Civil Rights: Equal Justice under the Law

Chapter 21

Diversity and Discrimination in American Society

Section One

The United States is a heterogeneous society—it is composed of people from different backgrounds. Since the 1960s, the ethnic makeup of the country has changed. Near-record numbers of immigrants, or people legally admitted as permanent residents, have helped increase the numbers of African, Asian, and Hispanic Americans.

Many recent Hispanic immigrants have come from Central and South America as refugees, or people who leave their homes to seek protection from danger.

Where Do Most Immigrants Come From?

Assimilation is the process by which people of one culture merge into and become part of another culture. African, Native, Hispanic, and Asian Americans are four large minority groups that have suffered discrimination from the government and private individuals.

Today, more than one-third of the nation’s Native American population lives on reservations—public lands set aside for use by Native American tribes.

Women experience discrimination in much the same way that minorities do. They have been treated as less than equal in property rights, education, and employment opportunities.

Equality before the Law

Section Two

Government needs the power to discriminate, or treat groups differently. For example, it may treat minors differently than it does adults. However, this power must be limited so that there is equal protection under the law for all Americans.

Segregation is the separation of one group from another. In 1868 the 14th Amendment guaranteed equal protection under the law to all Americans. However, States quickly passed Jim Crow laws that segregated Africans Americans, meaning they could not share facilities with whites.

In 1896 the Supreme Court gave these laws constitutional support with the separate-but-equal doctrine. In Plessy v. Ferguson, it ruled that separate facilities of supposed equal quality for whites and African Americans were constitutional.

However, the Supreme Court has since overturned many of the Jim Crow laws. In 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka struck down the separate-but-equal ruling. Then the country made a start toward integration—the process of bringing a group into equal membership in society.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade the federal funding of State or local activities that support racial segregation. Finally, in 1970 de jure segregation—legally sanctioned segregation—in schools was abolished. However, many communities still have de facto segregation—segregation in fact, even if no law requires it—which is often caused by housing patterns.

Gender has long been another basis for unequal treatment. However, since 1971 courts have successfully challenged most laws that allow different treatment of men and women.

Rational Basis or Strict Scrutiny? (p. 602) 1. Seatbelts are mandatory.

2. Japanese Americans must relocate to internment camps. (WWII)

3. Virginia law makes interracial marriages illegal. 4. The legal drinking age is raised to 21. 5. A state law excludes women from jury duty. 6. A white male fights affirmative action policies of law school

registration. 7. Law requires states to use social security numbers when

administering welfare benefits. 8. U.S. Forest Service harvests timber in the National Forest,

which disturbs Native American burial grounds.

1. Seatbelts are mandatory.

Rational Basis; goal of public safety

Japanese Americans relocated to internment camps. Strict scrutiny; discriminates on basis of

national origin and uses national safety as basis for discrimination

3. Virginia law makes interracial marriages illegal. Strict scrutiny; “suspect classification”,

discriminates against race (law overturned)

4. The legal drinking age raised to 21. Rational basis; social goals of public safety

and health

5. A state excludes women from jury duty. Strict scrutiny; “suspect classification”

discriminates against gender; (law overturned because it served no government interest)

6. A white male fights affirmative action policies of law school registration. Strict scrutiny; discriminates against race

7. Law requires states to use social security numbers when administering welfare benefits. Rational basis; economic regulation

8. U.S. Forest Service harvests timber in the National Forest, which disturbs Native American burial grounds. Rational basis; economic goal of utilizing

federal lands

Federal Civil Rights Laws

Section Three

From the 1870s to the late 1950s, Congress passed no civil rights legislation. Since then, much has been passed.

One of the strongest was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It says that everyone, regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin, is free to use “public accommodations” such as hotels and restaurants.

It also prohibits discrimination—in the workplace and in any program receiving federal funding—based on the reasons above or physical disability, age or gender. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in the selling or leasing of housing.

In the 1960s, the Federal Government also began affirmative action—a policy requiring employers to take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discrimination.

An employer must make its work force reflect the general makeup of the population in its locale and correct inequalities in pay, promotions, and benefits. Rules that call for certain numbers of jobs or promotions to be kept for certain groups are called quotas.

Affirmative action applies to all government offices and all businesses that work with the government. Affirmative action has been criticized for being reverse discrimination, or discrimination against the majority group.

Supporters and critics of the policy have taken their arguments to the Supreme Court, State legislatures, and the voting booth, where the debate continues.

American Citizenship

Section Four

The vast majority of people living in the United States are American citizens—people who owe loyalty to the United States and, in turn, receive its protection. Most Americans are citizens because they were born in this country—because of jus soli, or the law of the soil—where one is born.

Because of jus sanguinis, or the law of the blood—to whom one is born—a child born abroad can become an American citizen at birth if he or she is born to a parent who is a citizen and who has lived in the United States at some time.

Several million aliens—citizens or nationals of a foreign country who live in the United States—become citizens at some time after birth through the legal process of naturalization, over which Congress has exclusive control. States have no power in the matter.

Americans can choose to give up, or voluntarily abandon, their citizenship. This occurs through the legal process of expatriation. Naturalized citizens who have gained citizenship through fraud or deception may lose their citizenship through a court-ordered process called denaturalization.

Most immigrants to the United States have entered the country officially. Many others, however, arrive illegally and then face special challenges to stay in this country.

Congress has the power to place and remove immigration restrictions. Aliens may be subject to deportation, a legal process in which they are required to leave the United States.