Transcript for:
Overview of American Civil Rights History

this is american government third edition an open stacks textbook all openstacks textbooks are covered under a creative commons license and are completely free you can find this audiobook anywhere you listen to podcasts including spotify youtube apple podcasts and more narrated by brian barrick and sarah arya chapter 5 civil rights [Music] introduction the u.s constitution and its founding principles of liberty equality and justice are admired and emulated the world over however not everyone living in the u.s has enjoyed the same treatment and freedoms the law promises when we consider the experiences of women immigrants people of color lgbtq people people with disabilities and other groups a majority of americans have been deprived of basic rights and opportunities and sometimes of citizenship itself this idea of america is indeed a work in progress the struggle for civil rights is a story of courageous individuals and social movements awakening fellow americans compelling lawmakers and inspiring the courts to make good on these founding promises while many changes must still be made the past 100 years have seen remarkable progress yet as the rash of thinly veiled voter suppression bills making their way through state legislatures demonstrate members of these groups still encounter prejudice discrimination and even exclusion from civic life what is the difference between civil liberties and civil rights how did the african-americans struggle for civil rights evolve what challenges did women overcome in securing the right to vote and what obstacles do they and other u.s groups still face this chapter addresses these and other questions in exploring the essential concepts of civil rights [Music] 5.1 what are civil rights and how do we identify them learning objectives by the end of the section you'll be able to define the concept of civil rights describe the standards that courts use when deciding whether a discriminatory law or regulation is unconstitutional identify three core questions for recognizing a civil rights problem the belief that people should be treated equally under the law is one of the cornerstones of political thought in the united states yet not all citizens have been treated equally throughout the nation's history and some are treated differently even today for example until 1920 nearly all women in the united states lacked the right to vote black men received the right to vote in 1870 but as late as 1940 only three percent of african-american adults living in the south were registered to vote due largely to laws designed to keep them from the polls americans were not allowed to enter into legal marriage with a member of the same sex in many u.s states until 2015 some types of unequal treatment are considered acceptable in some contexts while others are clearly not no one would consider it acceptable to allow a 10 year old to vote because a child lacks the ability to understand important political issues but all reasonable people would agree that it is wrong to mandate racial segregation or to deny someone voting rights on the basis of race it is important to understand which types of inequality are unacceptable and why defining civil rights essentially civil rights are guarantees by the government that it will treat people equally particularly people belonging to groups that have historically been denied the same rights and opportunities as others the due process clause of the fifth amendment to the u.s constitution enacted the declaration of independence's proclamation that all men are created equal by providing du jour equal treatment under the law according to chief justice earl warren in the supreme court case of bowling versus sharp 1954 discrimination may be so unjustifiable as to be violative of due process additional guarantees of equality were provided in 1868 by the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment which states in part that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws thus between the 5th and 14th amendments neither state governments nor the federal government may treat people unequally unless unequal treatment is necessary to maintain important governmental interests such as public safety we can contrast civil rights with civil liberties which are limitations on government power designed to protect our fundamental freedoms for example the eighth amendment prohibits the application of cruel and unusual punishments to those convicted of crimes a limitation on the power of members of each governmental branch judges law enforcement and lawmakers as another example the guarantee of equal protection means the laws and the constitution must be applied on an equal basis limiting the government's ability to discriminate or treat some people differently unless the unequal treatment is based on a valid reason such as age a law that imprisons men twice as long as women for the same offense or restricting people with disabilities from contacting members of congress would treat some people differently from others for no valid reason and would therefore be unconstitutional according to the supreme court's interpretation of the equal protection clause all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike if people are not similarly circumstanced however they may be treated differently asian americans and latinos overstaying a visa are similarly circumstanced however a blind driver or a 10 year old driver is differently circumstanced than a sighted adult driver identifying discrimination laws that treat one group of people differently from others are not always unconstitutional in fact the government engages in legal discrimination quite often in most states you must be 18 years old to smoke cigarettes and 21 to drink alcohol these laws discriminate against the young to get a driver's license so you can legally drive a car on public roads you have to be a minimum age and pass tests showing your knowledge practical skills and vision some public colleges and universities run by the government have an open admission policy which means the school admits all who apply but others require that students have a high school diploma or a particular score on the sat or act or a gpa above a certain number this is a kind of discrimination because these requirements treat people who do not have a high school diploma or a high enough gpa or sat score differently how can the federal state and local governments discriminate in all these ways even though the equal protection clause seems to suggest that everyone be treated the same the answer to this question lies in the purpose of the discriminatory practice in most cases when the courts are deciding whether discrimination is unlawful the government has to demonstrate only that it has a good reason to do so unless the person or group challenging the law can prove otherwise the courts will generally decide the discriminatory practice is allowed in these cases the courts are applying the rational basis test that is as long as there's a reason for treating some people differently that is rationally related to a legitimate government interest the discriminatory act or law or policy is acceptable for example since letting blind people operate cars would be dangerous to others on the road the law forbidding them to drive is reasonably justified on the grounds of safety and is therefore allowed even though it discriminates against the blind similarly when universities and colleges refuse to admit students who fail to meet a certain test score or gpa they can discriminate against students with weaker grades and test scores because these students most likely do not yet possess the knowledge or skills needed to do well in their classes and graduate from the institution the universities and colleges have a legitimate reason for denying these students entrants the courts however are much more skeptical when it comes to certain other forms of discrimination because of the united states history of ethnic racial gender and religious discrimination the courts apply more stringent rules to policies laws and actions that discriminate on these bases race ethnicity gender religion or national origin discrimination based on gender or sex is generally examined with intermediate scrutiny the standard of intermediate scrutiny was first applied by the supreme court in craig versus boren 1976 and again in clark versus jeter 1988. it requires the government to demonstrate that treating men and women differently is substantially related to an important governmental objective this puts the burden of proof on the government to demonstrate why the unequal treatment is justifiable not on the individual who alleges unfair discrimination has taken place in practice this means laws that treat men and women differently are sometimes upheld although usually they are not for example in the 1980s and 1990s the courts ruled that states could not operate single-sex institutions of higher education and that such schools like south carolina's military college the citadel must admit both male and female students women in the military are now also allowed to serve in all combat roles although the courts have continued to allow the selective service system the draft to register only men and not women discrimination against members of racial ethnic or religious groups or those of various national origins is reviewed to the greatest degree by the courts which apply the strict scrutiny standard in these cases under strict scrutiny the burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate that there is a compelling governmental interest in treating people from one group differently from those who are not part of that group the law or action can be narrowly tailored to achieve the goal in question and that it is the least restrictive means available to achieve that goal in other words if there is a non-discriminatory way to accomplish the goal in question discrimination should not take place in the modern era laws and actions that are challenged under strict scrutiny have rarely been upheld strict scrutiny however was the legal basis for the supreme court's 1944 upholding of the legality of the internment of japanese americans during world war ii discussed later in this chapter finally affirmative action consists of government programs and policies designed to benefit members of groups historically subject to discrimination much of the controversy surrounding affirmative action is about whether strict scrutiny should be applied to these cases putting civil rights in the constitution at the time of the nation's founding of course the treatment of many groups was unequal the rights of women were decidedly fewer than those of men and neither they the hundreds of thousands of enslaved people of african descent or indigenous americans were considered fully human let alone u.s citizens while the early united states was perhaps a more inclusive society than most of the world at that time equal treatment of all remained a radical idea the aftermath of the civil war marked a turning point for civil rights the republican majority in congress was enraged by the actions of the reconstituted governments of the southern states in these states many former confederate politicians and their sympathizers returned to power and attempted to circumvent the 13th amendment's freeing of enslaved men and women by passing laws known as the black codes these laws were designed to reduce formerly enslaved people to the status of serfs or indentured servants black people were not just denied the right to vote but also could be arrested and jailed for vagrancy or idleness if they lacked jobs black people were excluded from public schools and state colleges and were subject to violence at the hands of white people to override the southern states actions lawmakers in congress proposed two amendments to the constitution designed to give political equality and power to formerly enslaved people once passed by congress and ratified by the necessary number of states these became the 14th and 15th amendments in addition to including the equal protection clause as noted above the 14th amendment also was designed to ensure that the states would respect the civil liberties of freed people the 15th amendment was proposed to secure the right to vote for black men which will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter identifying civil rights issues looking back it's relatively easy to identify civil rights issues that arose looking into the future is much harder for example few people 50 years ago would have identified the rights of gay or transgender americans as an important civil rights issue or predicted it would become one similarly in past decades the rights of those with disabilities particularly intellectual disabilities were often ignored by the public at large many people with disabilities were institutionalized and given little further thought and until very recently laws remained on the books and some states allowing those with intellectual or developmental disabilities to be subject to forced sterilization today most of us view this treatment as barbaric clearly then new civil rights issues can emerge over time how can we as citizens identify them as they emerge and distinguish genuine claims of discrimination from claims by those who have merely been unable to convince a majority to agree with their viewpoints for example how do we decide if 16 year olds are discriminated against because they're not allowed to vote as some u.s lawmakers are starting to suggest we can identify true discrimination by applying the following analytical process number one which groups first identify the group of people who are facing discrimination number two which rights are threatened second what right or rights are being denied to members of this group number three what do we do third