Civil Rights and Government
The feminist movement consisted of many stages that each would bring the women a step closer to becoming socially equal to the men. The Seneca Falls Declaration was signed on July 19, 1848 which would culminate in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which have the Women a right to vote. Winning the right to vote however did not win equal status for women. Women tried to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which was introduced in congress in 1923 and passed by congress in 1972, stating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by any state on account of sex” Despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from Ã?¾ of the state legislatures. The denial of this amendment made the women work even harder for equal rights. In the 1971 case of Reed v. Reed. The court upheld for the first time a claim of gender discrimination. Five years later the case of Craig v. Boren established the “medium scrutiny” standard for determining gender discrimination. The women received more equality but they still were not satisfied until they received total equality and that included equality in the workplace and in the military. The women established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which gave women the right to sue their employers based on discrimination in the work place. Also the women strived to end comparable worth which gave men more money for the same jobs. The Women’s Army Corps was established to let the women be a part of the army. Women are allowed to join the any part of the military, but they may not fight in combat. After more than 200 years women have battled and achieved some of the most important equal rights laws. Women have gained political importance and are socially pretty much equal to men now.
2. Affirmative action-race and ethnicity
Affirmative action is a policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment of members of some previously disadvantaged group. In the affirmative action, the goal is to go past equal opportunity for specific ethnicities and race, and to move toward equal results. The way that this is done, is giving students of previously disadvantaged races and ethnicities a better chance into getting into a specific college or university. By doing so, more qualified students of different races are not getting in. This seems unfair, and to non-believers of affirmative action, this is looked as reverse discrimination which is discrimination against more qualified peoples. Two cases have been important in the stance of affirmative action. Regents of the University of California v. Bake held that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race. Adarand Constructors v. Pena held that federal programs that classify people by race, even for an ostensibly benign purpose such as expanding opportunities for minorities, should be presumed to be unconstitutional. The constitution does not say anything about affirmative action so it is up to the discretion of the courts. In 2003 Gratz v. Bollinger stated that it was unconstitutional for Universities to automatically to award points for ethnic students. However, diversity on campus could be a reason to allow more students of ethnic difference to their school. Affirmative action is a highly debated topic which brings advantages and disadvantages to our society, but until it is practiced, it will not be clear how it affects the United States and its people.
3. Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was a law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment. Americans with disabilities have suffered from discrimination and that is why this act was passed. Often times, the disabled would be denied rehabilitation services, education, and jobs. The Act has given disabled children free education, and has accommodated the physically challenged by building wheelchair ramps, grab bars on toilets, and Braille signs have become common features for the disabled. Even though the Act costs tax payer a lot of money, it seems immoral to oppose policies beneficial to people with disabilities. Another question has been asked as to who is disabled. The courts had classified people with AIDS as disabled and therefore are under the protection of the ADA. If a person can function normally with remedies such as glasses or medicine, then he or she will not be covered by the ADA.
4. Growth of minority groups.
There are so many new minorities coming to America that the country is heading toward a minority majority, a situation in which minority groups will outnumber Caucasians of European descent. After the 2001 census, African Americans had no longer occupied the biggest minority in the United States. The Hispanics are now the biggest minority group in America with an astounding 13 percent of the US population. Hispanic Americans are chiefly from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, but also from El Salvador, Honduras, and other countries in central America. African Americans come in second place as the largest minority. The Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group. Their representation in the American population has rose from .5 percent to 4 percent from 1960 to 2000. Lastly the Native Americans, the earliest inhabitants of the continent who constitute a very small percentage of our country are the worst off. Before Americans had arrived, there were 12 to 15 million of them. This number has depleted all the way down to 210,000. It is said that in the year 2080, the US population will consist of more minorities than Caucasians.
5. Dred Scott v. Sandford
The case of Scott v. Sandford was by far the boldest decisions which supported slavery. The 1857 Supreme Court upheld that a slave who had escaped to a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories. Chief Justice Taney announced that a black man, slave or free, was “chattel” and had no rights under a White mans government. This decision invalidated the Missouri-Compromise which allowed Missouri to become a slave state on the condition that Northern territories would remain free of slavery. The Scott decision was important for the Civil War, because it encouraged the radicals to stop slavery.
6. Civil Rights Act of 1964-gender discrimination.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Brown v. Board of Education had been enforced which reversed the decision in Plessey v. Ferguson. Brown v. Board of Education states that segregation was unconstitutional because the separate but equal facilities only emphasized separation, not equality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had launched when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and many sermons made by Martin Luther King Jr. Not only did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevent gender discrimination in public places, it also forbade discrimination in employment on the basis of ace, color, nation origin, religion, or gender, it created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor and enforce protections against job discrimination, it provided for withholding federal grants from state and local governments and other institutions that practiced racial discrimination, it strengthened voting rights legislation, and lastly, it authorized the U.S. Justice Department to initiate lawsuits to desegregate public schools and facilities.
