Today we look at the social movements that advanced the protections of the Constitution in this country.
Today we look at the social movements that advanced the protections of the Constitution in this country. We discuss the concept of laws being a product of their time (1:58) before seeing changes starting with the 1954 ruling in Brown v Board. (2:35) Other examples of protections for race are also discussed. (4:14) We then go on to look at Title XI (5:52) and advances to the LGTBQ movement (6:10).
Today’s question of the day (8:00): In 1965, a Japanese inventor created something that is now commonplace in public places in this country, tactile paving. Do you know what that is?
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Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap:US Government Edition. Today’s episode will recap Social Movements
Lets Zoom out:
Unit 3 - Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Topics- 3.10-3.11
Big idea - Civil Participation in a representative democracy and Competing policy making interests.
In previous episodes we discussed the 14th amendment’s due process clause. Today we will look at another aspect of that amendment, the equal protection clause. This has been used numerous times since the Reconstruction era to support the advancement of equality in our society and make it more democratic.
Lets Zoom in:
As mentioned in a previous episode, the 14th amendment was passed in the Reconstruction era as part of a trio of amendments intended to give rights to the formerly enslaved people of this country. The last part of it states that the government will not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Over time, this equal protection has gone beyond race to also include religion, gender, national origin, and recently, sexual orientation. Numerous social movements meant to advance these civil rights show how the equal protection clause can support the advancement of rights among groups of people - from the women’s rights movement, to Dreamers, to the LGBTQ movement. While the concept of equality doesn’t seem difficult in theory, often it comes down to those who have power and those who don’t.
Policies that promote civil rights are a product of their time,and thus change as society’s standards and expectations change. Public policy is affected by public opinion and changing ideas of what is or is not acceptable. Let’s look at segregated education as an example. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” schools was acceptable in the case Plessy v Ferguson. Nearly 60 years later, it was obvious that the separate opportunities for white and people of color were not even remotely equal. In 1954, the Supreme Court heard the case of Brown v Board of Education, which was a case involving schools in Topeka, Kansas. The Court held that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. At this point it became illegal to have publically segregated public schools, but getting the states to enforce the new ruling was another matter. It also didn't apply to all areas of life being desegregated, just education. Nearly a decade later, civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr. were still working to desegregate other public spaces and bring equality to the important area of voting.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr wrote “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail” after he was arrested for protesting against segregation in Alabama. The letter was directed at the nation’s clergy, and was published by numerous newspapers across the country. It was a call to action, and argued that “one has a responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” The letter argued that rather than wait for society to progress, the civil rights movement needed to bring the issue front and center, and force the process to occur. The following year, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, which essentially outlawed discrimination based on race. The following year, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, and targeted the remaining Jim Crow laws that were preventing people of color from voting, such as the poll tax and literacy tests.
Following the Civil Rights acts of the 1960’s, other marginalized groups started to fight for equal protection under the Constitution as well. The women’s rights movement arguably started at Seneca Falls, with discussions of getting women the right to vote. Once accomplished, other discussions of equal status for women largely died out until the 1960’s with groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and National Women’s Political Caucus. The following decade saw courts begin to strike down arbitrary laws based solely on gender, especially in the areas of employment. Associated with the concept of equality in the workplace is the consent of education. In 1972, Title IX was passed as part of the Education Act. This forbade gender discrimination for educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. This has affected everything from scholarships, to the number of male vs female sports, to sexual assault on campus.
There are many other marginalized groups that have been affected by civil rights movements, but for the purpose of the test, the final group we will discuss today is the LGBTQ movement. While strides were being made against racial and sex inequality, there were millions of Americans still being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Although the movement arguably made national awareness around the same time, with the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, the courts have been slow to provide official protections for individuals based on sexual orientation. Attitudes have changed greatly in the last two decades, fighting to allow gay members to openly serve in the military as of 2010 and overturning the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 and 2015, making gay marriage legally protected in all 50 states. This past summer also marked an important milestone in the LGBTQ movement with the Supreme Court ruling in favor of employment protections also covering homosexuality and being transgender. The Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act protected these individuals when it said that people cannot be discriminated against based on sex, and individuals cannot be fired for coming out as being homosexual or transgender.
To recap……
Interpretations of the Constitution are a product of their time, and since the 1950’s major strides have been taken to extend the concepts of equality and protection to marginalized groups. From areas of education, to employment, to marriage, movements to expand civil rights and liberties has brought greater equality and protection to tens of millions of Americans
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP US Government Edition: American Attitudes about Government and Politics
Today’s Question of the day is about Americans with Disabilities Act.
Question: In 1965, a Japanese inventor created something that is now commonplace in public places in this country, tactile paving. Do you know what that is?