Bernadette McBrearty McBrearty 1

Mr. Scott

AP U.S. Government and Politics

12-9-10

Civil Rights

1. What is the difference between Civil Liberties and Civil Rights?

The difference between civil liberties and civil rights is that civil liberties are the protections the

Constitution provides against the abuse of government power by, for example, censuring your

speech. Civil Rights on the other hand, are the rights of people to be treated without

unreasonable or unconstitutional difference.

2. How would you describe the plight of blacks between Reconstruction and the 1960's?

Many whites felt threatened that blacks might steal their jobs, land, and pose as competition in

public services. Because of this, blacks were not allowed to buy houses in largely white areas or

even vote. Whites felt deeply threatened by the black’s demands and denied African Americans

the right to vote until the 1960's.

3. What was the basis for the doctrine “Separate But Equal?”

The basis for Separate but Equal was a man by the name of Adolf Plessey was seven-eighths

white and one-eighth black and riding on a white car on a railroad train. His African American

features called the attention of the conduce who told him to get off of the white car. When

Plessey refused, he was arrested. Plessey took the case to the Supreme Court, claiming that it

violated the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court rejected his claim, saying that if one race is

inferior to another, than the Constitution cannot put them in the same area. Two races can be in

separate places when both places treat everyone equally.

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4. What were the three stages that brought an end to “Separate but Equal?”

The first step to end Separate but Equal was accomplished in a series of court cases stretching

from 1938 to 1948. In Missouri, the court claimed that Lloyd Gains had to be accepted to an all

white school because there was not a black school of equal quality in Missouri in 1938. In 1948,

the University of Oklahoma Law School was ordered to admit a black student, Ada Lois Sipuel,

because there was not a black law school at the time. The second was in 1950. Heman Sweatt

has to take his classes in another building for just blacks at an all white university. African

American George McLaurin also had to study for his degree in a “colored section” of the

University of Oklahoma, an all white school. Both cases were stated as unconstitutional. The

third step came in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Court ruled that the

white school that Linda Brown could not attend and the black school that she could attend were

equal. The NAACP wanted to show that racially separate schools were unconstitutional even if

they were equal. These three stages brought an end to “Separate but Equal.”

5. What is the difference between de jure segregation and de facto segregation?

De jure segregation is segregation that is required by law. The Jim Crow laws in the south is an

example of de jure segregation because they were state and local laws that required segregating

whites and blacks. De facto segregation is racial segregation as a result of patterns of residential

settlement.

6. What were the four landmark cases that impacted civil rights?

The four landmark cases that impacted civil rights were Plessey v. Ferguson (1896), Brown v.

Board of Education (1954), Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968), and

Swann v. Charlotte- Mecldenburg Board of Education (1971). Plessey v. Ferguson (1896)

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upheld separate but equal facilities for white and black people on railroad cars. Brown v. Board

of Education (1954) said that separate public schools are inferentially unequal, thus starting

desegregation. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) banned a freedom of

choice plan for integrating schools, suggesting that blacks and whites must actually attend

racially mixed schools. Finally, Swann v. Charlotte- Mecldenburg Board of Education (1971)

approved busing and redrawing district lines as ways of integrating public schools.

7. What are the four stages that led to the passage of civil rights legislation?

The first development that led to the passage of civil rights legislation was that public opinion

had changed. Second, the media portrayed violent segregationists in a bad light after showing

footage of demonstrators being attacked. This portrayed the civil rights moment as having a

powerful moral cause. Third, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963.

People believed that Lyndon B. Johnson would pass civil rights bills as a memorial to John F.

Kennedy. Finally, Johnson won the 1964 election and a huge democratic majority was sent to

the House. This gave hope to the movement because it made it possible for northern democrats

to outvote or out maneuver the southerners in the House.

8. Give three examples of illegal discrimination?

Three examples of illegal discrimination are a state cannot set different ages at which men and

women legally become adults. Next, a state cannot set different ages at which men and women

are allowed to buy beer, and girls cannot be barred from little league baseball teams.

9. Give three examples of laws allowing differences based on sex.

Three examples of laws allowing differences based on sex are a law that punishes males but not

females for statutory rape permissible: men and women are not “similarly situated” with respect
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to sexual relations. Next, all-boy and all-girl public schools are permitted if enrollment is

voluntary and quality is equal. Finally, the navy may allow women to remain officers longer

than men without being promoted.

10. How do we define sexual harassment? What is considered sexual harassment and

what is not?

Harassment can be when it is illegal for someone to request sexual favors as a condition of

employment or promotion. In this case, the employer is strictly liable. Also, it is illegal for an

employee to experience a work environment that has been made hostile or intimidating by a

steady pattern of offensive sexual teasing, jokes, or obscenity. In this case, employers can only

be liable if they are neglecting of the situation.

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Definitions:

Civil Rights:: The rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional

differences

Suspect Classifications:: Classifications of people on the basis of their race or ethnicity

Strict Scrutiny:: A Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does

not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal.

Separate-but-Equal Doctrine:: The doctrine established in Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) that

African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities

De Jure segregation:: Racial segregation that is required by law (example:: Jim Crow Laws)

De Facto Segregation:: Racial segregation that occurs in schools not as a result of the law, but

as a result of patterns of residential settlement (example:: The Little Rock Nine)

Civil Disobedience:: Opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully disobeying it and

accepting the resultant punishment

Police Powers:: state power to effect laws promoting health, safety, and morals.

Affirmative Action:: Programs designed to increase minority participation in some institutions

(business, schools, labor unions, or government agencies) by talking position steps to appoint

minority group members.

Equality of Result:: making certain that people achieve the same result

Reverse discrimination:: Using race or sex to give preferential treatment to some people

Equality of Opportunity:: giving people and equal chance to succeed.