what can the government do to bring about a fair situation for the affected group is proposing and enacting such a remedy realistic get connected join the fight for civil rights one way to get involved in the fight for civil rights is to stay informed the southern poverty law center splc is a not-for-profit advocacy group based in montgomery alabama lawyers for the splc specialize in civil rights litigation and represent many people whose rights have been violated from victims of hate crimes to undocumented immigrants they provide summaries of important civil rights cases under their docket section activity visit the splc website to find current information about a variety of different hate groups in what part of the country do hate groups seem to be concentrated where are hate incidents most likely to occur what might be some reasons for this [Music] 5.2 the african-american struggle for equality learning objectives by the end of this section you'll be able to identify key events in the history of african-american civil rights explain how the courts congress and the executive branch supported the civil rights movement described the role of grassroots efforts in the civil rights movement many groups in u.s history have sought recognition as equal citizens although each group's efforts have been notable and important arguably the greatest longest and most violent struggle remains that of african americans whose dehumanization was even written into the text of the constitution in the clause counting them as three-fifths of a person their fight for freedom and equality provided the legal and moral foundation for others who sought recognition on their equality later on slavery and the civil war in the declaration of independence thomas jefferson made the radical statement that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness yet like other wealthy landowners of his time jefferson also owned dozens of other human beings as his personal property he recognized this contradiction personally considered the institution of slavery to be a hideous blot on the nation and agreed to free those he held in bondage upon his death however to forge a political union that would stand the test of time he and the other founders and later the framers of the constitution chose not to address the issue in any definitive way political support for abolition was very much a minority stance in the united states at the time although after the revolution many of the northern states followed the european example of 50 years prior in abolishing slavery as the new united states expanded westward however the issue of slavery became harder to ignore and ignited much controversy many opponents of slavery were willing to accept the institution if it remained largely confined to the south but did not want it to spread westward they feared the expansion of slavery would lead to the political dominance of the south over the north and would deprive small farmers in the newly acquired western territories who could not afford to enslave others abolitionists primarily in the north argued that slavery was immoral and contrary to the nation's values and demanded an end to it the spread of slavery into the west seemed inevitable however following the supreme court's 1857 ruling in the case dred scott versus sanford the justices rejected scott's argument that though he had been born into slavery his time spent in free states and territories where slavery had been banned by the federal government had made him a free man in fact the court's majority stated that scott had no legal right to sue for his freedom at all because black people whether free or enslaved were not and could not become u.s citizens thus scott lacked the standing to even appear before the court the court also held that congress lacked the power to decide whether slavery would be permitted in a territory that had been acquired after the constitution was ratified this decision had the effect of prohibiting the federal government from passing any law that would limit the expansion of slavery into any part of the west ultimately of course the issue was decided by the civil war 1861 through 1865 with the southern states seceding to defend states rights specifically the purported right to own human property without federal interference although at the beginning of the war president abraham lincoln had been willing to allow slavery to continue in the south to preserve the union he changed his policies regarding abolition over the course of the war the first step was the issuance of the emancipation proclamation on january 1 1863 although it stated all persons held as slaves henceforth shall be free the proclamation was limited in effect to the states that had rebelled enslaved people in states that had remained within the union such as maryland and delaware were not set free nor were they in parts of the confederacy already occupied by the union army although enslaved people in rebel states were freed by federal decree the relatively small union troop presence made it impossible to enforce their release from bondage reconstruction at the end of the civil war the south entered a period called reconstruction 1865 to 1877 during which state governments were reorganized before the rebellious states were allowed to be readmitted to the union as part of this process the republican party pushed for a permanent end to slavery a constitutional amendment to this effect was passed by the house of representatives in january of 1865 after having already been approved by the senate in april of 1864 and it was ratified in december of 1865 as the 13th amendment the amendment's first section states neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the united states or any place subject to their jurisdiction in effect this amendment outlawed slavery in the united states the changes wrought by the 14th amendment were more extensive in addition to introducing the equal protection clause to the constitution this amendment also extended the due process clause of the fifth amendment to the states required the states to respect the privileges or immunities of all citizens and for the first time defined citizenship at the national and state levels people could no longer be excluded from citizenship based solely on their race although lack of political or judicial action rendered some of these provisions toothless others were pivotal in the expansion of civil rights the 15th amendment stated that people could not be denied to vote based on race color or previous condition of servitude this construction allowed states to continue to decide the qualifications of voters as long as those qualifications seemed to be race neutral thus while states could not deny black people the right to vote on the basis of race they could deny it on any number of arbitrary grounds such as literacy land ownership affluence or political knowledge although the immediate effect of these provisions was quite profound over time the republicans in congress gradually lost interest in pursuing reconstruction policies and the reconstruction ended with the end of military rule in the south and the withdrawal of the union army in 1877. following the army's removal political control of the south fell once again into the hands of white men and violence was used to discourage black people from exercising the rights they had been granted the revocation of voting rights or disenfranchisement took a number of forms not every southern state used the same methods and some states used more than one but they all disproportionately affected black voter registration and turnout perhaps the most famous of the tools of disenfranchisement were the literacy tests and understanding tests literacy tests which had been used in the north since the 1850s to disqualify naturalized european immigrants from voting called on the prospective voter to demonstrate his and later her ability to read a particular passage of text however since voter registration officials had discretion to decide what text the voter was to read they could give easy passages to voters they wanted to register typically white people and more difficult passages to those whose registration they wanted to deny typically black people understanding tests required the prospective voter to explain the meaning of a particular passage of text often a provision of the u.s constitution or answer a series of questions related to citizenship again since the official examining the prospective voter could decide which passage or questions to choose the difficulty of the test might vary dramatically between african-american and white applicants even had these tests been administered fairly and equitably however most african-americans would have been at a huge disadvantage because few had been taught to read although schools for black people had existed in some places southern states had made it largely illegal to teach enslaved people to read and write at the beginning of the civil war only five percent of black people could read and write and most of them lived in the north some were able to take advantage of educational opportunities after they were freed but many were not able to gain effective literacy in some states poorer less literate white voters feared being disenfranchised by the literacy and understanding tests some states introduced a loophole known as the grandfather clause to allow less literate white people to vote the grandfather clause exempted those who had been allowed to vote in that state prior to the civil war and their descendants from literacy and understanding tests because black people were not allowed to vote prior to the civil war but most white men had been voting at a time when there were no literacy tests this loophole allowed most illiterate white people to vote while leaving obstacles in place for black people who wanted to vote as well time limits were often placed on these provisions because state legislators realized that they might quickly be declared unconstitutional but they lasted long enough to allow illiterate white men to register to vote in states where the voting rights of poor white people were less of a concern another tool for disenfranchisement was the poll tax this was an annual per person tax typically one or two dollars on the order of twenty dollars to fifty dollars today that a person had to pay to register to vote people who didn't wanna vote didn't have to pay but in several states the poll tax was cumulative so if you decided to vote you would have to pay not only the tax due for that year but any poll tax from previous years as well because formerly enslaved people were usually quite poor they were less likely than white men to be able to pay poll taxes although these methods were usually sufficient to ensure that black people were kept away from the polls some dedicated african-americans did manage to register to vote despite the obstacles placed in their way to ensure their vote was largely meaningless the white elites used their control of the democratic party to create the white primary primary elections in which only white people were allowed to vote the state party organizations argued that as private groups rather than part of the state government they had no obligation to follow the 15th amendment's requirement not to deny the right to vote on the basis of race furthermore they contended voting for nominees to run for office was not the same as electing those who would actually hold office so they held primary elections to choose the democratic nominee in which only white citizens were allowed to vote once the nominee had been chosen they might face token opposition from a republican or minor party candidate in the general election but since white voters had agreed beforehand to support whoever won the democrats primary the outcome of the general election was a foregone conclusion with black people effectively disenfranchised the restored southern state governments undermined guarantees of equal treatment in the 14th amendment they passed laws that excluded african americans from juries and allowed the imprisonment and forced labor of quote-unquote idol black citizens the laws also called for segregation of white and black people in public places under the doctrine known as separate but equal as long as nominally equal facilities were provided for both races it was legal to require members of each race to use the facilities designated for them similarly state and local governments passed laws limiting neighborhoods in which black and white people could live collectively these discriminatory laws came to be known as jim crow laws the supreme court upheld the separate but equal doctrine in 1896 in plessy versus ferguson inconsistent with the 14th amendment's equal protection clause and allowed segregation to continue civil rights in the courts by the turn of the 20th century the position of african americans was quite bleak even outside the south racial inequality was a fact of everyday life african american leaders and thinkers themselves disagreed on the right path forward some like booker t washington argued that acceptance of inequality and segregation over the short term would allow african americans to focus their efforts on improving their educational and social status until white people were forced to acknowledge them as equals w.e.b dubois however argued for a more confrontational approach and in 1909 founded the national association for the advancement of colored people naacp as a rallying point for securing equality white liberals dominated the organization in its early years but black people assumed control over its operations in the 1920s the naacp soon focused on a strategy of overturning jim crow laws through the courts perhaps its greatest series of legal successes consisted of its efforts to challenge segregation in education early cases brought by the naacp dealt with racial discrimination in higher education in 1938 the supreme court essentially gave states a choice they could either integrate institutions of higher education or they could establish an equivalent university or college for african americans southern states chose to establish colleges for black people rather than allow them into all-white state institutions although this ruling expanded opportunities for professional and graduate education in areas such as law and medicine for african americans by requiring states to provide institutions for them to attend it nevertheless allowed segregated colleges and universities to continue to exist the landmark court decision of the judicial phase of the civil rights movement settled the brown versus board of education case in 1954 in this case the supreme court unanimously overturned its decision in plessy versus ferguson as it pertained to public education stating that a separate but equal education was a logical impossibility even with the same funding and equivalent facilities a segregated school could not have the same teachers or environment as the equivalent school for another race the court also rested its decision in part on social science studies suggesting that racial discrimination led to feelings of inferiority among black children the only way to dispel this sense of inferiority was to end segregation and integrate public schools it is safe to say this ruling was controversial while integration of public schools took place without much incident in some areas of the south particularly where there were few black students elsewhere it was confrontational or non-existent in recognition of the fact that southern states would delay school integration for as long as possible civil rights activists urged the federal government to enforce the supreme court's decision bayard rustin and a philip randolph organized a prayer pilgrimage for freedom in washington dc on may 17 1957 in which approximately 25 000 african americans participated a few months later in little rock arkansas governor orville fabis resisted court-ordered integration and mobilized national guard troops to keep black students out of central high school president eisenhower then called up the arkansas national guard for federal duty essentially taking the troops out of phabas hands and sent soldiers of the 101st airborne division to escort students to and from classes to avoid integration fabus closed four high schools in little rock the following school year in virginia state leaders employed a strategy of massive resistance to school integration which led to the closure of a large number of public schools across the state some for years although de jour segregation segregation mandated by law had ended on paper in practice few efforts were made to integrate schools in most school districts with substantial black student populations until the 1960s many white southerners who objected to sending their children to school with black students then established private academies that admitted only white students many of these schools remain overwhelmingly white today school and other segregation was and is hardly limited to the south many neighborhoods and northern cities remain segregated by virtue of redlining districts where minorities were allowed and not allowed to live restrictive real estate covenants bound white residents to not sell their houses to african americans and sometimes not to chinese japanese mexicans filipinos jews and other ethnic minorities in new york city in the late 1950s a group of activist parents led by may mallory protested the inadequate schools in their neighborhood a court ruled that new york was engaging in de facto segregation and forced the city to institute policies that would provide more equitable access more recently banks have been fined for not lending to people of color to buy homes and start business at rates commensurate with similarly situated prospective white borrowers relegation of minority residents to less desirable neighborhoods has the practical effect of diminishing both generational wealth and the tax base needed to build maintain and improve schools and other institutions that might hasten equality and integration in the post-war era of white flight however the supreme court had been evolving into a more progressive force in the promotion and preservation of civil rights in the case of shelley versus kramer 1948 the supreme court held that while such covenants did not violate the 14th amendment because they consisted of agreements between private citizens their provisions could not be enforced by courts because state courts are government institutions and the 14th amendment prohibits the government from denying people equal protection of the law the court's enforcement of such covenants would be a violation of the amendment thus if a white family chose to sell its house to a black family and the other homeowners in the neighborhood tried to sue the seller the court would not hear the case in 1967 the supreme court struck down a virginia law that prohibited interracial marriage in loving versus virginia legislating civil rights beyond these favorable court rulings however progress toward equality for african americans remained slow in the 1950s in 1962 congress proposed what later became the 24th amendment which banned the poll tax in elections to federal but not state or local office the amendment went into effect after being ratified in early 1964. several southern states continued to require residents to pay poll taxes in order to vote in state elections until 1966 when in the case of harper vs virginia board of elections the supreme court declared that requiring payment of a poll tax in order to vote in an election at any level was unconstitutional the slow rate of progress led to frustration within the black community newer grassroots organizations such as the southern christian leadership conference congress of racial equality and student non-violent coordinating committee challenged the naacp's position as the leading civil rights organization and questioned its legal focused strategy these newer groups tended to prefer more confrontational approaches including the use of direct action campaigns relying on marches and demonstrations the strategies of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience or the refusal to obey an unjust law had been effective in the campaign led by mahatma gandhi to liberate colonial india from british rule in the 1930s and 1940s civil rights pioneers adopted these measures in the 1955-1956 montgomery bus boycott after rosa parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person and was arrested a group of black women carried out a day-long boycott of montgomery's public transit system this boycott was then extended for over a year and overseen by union organizer e.d nixon the effort desegregated public transportation in that city direct action also took such forms as the sit-in campaigns to desegregate lunch counters that began in greensboro north carolina in 1960 and the 1961 freedom rides in which black and white volunteers rode buses and trains through the south to enforce a 1946 supreme court decision that desegregated interstate transportation morgan versus virginia while such focused campaigns could be effective they often had little impact in places where they were not replicated in addition some of the campaigns led to violence against both the campaigns leaders and ordinary people rosa parks a long time naacp member and graduate of the highlander folk school for civil rights activists whose actions had begun the montgomery boycott received death threats edie nixon's home was bombed and the freedom riders were attacked in alabama as the campaign for civil rights continued and gained momentum president john f kennedy called for congress to pass new civil rights legislation which began to work its way through congress in 1963 the resulting law pushed heavily and then signed by president lyndon b johnson after kennedy's assassination was the civil rights act of 1964 which had wide-ranging effects on u.s society not only did the act outlaw government discrimination and the unequal application of voting qualifications by race but it also for the first time outlawed segregation and other forms of discrimination by most businesses that were open to the public including hotels theaters and restaurants that were not private clubs it outlawed discrimination on the basis of race ethnicity religion sex or national origin by most employers and it created the equal employment opportunity commission eeoc to monitor employment discrimination claims and help enforce this provision of the law the provisions that affected private businesses and employers were legally justified not by the 14th amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws but instead by congress's power to regulate interstate commerce even though the civil rights act of 1964 had a monumental impact over the long term it did not end efforts by many southern white people to maintain the white dominated political power structure in the region progress in registering african-american voters remained slow in many states despite increased federal activity supporting it so civil rights leaders including martin luther king jr decided to draw the public eye to the area where the greatest resistance to voter registration drives were taking place the sclc and sncc particularly focused their attention on the city of selma alabama which had been the site of violent reactions against civil rights activities the organization's leaders planned a march from selma to montgomery in march 1965. their first attempt to march was violently broken up by state police and sheriff's deputies the second attempt was aborted because king feared it would lead to a brutal confrontation with police and violate a court order from a federal judge who had been sympathetic to the movement in the past that night three of the marchers white ministers from the north were attacked and beaten with clubs by members of the klu klux klan one of the victims died from his injuries televised images of the brutality against protesters and the death of a minister led to greater public sympathy for the cause eventually a third march was successful in reaching the state capital of montgomery the events at selma galvanized support in congress for a follow-up bill solely dealing with the right to vote the voting rights act of 1965 went beyond previous laws by requiring greater oversight of elections by federal officials literacy and understanding tests and other devices used to discriminate against voters on the basis of race were banned the voting rights act proved to have much more immediate and dramatic effect than the laws that preceded it what had been a fairly slow process of improving voter registration and participation was replaced by a rapid increase of black voter registration rates although white registration rates increased over this period as well to many people's way of thinking however the supreme court turned back the clocks when it gutted a core aspect of the voting rights act in shelby county versus holder 2013. no longer would states need federal approval to change laws and policies related to voting indeed many states with a history of voter discrimination quickly resumed restrictive practices with laws requiring photo id limiting early voting ballot drop-off locations and hours and making registering and waiting to vote more onerous some of the new restrictions are already being challenged in the courts not all african americans in the civil rights movement were comfortable with gradual change instead of using marches and demonstrations to change people's attitudes calling for tougher civil rights laws or suing for their rights in court they favored more immediate action to prevent white oppression and protect their communities men like malcolm x and groups like the black panthers were willing to use other means to achieve their goals faced with continual violence at the hands of police and acts of terrorism like the bombing of a black church in alabama that killed four girls malcolm x expressed significant distrust of white people he sought to raise the self-esteem of black people and advocated for their separation from the united states through eventual immigration to africa in general malcolm x rejected the mainstream civil rights movement's integration and assimilation approach and laid the foundation for the black power movement which sought self-determination and independence for black people his position was attractive to many young african americans especially after martin luther king jr was assassinated in 1968 continuing challenges for african americans the civil rights movement for african americans did not end with the passage of the voting rights act in 1965. for the last 50 years the african-american community has faced challenges related to both past and current discrimination and progress on both fronts remains slow uneven and often frustrating legacies of the du jour segregation of the past remain in much of the united states many black people still live in predominantly black neighborhoods where their ancestors were forced by laws and housing covenants to live even those who live in the suburbs once largely populated only by white people tend to live in suburbs that are mostly populated by black people some 2 million african-american young people attend schools whose student body is composed almost entirely of students of color during the late 1960s and early 1970s efforts to tackle these problems were stymied by large-scale public opposition not just in the south but across the nation attempts to integrate public schools through the use of busing transporting students from one segregated neighborhood to another to achieve more racially balanced schools were particularly unpopular and helped