Week 7- Constitutional: Civil Rights

Directions: View the video below (rough transcript provided) and then take the 10-question quiz. There is no time limit and you may attempt the quiz up to two times. Your highest score will be recorded.

Talking Points

• Civil Rights is a term used in the United States to describe the struggle of different minority groups – blacks, women, gays, and other subjugated groups – to achieve equal protection and status under the law. This is different from the term civil liberties, which we used to describe those rights found in the Constitution that are considered basic freedoms protecting individuals from the government.

• So, civil rights, in effect, is the struggle for civil liberties. I know, that’s not confusing at all [side eye].

• In fact, the term Civil Rights, for me and I suspect many others, conjures images of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th Century, known for its legislation and organized efforts to abolish public and private acts of racial discrimination against blacks.

• So let’s begin by talking about that.

• When African-Americans could not advance their equality by legislation, they turned to the Courts.

• The best example of this is the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Ever heard of it? The road to the Brown case was led by the NAACP in a step-by-step process to convince the Supreme Court that separate schools are inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.  In a series of court cases that stretched from 1938 to 1954, the NAACP implemented this strategy

• But success in the Courts wasn’t enough. And civil rights would need to be on the “public agenda” in order for Congress to finally address them. Well, that’s exactly what happened.

• Public opinion became more favorable toward the Movement as time passed, especially in response to violence by white segregationists that received extensive coverage by the media.

• Also, the assassination of President Kennedy, gave his successor, President Johnson, a period of strong relations with Congress and a mythical hero figure to refer to in promoting civil rights.

• So, the 1964 landslide election of President Johnson allowed northern Democrats to seize power in Congress and push through Civil Rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act which assured equality of opportunity in employment, public accommodations, voting and the schools, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed the federal government to “federalize” voting registration and voting if the states were found to have under-registered Black voters or denied them their voting rights.

• Now we’ll shift our attention to another group that has had its own civil rights movement: Women.

• Congress has passed laws that require equal pay for equal work, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in employment and public education, and ban discrimination against pregnant women on the job.

• The rights of women have been determined in three far-reaching issues: the draft, sexual harassment, and abortion rights.

• Starting with the draft, Congress can require men but not women to register for the draft.

• Moving on to sexual harassment...it is expressly illegal, whether it’s against men or women and whether it’s in Quid Pro Quo form, where sexual favors are expected in return for holding a job or gaining a promotion, or Hostile Environment form, which is the creating of a setting in which harassment impairs a person’s ability to work, etc.  Employers are liable for both forms.

• Lastly, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade struck down a Texas ban on abortion and all similar state laws, ruling that a woman’s right to choose is guaranteed by the Constitution, given its implication of privacy. As you probably know, several attempts have been made to overturn Roe v. Wade. None have been successful, but attempts to restrict abortion have been.

• In more recent years and months, we have witnessed the emergence of a gay civil rights campaign, specifically around the issue of marriage, an institution that carries an innumerable amount of government rights and privileges.

• Because of our federal system, a lot the battles for gay marriage have taken place at the state level, and many have played out over ballot initiatives and in the courts. But on the national stage, in a 2013 landmark decision, the Supreme Court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to gay couples who are legally married in their states, including Social Security survivor benefits, immigration rights and family leave.

• Still, the struggle for full equality for LGBT Americans, particularly those hoping to form a legal bond, continues.

• Okay, that’s all for this week’s Weekly Constitutional. Good luck on your quiz!