discover the gains made by the women’s movement

Chapter 26 Section 4

Other Americans Seek Rights

• Discover the gains made by the women’s movement.

• Find out how Mexican Americans struggled to win equal treatment.

• Explore how Native Americans, older Americans, and the disabled sought fairer treatment.

Objectives



Terms and People

• Betty Friedan – author of The Feminine Mystique and co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW)

• César Chávez – Mexican American co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) and organizer of the California grape boycott

• bilingual – able to speak two languages fluently

• mandatory retirement – a policy that required people to stop working at a certain age

• Maggie Kuhn – organizer of the Grey Panthers



In the 1960s and 1970s, women, older Americans, Americans with disabilities, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans all worked against discrimination.

What other groups were swept up in the spirit of reform?

African Americans were not the only Americans to be denied equal rights, and they were not the only Americans to work for change.



By the 1960s, women had made many gains, but many believed they still had not achieved full equality in jobs and education.

The Feminine Mystique, a 1963 book by Betty Friedan, reignited the women’s rights movement.

Friedan argued that many women were secretly unhappy with their limited roles in society.



The Feminine Mystique:

• was an instant bestseller.

• changed traditional ideas about the roles of men and women.

• inspired thousands of women to seek careers outside the home.



Although the number of women in the workplace steadily increased, their incomes lagged behind those of men.

Employers often paid men more than women for doing the same work.



In 1966, Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW).

NOW lobbied Congress for laws that would give women greater equality.

It demanded that medical schools and law practices train and hire more women.

It campaigned for day-care facilities for the children of mothers who worked outside the home.



NOW led a campaign to ratify an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution.

The ERA would forbid any form of sex discrimination.

Congress passed the ERA in 1972, but to become law, it had to be ratified by 38 states.

The ERA’s opponents charged that it would undermine traditional values.

In the end, the ERA did not receive enough votes for ratification.



The Equal Pay Act required equal pay for

men and women doing the same jobs.

The Civil Rights Act included laws against

sex discrimination.

More women attended colleges.

Despite opposition to the ERA, women made notable gains.

More women were elected to serve in

city, state, and federal

government.

Gains of the

women’s movement



Mexican Americans also faced discrimination.

Mexican American children were barred from all-white schools and forced to attend poorly equipped “Mexican schools.”

They were not subject to segregation laws, but custom kept Mexican Americans out of many neighborhoods and jobs.



Organizing for Change

The American GI Forum

• In 1948, Mexican American veterans of World War II formed the American GI Forum, which supported legal challenges to discrimination.

Hernández v. Texas(1954)

• The Supreme Court ruled that excluding Mexican Americans from juries was illegal.

• Other minority groups later used the decision to help secure their legal rights.



In 1966, César Chávez helped to form a labor union, the United Farm Workers (UFW).

Its goal was to win higher wages and decent working conditions for migrant laborers.

Many Mexican Americans were migrant workers who sought reform from their employers.



When growers refused to recognize the UFW, Chávez organized a national boycott of California grapes.

By 1970, many Americans had stopped buying grapes.

Growers agreed to sign a contract with the union.



Mexican Americans organized campaigns to win greater rights.

In 1975 Congress amended the Voting Rights Act to require bilingual elections in areas with large numbers of people who speak languages other than English.

Other laws promoted bilingual education in public schools.



In the 1960s, the National Congress of American Indians sent delegations to Washington to recover land, mineral, and water rights.

Native Americans also began to demand change.

For many years, they had been the poorest segment of the population.

Gradually, their efforts paid off.



In 1973, armed members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

Some disagreed with AIM’s actions, but Native Americans began to show greater pride in their heritage.

They wanted to remind people of the unjust treatment of Native Americans.



• More citizens had trouble paying for health care and insurance.

• Many employers enforced mandatory retirement at age 65.

• promote health insurance for retired Americans.

• lobby for programs such as Medicare.

• take a stand on issues affecting older Americans.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was founded in 1958 in order to:

Older Americans also faced significant challenges.



Maggie Kuhn founded the Gray Panthers to combat age discrimination.

The Gray Panthers gained national attention by staging a protest in Washington during a White House Conference on Aging.



Americans with disabilities also benefited from this period of reform.

Public accommodations were modified to include:•reserved parking spaces•ramped building entrances•wheelchair lifts•Braille buttons on elevators

The Americans with Disabilities Act outlawed discrimination in hiring people with disabilities.

The Education for the Handicapped Act of 1975 guaranteed a free education for all children with disabilities.



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