contribute to white flight from cities to the suburbs this white flight has created de facto segregation a form of segregation that results from the choices of individuals to live in segregated communities without government action or support today a lack of well-paying jobs in many urban areas combined with the poverty resulting from the legacies of slavery jim crow era terror and persistent racism has trapped many black people in underserved neighborhoods with markedly lower opportunity and life expectancy while the civil rights act of 1964 created opportunities for members of the black middle class to advance economically and socially and to live in the same neighborhoods as the white middle class their departure left many black neighborhoods mired in poverty and without the strong community ties that existed during the era of legal segregation many of these neighborhoods continue to suffer from high rates of crime and violence police also appear consciously or subconsciously to engage in racial profiling singling out black people and latino people for greater attention than members of other racial and ethnic groups as former fbi director james b comey and former new york police commissioner bill bratton have admitted when incidents of real or perceived injustice arise as recently occurred after a series of deaths of black people at the hands of police in ferguson missouri staten island new york baltimore maryland louisville kentucky and minneapolis minnesota many african americans turned to the streets to protest because they feel abandoned or ignored by politicians of all races while the public mood may have shifted toward greater concern about economic inequality in the united states substantial policy changes to immediately improve the economic standing of african americans in general have not followed the obama administration proposed new rules under the fair housing act that were intended to lead to more integrated communities in the future however the trump administration repeatedly sought to weaken the fair housing act primarily through lack of enforcement of existing regulations meanwhile grassroots movements to improve neighborhoods and local schools have taken root in many black communities across america and perhaps in those movements is the hope for greater future progress other recent movements are more troubling notably the increased presence and influence of white nationalism throughout the country this movement espouses white supremacy and does not shrink from the threat or use of violence to achieve it such violence occurred in charlottesville virginia in august 2017 when various white supremacist groups and alt-right forces joined together in a unite the right rally this rally included chants and racial slurs against african americans and jews those rallying clashed with counter protesters one of whom died when an avowed neo-nazi deliberately drove his car into a group of peaceful protesters he has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his actions this event sent shockwaves through u.s politics as leaders tried to grapple with the significance of the event president trump said that good people existed on both sides of the clash and later for inciting a group of protesters to storm the capital after a rally of his in which he repeated the false claim that the election had been stolen from him finding a middle ground affirmative action one of the major controversies regarding race in the united states today is related to affirmative action the practice of ensuring that members of historically disadvantaged or underrepresented groups have equal access to opportunities in education the workplace and government contracting the phrase affirmative action originated in the civil rights act of 1964 and executive order 11246 and it has drawn controversy ever since the civil rights act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in employment and executive order 11246 issued in 1965 forbade employment discrimination not only within the federal government but by federal contractors and contractors and subcontractors who received government funds clearly black people as well as other groups have been subject to discrimination in the past and present limiting their opportunity to compete on a level playing field with those who face no such challenge opponents of affirmative action however point out that many of its beneficiaries are ethnic minorities from relatively affluent backgrounds while white and asian americans who grew up in poverty are expected to succeed despite facing challenges related to their socioeconomic status and those related to educational issues in lower income areas because affirmative action attempts to redress discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity it is generally subject to the strict scrutiny standard which means the burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate the necessity of racial discrimination to achieve a compelling governmental interest in 1978 in bockey versus california the supreme court upheld affirmative action and said that colleges and universities could consider race when deciding whom to admit but could not establish racial quotas in 2003 the supreme court reaffirmed the baki decision in gruder vs bollinger which said that taking race or ethnicity into account as one of several factors in admitting a student to a college or university was acceptable but a system setting aside seats for a specific quota of minority students was not all these issues are back under discussion in the supreme court with the re-arguing of fisher versus university of texas in fisher versus university of texas 2013 known as fisher one university of texas student abigail fisher brought suit to declare ut's race-based admissions policy as inconsistent with grutter the court did not see the ut policy that way and allowed it so long as it remained narrowly tailored and not quota based fisher 2 2016 was decided by a 4-3 majority it allowed race-based admissions but required that the utility of such an approach had to be re-established on a regular basis should race be a factor in deciding who will be admitted to a particular college why or why not [Music] 5.3 the fight for women's rights learning objectives by the end of this section you'll be able to describe early efforts to achieve rights for women explain why the equal rights amendment failed to be ratified describe the ways in which women acquired greater rights in the 20th century analyze why women continue to experience unequal treatment along with african americans women of all races and ethnicities have long been discriminated against in the united states and the women's rights movements began at the same time as the movement to abolish slavery in the united states indeed the women's movement came about largely as a result of the difficulties women encountered while trying to abolish slavery the trailblazing seneca falls convention for women's rights was held in 1848 a few years before the civil war but the abolition and african-american civil rights movements largely eclipsed the women's movement throughout most of the 19th century women began to campaign actively again in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and another movement for women's rights began in the 1960s early women's rights movement and women's suffrage at the time of the american revolution women had few rights although single women were allowed to own property married women were not when women married their separate legal identities were erased under the legal principle of coverture not only did women adopt their husbands names but all personal property they owned legally became their husband's property husbands could not sell their wives real property such as land or in some states enslaved people without their permission but they were allowed to manage it and retain the profits if women worked outside the home their husbands were entitled to their wages so long as a man provided food clothing and shelter for his wife she was not legally allowed to leave him divorce was difficult and in some places impossible to obtain higher education for women was not available and women were barred from professional positions in medicine law and ministry following the revolution women's conditions did not improve women were not granted the right to vote by any of the states except new jersey which at first allowed all tax-paying property owners to vote however in 1807 the law changed to limit the vote to men changes in property laws actually hurt women by making it easier for their husbands to sell their property without their consent although women had few rights they nevertheless played an important role in transforming american society this was especially true in the 1830s and 1840s a time when numerous social reform movements swept across the united states in 1832 for example african-american writer and activist maria w stewart became the first american-born woman to give a speech to a mixed audience while there was racism within the suffrage movement including calls for segregated marches and a lack of scrutiny on the topic of lynchings many women were active in the abolition movement and the temperance movement which tried to end the excessive consumption of liquor they often found they were hindered in their efforts however either by the law or by widely held beliefs that they were weak silly creatures who should leave important issues to men one of the leaders of the early women's movement elizabeth katie stanton was shocked and angered when she sought to attend an 1840 anti-slavery meeting in london only to learn that women would not be allowed to participate and had to sit apart from the men at this convention she made the acquaintance of another american woman abolitionist lucretia mott who was also appalled by the male reformers treatment of women in 1848 stanton and mott called for a woman's rights convention the first ever held specifically to address the subject at seneca falls new york at the seneca falls convention stanton wrote the declaration of sentiments which was modeled after the declaration of independence and proclaimed women were equal to men and deserved the same rights among the rights stanton wished to see granted to women was suffrage the right to vote when called upon to sign the declaration many of the delegates feared that if women demanded the right to vote the movement would be considered too radical and its members would become a laughingstock the declaration passed but the resolution demanding suffrage was the only one that did not pass unanimously along with other feminists advocates of women's equality such as her friend and colleague susan b anthony stanton fought for rights for women besides suffrage including the right to seek higher education as a result of their efforts several states passed laws that allowed married women to retain control of their property and let divorced women keep custody of their children amelia bloomer another activist also campaigned for dress reform believing women could lead better lives and be more useful to society if they were not restricted by voluminous heavy skirts and tight corsets the women's rights movement attracted many women who like stanton and anthony were active in either the temperance movement the abolition movement or both movements sarah and angelina grimke the daughters of a wealthy slaveholding family in south carolina became first abolitionists and then women's rights activists prominent black and formerly enslaved women such as sojourner truth francis ellen watkins harper and marianne shad carey joined the women's movement after establishing themselves as key figures in the abolition movement these women were known for direct unorthodox and effective arguments for the suffragist cause truths ain't i a woman speech is among the most well-known of the movement and kerry a lawyer delivered a critical equality argument before the senate judiciary committee following the civil war and the abolition of slavery the women's rights movement fragmented stanton and anthony denounced the 15th amendment because it granted voting rights only to black men and not to women of any race the fight for women's rights did not die however in 1869 stanton and anthony formed the national woman suffrage association nwsa which demanded that the constitution be amended to grant the right to vote to all women it also called for more lenient divorce laws and an end to sex discrimination in employment the less radical lucy stone formed the american women's suffrage association awsa in the same year awsa hoped to win the suffrage for women by working on a state-by-state basis instead of seeking to amend the constitution four western states utah colorado wyoming and idaho did extend the right to vote to women in the late 19th century but no other states did women were also granted the right to vote on matters involving liquor licenses in school board elections and in municipal elections in several states however this was often done because of stereotyped beliefs that associated women with moral reform and concern for children not as a result of a belief in women's equality furthermore voting in municipal elections was restricted to women who owned property in 1890 the two suffragist groups united to form the national american women's suffrage association nawsa to call attention to their cause members circulated petitions lobbied politicians and held parades in which hundreds of women and girls marched through the streets the more radical national women's party nwp led by alice paul advocated the use of stronger tactics the nwp held public protests and picketed outside the white house demonstrators were often beaten and arrested and suffragists were subjected to cruel treatment in jail when some like paul began hunger strikes to call attention to their cause their jailers force-fed them an incredibly painful and invasive experience for the women finally in 1920 the triumphant passage of the 19th amendment granted all women the right to vote civil rights and the equal rights amendment just as the passage of the 13th 14th and 15th amendments did not result in equality for african americans the 19th amendment did not end discrimination against women in education employment and other areas of life which continued to be legal although women could vote they very rarely ran for or held public office women continued to be underrepresented in the professions and relatively few sought advanced degrees until the middle of the 20th century the ideal in u.s society was typically for women to marry have children and become housewives those who sought work for pay outside the home were routinely denied jobs because of their sex and when they did find employment were paid less than men women who wished to remain childless or limit the number of children they had in order to work or attend college found it difficult to do so in some states it was illegal to sell contraceptive devices and abortions were largely illegal and difficult for women to obtain a second women's rights movement emerged in the 1960s to address these problems title seven of the civil rights act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sex as well as race color national origin and religion nevertheless women continued to be denied jobs because of their sex and were often sexually harassed at the workplace in 1966 feminists who were angered by the lack of progress made by women and by the government's lackluster enforcement of title vii organized the national organization for women now now promoted workplace equality including equal pay for women and also called for the greater presence of women in public office the professions and graduate and professional degree programs now also declared its support for the equal rights amendment era which mandated equal treatment for all regardless of sex the era written by alice paul and crystal eastman was first proposed to congress unsuccessfully in 1923. it was introduced in every congress thereafter but did not pass both the house and the senate until 1972 the amendment was then sent to the states for ratification with a deadline of march 22nd 1979 although many states ratified the amendment in 1972 and 1973 the era still lacked sufficient support as the deadline drew near opponents including both women and men argued that passage would subject women to military conscription and deny them alimony and custody of their children should they divorce in 1978 congress voted to extend the deadline for ratification to june 30 1982 even with the extension however the amendment failed to receive the support of the required 38 states by the time the deadline arrived it had been ratified by only 35. some of those had rescinded their ratifications and no new state had ratified the era during the extension period in 2020 virginia became the 38th state to ratify though well after the deadline that led the u.s house of representatives to consider and pass legislation to remove the original deadlines however the senate did not take up the legislation in 2021 senator lisa murkowski republican from alaska and senator ben cardin democrat from maryland introduced a new joint resolution to remove the deadline that resolution has yet to be taken up by the senate although the era failed to be ratified title ix of the united states education amendments of 1972 passed into law as a federal statute not as an amendment as the era was meant to be title ix applies to all educational institutions that receive federal aid and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in academic programs dormitory space health care access and school activities including sports thus if a school receives federal aid it cannot spend more funds on programs for men than on programs for women continuing challenges for women there is no doubt that women have made great progress since the seneca falls convention today more women than men attend college and they are more likely than men to graduate women are represented in all the professions and approximately half of all law and medical school students are women women have held cabinet positions and have been elected to congress they have run for president and vice president and three female justices currently serve on the supreme court women are also represented in all branches of the military and can serve in combat as a result of the 1973 supreme court decision in roe vs wade women now have legal access to abortion while women's rights have progressed well beyond where they were in the 1800s questions of equity continue in 2021 the massive disparities between the facilities and housing for men and women in their respective ncaa national tournaments became front page news also in the news recently were the disparities in pay and resources for the u.s men's and women's national soccer teams again women received much less in terms of resources than men despite in this case being the more successful international team and world cup champions in the business world women are still underrepresented in some jobs and are less likely to hold executive positions than our men many believe the glass ceiling an invisible barrier caused by discrimination prevents women from rising to the highest levels of american organizations including corporations governments academic institutions and religious groups women earn less money than men for the same work as of 2014 fully employed women earned 79 cents for every dollar earned by a fully employed man this problem may be compounded by other factors as women from underrepresented groups are even more discriminated against than other women women are also more likely to be single parents than our men as a result more women live below the poverty line than do men and as of 2012 households headed by single women are twice as likely to live below the poverty line than those headed by single men women remain underrepresented in elective offices as of june 2021 women held only about 27 percent of seats in congress and only about 31 percent of seats in state legislatures women remain subject to sexual harassment in the workplace and are more likely than men to be the victims of domestic violence approximately one-third of all women have experienced domestic violence one in five women is assaulted during her college years many in the united states continue to call for a ban on abortion and states have attempted to restrict women's access to the procedure for example many states have required abortion clinics to meet the same standards set for hospitals such as corridor size and parking lot capacity despite lack of evidence regarding the benefits of such standards abortion clinics which are smaller than hospitals often cannot meet such standards other restrictions include mandated counseling before the procedure and the need for minors to secure parental permission before obtaining abortion services whole woman's health versus hellerstedt 2016 cited the lack of evidence for the benefit of larger clinics and further disallowed two texas laws that imposed special requirements on doctors in order to perform abortions furthermore the federal government will not pay for abortions for low-income women except in cases of rape or incest or in situations in which carrying the fetus to term would endanger the life of the mother to address these issues many have called for additional protections for women these include laws mandating equal pay for equal work according to the doctrine of comparable worth people should be compensated equally for work requiring comparable skills responsibilities and effort thus even though women are underrepresented in certain fields they should receive the same wages as men if performing jobs requiring the same level of accountability knowledge skills and or working conditions even though the specific job may be different for example garbage collectors are predominantly male the chief job requirements are the ability to drive a sanitation truck and to lift heavy bins and toss their contents into the back of the truck the average wage for a garbage collector is 15 dollars and 34 cents an hour most people employed as daycare workers are female and the average pay is nine dollars and 12 cents an hour however the work arguably requires more skills and is a more responsible position daycare workers must be able to feed clean and dress small children prepare meals for them entertain them give them medicine if required and teach them basic skills they must be educated in first aid and assume responsibility for the children's safety in terms of the skills and physical activity required and the associated level of responsibility of the job daycare workers should be paid at least as much as garbage collectors and perhaps more women's rights advocates also call for stricter enforcement of laws prohibiting sexual harassment and for harsher punishment such as mandatory arrest for perpetrators of domestic violence insider perspective harry byrne and the tennessee general assembly in 1918 the proposed 19th amendment to the constitution extending the right to vote to all adult female citizens of the united states was passed by both houses of congress and sent to the states for ratification 36 votes were needed throughout 1918 and 1919 the amendment dragged through legislature after legislature as pro and anti-suffrage advocates made their arguments by the summer of 1920 only one more state had to ratify it before it became law the amendment passed through tennessee state senate and went to its house of representatives arguments were bitter and intense pro-suffrage advocates argued that the amendment would reward women for their service to the nation during world war one and that women's supposedly greater morality would help to clean up politics those opposed claimed women would be degraded by entrants into the political arena and that their interests were already represented by their male relatives on august 18th the amendment was brought for a vote before the house the vote was closely divided and it seemed unlikely it would pass but as a young anti-suffrage representative waited for his vote to be counted he remembered a note he had received from his mother that day in it she urged him hurrah and vote for suffrage at the last minute harry byrne abruptly changed his ballot the amendment passed the house by one vote and eight days later the 19th amendment was added to the constitution how are women perceived in politics today compared to the 1910s what were the competing arguments for harry byrne's vote [Music] 5.4 civil rights for indigenous groups native americans alaskans and hawaiians learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to outline the history of discrimination against native americans describe the expansion of native american civil rights from 1960 to 1990 discuss the persistence of problems native americans face today native americans have long suffered the effects of segregation and discrimination imposed by the u.s government and the larger white society ironically native americans were not granted the full rights and protections of u.s citizenship until long after african americans and women were with many having to wait until the nationality act of 1940 to become citizens this was long after the passage of the 14th amendment in 1868 which granted citizenship to african americans but not the supreme court decided in elk versus wilkins 1884 to native americans white women had been citizens of the united states since its very beginning even though they were not granted the full rights of citizenship furthermore native americans are the only group of americans who were forcibly removed on mass from the lands on which they and their ancestors had lived so that others could claim this land and its resources this issue remains relevant today as can be seen in the recent protests of the dakota access pipeline which have led to intense confrontations between those in charge of the pipeline and native americans native americans lose their land and their rights from the very beginning of european settlement in north america native americans were abused and exploited early british settlers attempted to enslave the members of various tribes especially in the southern colonies and states following the american revolution the u.s government assumed responsibility for conducting negotiations with indian tribes all of which were designated as sovereign nations and regulating commerce with them because indians were officially regarded as citizens of other nations they were denied u.s citizenship as white settlements spread westward over the course of the 19th century indian tribes were forced to move from their homelands although the federal government signed numerous treaties guaranteeing indians the right to live in the places where they had traditionally farmed hunted or fished land-hungry white settlers routinely violated these agreements and the federal government did little to enforce them in 1830 congress passed the indian removal act which forced native americans to move west of the mississippi river not all tribes were willing to leave their land however the cherokee in particular resisted and in the 1820s the state of georgia tried numerous tactics to force them from their territory efforts intensified in 1829 after gold was discovered there wishing to remain where they were the tribe sued the state of georgia in 1831 the supreme court decided in cherokee nation versus georgia that indian tribes were not sovereign nations but also that tribes were entitled to their ancestral lands and could not be forced to move from them the next year in warchester versus georgia the court ruled that non-native americans could not enter tribal lands without the tribe's permission white georgians however refused to abide by the court's decision and president andrew jackson a former indian fighter refused to enforce it between 1831 and 1838 members of several southern tribes including the cherokees were forced by the u.s army to move west the forced removal of the cherokees to oklahoma territory which had been set aside for settlement by displaced tribes and designated indian territory resulted in the death of one quarter of the tribe's population the cherokees remember this journey as the trail of tears by the time of the civil war most indian tribes had been relocated west of the mississippi however once large numbers of white americans and european immigrants had also moved west after the civil war native americans once again found themselves displaced they were confined to reservations which are federal lands set aside for their use where non-indians could not settle reservation land was usually poor however and attempts to farm or raise livestock not traditional occupations for most western tribes anyway often ended in failure unable to feed themselves the tribes became dependent on the bureau of indian affairs bia in washington dc for support protestant missionaries were allowed to adopt various tribes to convert them to christianity and thus speed their assimilation in an effort to hasten this process indian children were taken from their parents and sent to boarding schools many of them run by churches where they were forced to speak english and abandon their traditional cultures in 1887 the dawes severalty act another effort to assimilate indians to white society divided reservation lands into individual allotments native americans who accepted these allotments and agreed to sever tribal ties were also given u.s citizenship all lands remaining after the division of reservations into allotments were offered for sale by the federal government to white farmers and ranchers as a result indians swiftly lost control of reservation land in 1898 the curtis act dealt the final blow to indian sovereignty by abolishing all tribal governments the fight for native american rights as indians were removed from their tribal lands and increasingly saw their traditional cultures being destroyed over the course of the 19th century a movement to protect their rights began to grow sarah winamaka member of the paiute tribe lectured throughout the east in the 1880s in order to acquaint white audiences with the injustices suffered by the western tribes lakota physician charles eastman also worked for native american rights in 1924 the indian citizenship act granted citizenship to all native americans born after its passage native americans born before the act took effect who had not already become citizens as a result of the daw's severalty act or service in the army in world war one had to wait until the nationality act of 1940 to become citizens in 1934 congress passed the indian reorganization act which ended the division of reservation land into allotments it returned to native american tribes the right to institute self-government on their reservations right constitutions and manage their remaining lands and resources it also provided funds for native americans to start their own businesses and attain a college education despite the indian reorganization act conditions on the reservations did not improve dramatically most tribes remained impoverished and many native americans despite the fact that they were now u.s citizens were denied the right to vote by the states in which they lived states justified this violation of the 15th amendment by claiming that native americans might be u.s citizens but were not state residents because they lived on reservations other states denied native americans voting rights if they did not pay taxes despite states actions the federal government continued to uphold the rights of tribes to govern themselves federal concern for tribal sovereignty was part of an effort on the government's part to end its control of and obligations to indian tribes in the 1960s a modern native american civil rights movement inspired by the african-american civil rights movement began to grow in 1969 a group of native american activists from various tribes part of a new pan-indian movement took control of alcatraz island in san francisco bay which had once been the site of a federal prison attempting to strike a blow for red power the power of native americans united by a pan-indian identity and demanding federal recognition of their rights they maintained control of the island for more than a year and a half they claimed the land as compensation for the federal government's violation of numerous treaties and offered to pay for it with beads and trinkets in january 1970 some of the occupiers began to leave the island some may have been disheartened by the accidental death of the daughter of one of the activists in may 1970 all electricity and telephone service to the island was cut off by the federal government and more of the occupiers began to leave in june the few people remaining on the island were removed by the government though the goals of the activists were not achieved the occupation of alcatraz had brought national attention to the concerns of native american activists in 1973 members of the american indian movement aim a more radical group than the occupiers of alcatraz temporarily took over the offices of the bureau of indian affairs in washington dc the following year members of aim and some 200 oglala lakota supporters occupied the town of wounded knee on the lakota tribe's pine ridge reservation in south dakota the site of an 1890 massacre of lakota men women and children by the u.s army many of the igla were protesting the actions of their half-white tribal chieftain who they claimed had worked too closely with the bia the occupiers also wished to protest the failure of the justice department to investigate acts of white violence against lakota tribal members outside the bounds of the reservation the occupation led to a confrontation between the native american protesters and the fbi and u.s marshals violence erupted two native american activists were killed and a marshal was shot after the second death the lakota called for an end to the occupation and negotiations began with the federal government two of ames leaders russell means and dennis banks were arrested but the case against them was later dismissed violence had continued on the pine ridge reservation for several years after the siege the reservation had the highest per capita murder rate in the united states two fbi agents were among those who were killed the iglala blamed the continuing violence on the federal government the current relationship between the u.s government and native american tribes was established by the indian self-determination and education assistance act of 1975. under the act tribes assumed control of programs that had formerly been controlled by the bia such as education and resource management and the federal government provided the funding many tribes have also used their new freedom from government control to legalize gambling and to open casinos on their reservations although the states in which these casinos are located have attempted to control gaming on native american lands the supreme court and the indian gaming regulatory act of 1988 have limited their ability to do so the 1978 american indian religious freedom act granted tribes the right to conduct traditional ceremonies and rituals including those that use otherwise prohibited substances like peyote cactus and eagle bones which can be procured only from vulnerable or protected species in another important recent development several federal court cases have raised standing for native american tribes to sue to regain former reservation lands lost to the u.s government through a key 5-4 decision by the supreme court in mcgirt vs oklahoma native americans realized the most important advancement in rights since the re-application of the winter's doctrine which led to a stronger footing for tribes in water negotiations the initial case taken up by the court in 2019 carpenter vs murphy which revolved around a murder case in oklahoma became quite salient given the history of the trail of tears at issue was whether mr murphy committed murder on private land in the state of oklahoma or on the muskogee creek reservation and who should have jurisdiction over his case if the court decided to proclaim the land as a reservation that would potentially lead to half the state of oklahoma being designated as such after hearing arguments in late 2018 they did not hand down a decision in 2019 however in the follow-up case mcgirt versus oklahoma the court took the step that strengthened native american rights the landmark decision held that a large part of oklahoma is tribal land moreover the court argued that crimes committed on those lands are subject to federal not state authority in this case jim c mcgirt was convicted in oklahoma state court in 1997 of various sexual crimes mcgirt challenged the conviction on the basis that oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute a member of the muskogee creek nation tribe for crimes committed on tribal land in addition to gains and water rights and land rights native american tribes made other gains in recent decades tribes have robust and well-recognized governing institutions based on democratic principles moreover many tribes now have governing compacts negotiated with the states where their ancestral lands lay the proliferation of indian gaming has further strengthened the success and political influence of the tribes finally the appointment by president biden and subsequent senate confirmation of representative deb holland democrat from new mexico as secretary of the interior was a powerful and path-breaking moment she is the first native american to hold that position at interior which includes the bureau of indian affairs alaska natives and native hawaiians regain some rights alaska natives and native hawaiians endured many of the same abuses as native americans including loss of land and forced assimilation following the discovery of oil in alaska however the state in an effort to gain undisputed title to oil-rich land settled the issue of alaska native's land claims with the passage of the alaska native claims settlement act in 1971 according to the terms of the act alaska natives received 44 million acres of resource-rich land and more than 900 million dollars in cash in exchange for relinquishing claims to ancestral lands to which the state wanted title native hawaiians also lost control of their land nearly two million acres through the overthrow of the hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and the subsequent formal annexation of the hawaiian islands by the united states in 1898 the indigenous population rapidly decreased in number and white settlers tried to erase all trace of traditional hawaiian culture two acts passed by congress in 1900 and 1959 when the territory was granted statehood returned slightly more than one million acres of federally owned land to the state of hawaii the state was to hold it in trust and use profits from the land to improve the condition of native hawaiians in september 2015 the u.s department of interior the same department that contains the bureau of indian affairs created guidelines for native hawaiians who wish to govern themselves in a relationship with the federal government similar to that established with native american and alaska native tribes such a relationship would grant native hawaiians power to govern themselves while remaining u.s citizens voting began in fall 2015 for delegates to a constitutional convention that would determine whether or not such a relationship should exist between native hawaiians and the federal government when non-native hawaiians and some native hawaiians brought suit on the grounds that by allowing only native hawaiians to vote the process discriminated against members of other ethnic groups a federal district court found the election to be legal while the supreme court stopped the election in september 2016 a separate ruling by the interior department allowed for a referendum to be held native hawaiians in favor are working to create their own nation despite significant advances american indians alaska natives and native hawaiians still trail behind u.s citizens of other ethnic backgrounds in many important areas these groups continue to suffer widespread poverty and high unemployment some of the poorest counties in the united states are those in which native american reservations are located these minorities are also less likely than white americans african americans or asian americans to complete high school or college many american indian and alaskan tribes endure high rates of infant mortality alcoholism and suicide native hawaiians are also more likely to live in poverty than white people in hawaii and they are more likely than white hawaiians to be unhoused or unemployed [Music] 5.5 equal protection for other groups learning objectives by the end of the section you'll be able to discuss the discrimination faced by hispanic latino americans and asian americans describe the influence of the african-american civil rights movement on hispanic latino asian american and lgbtq civil rights movements describe federal actions to improve opportunities for people with disabilities describe discrimination faced by religious minorities many groups in american society have faced and continue to face challenges in achieving equality fairness and equal protection under the laws and policies of the federal government and or the states some of these groups are often overlooked because they are not as large of a percentage of the u.s population as women or african americans and because organized movements to achieve equality for them are relatively young this does not mean however that the discrimination they face has not been as long-standing or as severe hispanic latino civil rights hispanic and latino people in the united states have faced many of the same problems as african-americans and native americans although the terms hispanic and latino are often used interchangeably they are not the same hispanic usually refers to native speakers of spanish or those descended from spanish-speaking countries latino refers to people who come from or whose ancestors came from latin america not all hispanics are latinos and vice versa people from spain are hispanic but are not latino while people from brazil are latino but not hispanic both hispanics and latinos may be of any race or ethnicity they may be of european african native american descent or they may be of mixed racial or ethnic background we will use the term latino here while acknowledging that many these days prefer the term latinx as it is gender neutral many latinos became part of the u.s population following the annexation of texas by the united states in 1845 and of california arizona new mexico nevada utah and colorado following the war with mexico in 1848 most were subject to discrimination and could find employment only as poorly paid migrant farm workers railroad workers and unskilled laborers the spanish-speaking population of the united states increased following the spanish-american war in 1898 with the incorporation of puerto rico as a u.s territory in 1917 during world war one the jones act granted u.s citizenship to puerto ricans in the early 20th century waves of violence aimed at mexicans and mexican-americans swept the southwest mexican-americans in arizona and in parts of texas were denied the right to vote which they had previously possessed and mexican-american children were barred from attending anglo-american schools during the great depression of the 1930s mexican immigrants and many mexican americans both u.s born and naturalized citizens living in the southwest and midwest were deported by the government so that anglo-americans could take the jobs they had once held when the united states entered world war ii however mexicans were invited to immigrate to the united states as farm workers under the bracero program to make it possible for these american men to enlist in the armed services bracero meaning manual laborer in spanish mexican americans and puerto ricans did not passively accept discriminatory treatment however in 1903 mexican farm workers joined with japanese farm workers who were also poorly paid to form the first union to represent agricultural laborers in 1929 latino civil rights activists formed the league of united latin american citizens lulac to protest against discrimination and to fight for greater rights for latinos just as in the case of african americans however true civil rights advances for hispanic and latino people did not take place until the end of world war ii hispanic and latino activists targeted the same racist practices as did african americans and used many of the same tactics to end them in 1946 mexican-american parents in california with the assistance of the naacp sued several california school districts that forced mexican and mexican-american children to attend segregated schools in the case of mendes vs westminster 1947 the court of appeals for the ninth circuit court held that the segregation of mexican and mexican-american students into separate schools was unconstitutional although latinos made some civil rights advances in the decades following world war ii discrimination continued alarmed by the large number of undocumented mexicans crossing the border into the united states in the 1950s the united states government began operation is a derogatory term for mexicans living unofficially in the united states from 1953 to 1958 more than 3 million mexican immigrants and some mexican americans as well were deported from california texas and arizona to limit the entry of hispanic and latino immigrants to the united states in 1965 congress imposed an immigration quota of 120 000 newcomers from the western hemisphere at the same time that the federal government sought to restrict hispanic and latino immigration to the united states the mexican-american civil rights movement grew stronger and more radical just as the african-american civil rights movement had done while african-americans demanded black power and called for black pride young mexican-american civil rights activists called for brown power and began to refer to themselves as chicanos a term disliked by many older conservative mexican americans in order to stress their pride in their hybrid spanish native american cultural identity demands by mexican-american activists often focused on improving education for their children and they called upon school districts to hire teachers and principals who were bilingual in english and spanish to teach mexican and mexican-american history and to offer instruction in both english and spanish for children with limited ability to communicate in english mexican-american civil rights leaders were active in other areas as well throughout the 1960s cesar chavez and dolores huerta fought for the rights of mexican-american agricultural laborers through their organization the united farm workers ufw a union for migrant workers they founded in 1962. chavez huerta and the ufw proclaimed their solidarity with filipino farm workers by joining them in a strike against grape growers in delano california in 1965 chavez consciously adopted the tactics of the african-american civil rights movement in 1965 he called upon all u.s consumers to boycott california grapes and in 1966 he led the ufw on a 300-mile march to sacramento the state capital to bring the state farm workers problems to the attention of the entire country the strike finally ended in 1970 when the grape growers agreed to give the pickers better pay and benefits as latino immigration to the united states increased in the late 20th and early 21st centuries discrimination also increased in many places in 1994 california voters passed proposition 187 the proposition sought to deny non-emergency health services food stamps welfare and medicaid to undocumented immigrants it also banned children from attending public school unless they could present proof that they and their parents were legal residents of the united states a federal court found it unconstitutional in 1997 on the grounds that the law's intention was to regulate immigration a power held only by the federal government in 2005 discussion began in congress on proposed legislation that would make it a felony to enter the united states illegally or to give assistance to anyone who had done so although the bill quickly died on may 1st 2006 hundreds of thousands of people primarily latinos staged public demonstrations in major u.s cities refusing to work or attend school for one day the protesters claimed that people seeking a better life should not be treated as criminals and that undocumented immigrants already living in the united states should have the opportunity to become citizens following the failure to make undocumented immigration a felony under federal law several states attempted to impose their own sanctions on unauthorized entry in april 2010 arizona passed a law that made illegal immigration a state crime the law also forbade undocumented immigrants from seeking work and allowed law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of being in the u.s illegally thousands protested the law claiming that it encouraged racial profiling in 2012 in arizona versus united states the u.s supreme court struck down those provisions of the law that made it a state crime to reside in the united states illegally forbade undocumented immigrants to take jobs and allowed the police to arrest those suspected of being illegal immigrants the court however upheld the authority of the police to ascertain the immigration status of someone suspected of being an undocumented entrant if the person had been stopped or arrested by the police for other reasons today latinos constitute the largest minority group in the united states they also have one of the highest birth rates of any ethnic group although hispanic people lag behind non-hispanic white people in terms of income and high school graduation rates they are enrolling in college at higher rates than non-hispanic white people topics that remain at the forefront of public debate today include immigration reform the dream act a proposal for granting undocumented immigrants permanent residency and stages and court action on executive orders on immigration the trump administration was very active on issues of immigration and border security aside from the proposal to build a border wall other areas of action have included various travel bans and the policy of separating families at the border as they attempt to enter the country milestone east la student walkouts in march 1968 chicano students at five high schools in east los angeles went on strike to demand better education for students of mexican ancestry los angeles schools did not allow latino students to speak spanish in class and gave no place to study mexican history in the curriculum guidance counselors also encourage students regardless of their interests or ability to pursue vocational careers instead of setting their sights on college some students were placed in specialized classes for people with disabilities as a result the dropout rate among mexican-american students was very high school administrators refused to meet with the student protesters to discuss their grievances after a week police were sent in to end the strike thirteen of the organizers of the walkout were arrested and charged with conspiracy to disturb the peace after sal castro a teacher who had led the striking students was dismissed from his job activists held a sit-in at the school district headquarters until castro was reinstated student protests spread across the southwest and in response many schools did change that same year congress passed the bilingual education act which required school districts with large numbers of hispanic or latino students to provide instruction in spanish bilingual education remains controversial even among hispanic and latino people what are some arguments they might raise both for and against it are these different from arguments coming from non-latinos asian-american civil rights as the rash of recent violence against them has shown asian americans have also often been discriminated against and denied their civil rights often stereotyped as the model minority because it is assumed they are generally financially successful and do well academically the underlying reality is complex the truth is that asian americans have long faced discrimination indeed in the 19th century asian people were among the most despised of all immigrant groups and were often subjected to the same laws enforcing segregation and forbidding interracial marriage as were african-americans and american indians the chinese were the first large group of asian people to immigrate to the united states they arrived in large numbers in the mid 19th century to work in the mining industry and on the central pacific railroad others worked as servants or cooks or operated laundries their willingness to work for less money than white workers led white workers in california to call for a ban on chinese immigration in 1882 congress passed the chinese exclusion act which prevented chinese from immigrating to the united states for 10 years and prevented chinese already in the country from becoming citizens in 1892 the geary act extended the ban on chinese immigration for another 10 years in 1913 california passed a law preventing all asian people not just the chinese from owning land with the passage of the immigration act of 1924 all asian people with the exception of filipinos were prevented from immigrating to the united states or becoming naturalized citizens laws in several states barred marriage between chinese and white americans and some cities with large asian populations required asian children to attend segregated schools during world war ii citizens of japanese descent living on the west coast whether naturalized immigrants or japanese americans born in the united states were subjected to the indignity of being removed from their communities and interned under executive order 9066 the reason was fear that they might prove disloyal to the united states and give assistance to japan although italians and germans suspected of disloyalty were also interned by the u.s government only the japanese were imprisoned solely on the basis of their ethnicity none of the more than 110 000 japanese and japanese-american internees was ever found to have committed a disloyal act against the united states and many young japanese-american men served in the u.s army during the war although japanese-american fred korematsu challenged the right of the government to imprison law-abiding citizens the supreme court decision in the 1944 case of koromatsu vs united states upheld the actions of the government as a necessary precaution in a time of war when internees returned from the camps after the war was over many of them discovered that the houses cars and businesses they had left behind often in the care of white neighbors had been sold or destroyed the growth of the african-american chicano and native american civil rights movements in the 1960s inspired many asian americans to demand their own rights discrimination against asian americans regardless of national origin increased during the vietnam war ironically violence directed indiscriminately against chinese japanese koreans and vietnamese caused members of these groups to unite around a shared pan-asian identity much as native americans had in the pan-indian movement