Chapter 18-3 new Approaches to Civil Rights:

Minorities continue to fight for reform and increased civil rights.

Affirmative Action: African Americans feel their problems lay in their lack of access to good jobs and adequate schooling. Leaders began to focus on these areas.

Affirmative Action: enforced through executive orders and federal policies, it called for companies and institutions doing business with the federal government to actively recruit African American employees with the hope that this would lead to improved social and economic status. It was later expanded to include other minorities and women.

Changes to Affirmative Action: Reverse Discrimination

University of California Regents v. Bakke. Declared that the California Medical School at Davis had violated Bakke’s rights. This ruling said that schools could use racial criteria as part of their admission process so long as they did not use “fixed quotas.” Ruling allowed for affirmative action, said it was constitutional.

Proposition 209

In 1995 the university of California’s Board of Regents voted to end the use of race in its admission policy.

Ward Connerly strongly believed that affirmative action treated people unequally. He lead the campaign for Prop 209 in California.

Prop 209 is an amendment to the California Constitution that banned the state from giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity or national origin.

What were the goals of the Affirmative Action policies?

Improve educational and social and economic opportunities for African Americans and actively recruit minorities including women for jobs.

Discuss Minority.

Hispanic Americans Organize.

Cesar Chavez and the UFW.

Most Mexican American farm laborers earned little pay, received few benefits, and had no job security.

The United Farm Workers a Union

Formed by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.

Organized a strike against California growers to demand union recognition increased wages, and better benefits.

1970 The grape growers agreed to a contract to raise wages and improve working conditions.

Hispanic Americans become more active in civil rights.

La Rasa Unida: mobilized Mexican American voters to puch for job training programs and greater access to financial institutions.

Bilingual Education Act 1968: directed school districts to set up classes for immigrants in their own language.

Native Americans.

Declaration of Indian Purpose, calling for policies to cerate greater economic opportunities on reservations. Native Americans did not want to be assimilated in to society, they wanted independence from it.

1968. The Indian Civil Rights Act. It guaranteed reservation residents

the protections of the Bill of Rights, but also recognized the legitimacy of local reservation law.

The American Indian Movement. Organized in 1968 to fight high unemployment inadequate housing and racial discrimination. They focused on treaty rights and worked to regain tribal lands.

Notable Victories for Native Americans.

1975 Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act.

Increase funds for education and expanded local control in federal programs.

Land and Water rights

Right to impose taxes on businesses on their reservations.

More Sovereignty: