted into a riot that lasted six days and also broke out in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The final toll: one dead, 143 injured, 461 arrested.

Los Angeles, August 1965. A minor incident on a hot summer night turned into six days of rioting, arson, looting and sniping by an estimated 10,000 blacks. Of the 34 people killed, 28 were black. By the sixth day, 12,000 National Guardsmen and 2,500 city and county police were patrolling 46 square miles and had arrested 4,000 people. Some 200 buildings were completely destroyed, with property losses estimated at $40 million.

Cleveland, July 1966. Again a minor incident—this time in a neighborhood bar in the black section of Hough—turned into widespread shooting and fire bombing. In six days, four blacks were killed and 50 injured. A grand jury later blamed "trained professionals."

Newark, July 1967. Violence exploded when blacks heard and believed a false rumor that the police had killed a black taxi driver. As the rioting spread, exaggerated reports of black snipers prompted the intervention of the National Guard. In six days of rioting, 26 were killed, 1,500 injured, and damage reached $30 million.

Detroit, July 1967. The worst riot of the decade erupted on a muggy night when police raided an after-hours drinking club. At the height of the violence, President Lyndon Johnson sent in the U.S. Army, and the National Guard fired machine guns from Sherman tanks. The seven-day toll: 43 killed, 2,000 injured, 7,000 arrested and 5,000 left homeless.

Washington, D.C., April 1968.

After the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Stokely Carmichael led a march down 14th Street that swelled into a riot. In four days, nine died, 1,000 were injured and 6,000 arrested.

The "long hot summer" had become an annual event in America's cities when the rioting suddenly stopped. One reason was a series of reforms: more political power for blacks, police review boards, a variety of job programs. Another was the realization that ghetto blacks were the chief victims of ghetto violence—burned-out areas of Detroit and Newark are still in ruins today. But as Miami demonstrated, the elements that created the history of ghetto rioting still exist.

Civil Rights Act of 1968 – prohibited discrimination in housing

How?

The Civil Right Act of 1968 prohibited the following forms of discrimination:

1. Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion or national origin

2. Discrimination against a person in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling.

3. Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin.

4. Coercing, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a person's enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons or retaliating against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights.

But – HAD NO FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT

Consequences of Civil Rights Legislation

Expanded African-American political involvement

In 1980, 55.8 percent of African-Americans were registered – still seems kinda low

8500 black elected officials

Will we ever have a black president? What about Barack Obama?

Encouraged other minorities to stand up for their rights – galvanized Hispanic Americans and Native Americans to push for greater government responsiveness and further protection against discriminatory practices

But – still problems

Economic disparities – have not disappeared. Black leaders, like King and Jesse Jackson, recognized that poverty is not primarily a minority issue, and have attempted to call attention to this

FYI – Most people don’t realize this, but King was also a harsh critic of the capitalist system and believed communism to be a much better alternative

Are we all caught up now in the civil rights department? Do we still have work to do? What do we need to do to make the country more equal?

Women’s Liberation Movement

Really got started with the abolitionist movement in the 1840s – for the first time, women found a political sphere where they could have significant influence, and became very involved in the movement

Seneca Falls Convention – July 19, 1848

Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (first American saint)

Discussed social, religious, civic rights of women

Adopted a Declaration of Sentiment, which adapted the Declaration of Independence to better reflect women’s rights

Women’s movement picked up steam after this

Focused on women’s suffrage at first – women’s freedom to vote

Was a world wide movement – in 1897, New Zealand granted women the right to vote, followed by Australia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Canada…so US was not first

Also used civil disobedience – large scale marches and jailings, hunger strikes, etc

Finally, women granted suffrage in 1920, under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony

Modern women’s movement – FEMINISM

Feminism – the movement that supports political, economic, and social equality for women

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan –

Attacked idea that women could only find fulfillment through marriage and children

Says women are expected to find their identity through a husband and their children, and Friedan said women are forced to relinquish their own identities this way

Founded the National Organization for Women – (NOW) – sought to fully equalize the status of women in American society

Greater push for women’s rights occurred during the time of the Vietnam War – feminist issues were tied up with anti-war issues, and generally made for a time of upheaval