in 1968 students of asian ancestry at the university of california at berkeley formed the asian american political alliance asian american students also joined chicano native american and african american students to demand that colleges offer ethnic studies courses in 1974 in the case of lao versus nichols chinese-american students in san francisco sued the school district claiming its failure to provide them with assistance in learning english denied them equal educational opportunities the supreme court found in favor of the students until recent attacks against asian americans during the kobit-19 pandemic the asian-american movement was not as active as other civil rights movements while not keeping them free from discrimination their educational achievement and economic success placed asian americans in a much better position to defend their rights unfortunately racist vitriol related to the origin of covet 19 has recently highlighted discrimination against asian americans and the formerly quiet movement has become highly salient hate crimes against asian americans increased 150 percent in 2020 and rose over 800 percent in new york city the fight for civil rights in the lgbtq community laws against homosexuality which was regarded as a sin and immoral failing existed in most states throughout the 19th and 20th centuries by the late 19th century homosexuality had come to be regarded as a form of mental illness as well as a sin and gay men were often erroneously believed to be pedophiles as a result lesbians gay men bisexuals and transgender people collectively known as the lgbtq community had to keep their sexual orientation hidden or closeted secrecy became even more important in the 1950s when fear of gay men increased and the federal government believed they could be led into disloyal acts either as a result of their moral weakness or through blackmail by soviet agents as a result many men lost or were denied government jobs fears of lesbians also increased after world war ii as u.s society stressed conformity to traditional gender roles and the importance of marriage and child rearing the very secrecy in which lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people had to live made it difficult for them to organize to fight for their rights as other more visible groups had done some organizations did exist however the mattachine society established in 1950 was one of the first groups to champion the rights of gay men its goal was to unite gay men who otherwise lived in secrecy and to fight against abuse the mattachine society often worked with the daughters of bilitis a lesbian rights organization among the early issues targeted by the madagine society was police entrapment of gay men in the 1960s the gay and lesbian rights movements began to grow more radical in a manner similar to other civil rights movements in 1962 philadelphians demonstrated in front of independence hall in 1966 transgender prostitutes who were tired of police harassment rioted in san francisco in june 1969 gay men lesbians and transgender people erupted in violence when new york city police attempted to arrest customers at a gay bar in greenwich village called the stonewall inn the patrons ability to resist arrest and fend off the police inspired many members of new york's lgbtq community and the riots persisted over several nights new organizations promoting lgbtq rights that emerged after stonewall were more radical and confrontational than the mattachine society and the daughters of bilitis had been these groups like the gay activists alliance and the gay liberation front called not just for equality before the law and protection against abuse but also for liberation gay power and gay pride although lgbtq people gained their civil rights later than many other groups changes did occur beginning in the 1970s remarkably quickly when we consider how long other minority groups had fought for their rights the decade saw 18 states decriminalize same-sex relations following illinois and connecticut which had done so in the 1960s in 1973 the american psychological association ended its classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1994 the u.s military adopted the policy of don't ask don't tell this act department of defense directive 1304.26 officially prohibited discrimination against gay lesbian and bisexual people by the us military it also prohibited superior officers from asking about or investigating the sexual orientation of those below them in rank however those gay lesbian and bisexual people who spoke openly about their sexual orientation were still subject to dismissal because it remained illegal for anyone except straight people to serve in the armed forces the policy ended in 2011 and now gay lesbian and bisexual people may serve openly in the military transgender people were banned from serving in the military in 1960 the ban lasted until 2016 when the government began a gradual process of expanding and altering the limitations on their service in early 2021 the biden administration announced that there would no longer be restrictions on military service by transgender individuals that medical support for gender transition would be provided and that procedures would be developed to change a service member's official gender marker in 2003 in the case of lawrence versus texas the supreme court ruled unconstitutional 14 remaining states laws that criminalized sexual intercourse between consenting adults of the same sex beginning in 2000 several states made it possible for same-sex couples to enter into legal relationships known as civil unions or domestic partnerships these arrangements extended many of the same protections enjoyed by heterosexual married couples to same-sex couples lgbtq activists however continued to fight for the right to marry same-sex marriages would allow partners to enjoy exactly the same rights as married heterosexual couples and accord their relationships the same dignity and importance in 2004 massachusetts became the first state to grant legal status to same-sex marriage other states quickly followed this development prompted a backlash among many religious conservatives who considered homosexuality as sin and argued that allowing same-sex couples to marry would lessen the value and sanctity of heterosexual marriage many states passed laws banning same-sex marriage and many gay and lesbian couples challenged these laws successfully in the courts finally in obergefell versus hodges the supreme court overturned state bans and made same-sex marriage legal throughout the united states on june 26 2015. the legalization of same-sex marriage throughout the united states led some people to feel their religious beliefs were under attack and many religiously conservative business owners have refused to acknowledge lgbt rights or the legitimacy of same-sex marriages following swiftly upon the heels of the obergefell ruling the indiana legislature passed a religious freedom restoration act congress had already passed such a law in 1993 it was intended to extend protection to minority religions such as by allowing rituals of the native american church however the supreme court and city of born versus flores 1997 ruled that the 1993 law applied only to the federal government and not to the state governments thus several state legislatures later passed their own religious freedom restoration acts these laws state that the government cannot substantially burden an individual's exercise of religion unless it would serve a compelling governmental interest to do so they allow individuals which also include businesses and other organizations to discriminate against others primarily same-sex couples and lgbtq people if the individual's religious beliefs are opposed to homosexuality lgbtq americans still encounter difficulties in other areas as well while the supreme court ruled in 2020 that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation and transgender status lgbtq people are not protected from housing discrimination the federal department of housing and urban development has indicated that refusing to rent or sell homes to transgender people may be considered sex discrimination but there is no nationwide clarity on the law violence against members of the lgbtq community remains a serious problem this violence occurs on the streets and in their homes the enactment of the matthew shepard and james byrd jr hate crimes prevention act also known as the matthew shepard act in 2009 made it a federal hate crime to attack someone based on gender gender identity sexual orientation or disability and made it easier for federal state and local authorities to investigate hate crimes but it has not necessarily made the world safer for lgbtq americans transgender rights have also been increasingly under scrutiny as 2021 brought a record number of pieces of anti-transgender legislation in state legislatures the u.s supreme court however gave the transgender community a win when they chose not to hear a school's appeal of a lower court decision on a transgender student bathroom case soon after the federal government indicated that it would follow the approach of many states in including a non-binary gender marker option on official documents such as passports civil rights and the americans with disabilities act people with disabilities make up one of the last groups whose civil rights have been recognized for a long time they were denied employment and access to public education many were institutionalized a eugenics movement in the united states in the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries sought to encourage childbearing among white people without disabilities and discourage it among those with physical or intellectual disabilities many states passed laws prohibiting marriage among people who had what were believed to be hereditary defects among those affected were people who were blind or deaf those with epilepsy people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and those with mental illnesses in some states programs existed to sterilize people considered feeble-minded by the standards of the time without their will or consent when this practice was challenged by a woman in a state institution in virginia the supreme court in the 1927 case of buck vs bell upheld the right of state governments to sterilize those people believed likely to have children who would become dependent upon public welfare some of those programs persisted into the 1970s by the 1970s however concern for extending equal opportunities to all led to the passage of two important acts by congress in 1973 the rehabilitation act made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in federal employment or in programs run by federal agencies or receiving federal funding this was followed by the education for all handicapped children act of 1975 which required public schools to educate children with disabilities the act specified that schools consult with parents to create a plan tailored for each child's needs that would provide an educational experience as close as possible to that received by other children in 1990 the americans with disabilities act ada greatly expanded opportunities and protections for people of all ages with disabilities it also significantly expanded the categories and definition of disability the ada prohibits discrimination in employment based on disability it also requires employers to make reasonable accommodations available to workers who need them finally the ada mandates that public transportation and public accommodations be made accessible to those with disabilities the act was passed despite the objections of some who argued that the cost of providing accommodations would be prohibitive for small businesses while the ada has inarguably improved opportunities for americans with disabilities to receive public services equally and to pursue educational opportunities challenges continue in this space on college campuses disability resource centers are often slow and understaffed causing stress for students and professors alike and in schools and colleges full access to certain buildings and spaces remains elusive the rights of religious minorities the right to worship as a person chooses was one of the reasons for the initial settlement of the united states thus it is ironic that many people throughout u.s history have been denied their civil rights because of their status as members of a religious minority beginning in the early 19th century with the immigration of large numbers of irish catholics to the united states anti-catholicism became a common feature of american life and remained so until the mid 20th century catholic immigrants were denied jobs and in the 1830s and 1840s anti-catholic literature accused catholic priests and nuns of committing horrific acts anti-mormon sentiment was also quite common and members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints were accused of kidnapping women and building armies for the purpose of dominating their neighbors at times these fears led to acts of violence a convent in charlestown massachusetts was burned to the ground in 1834 in 1844 joseph smith the founder of the church of christ and his brother were murdered by a mob in illinois for many years jewish americans faced discrimination in employment education and housing based on their religion many of the restrictive real estate covenants that prohibited people from selling their homes to black people also prohibited them from selling to jewish people and a gentleman's agreement among the most prestigious universities in the united states limited the number of jewish students accepted indeed a tradition of confronting discrimination led many american jews to become actively involved in the civil rights movement for women and african americans anti-semitism remains a significant issue in the united states and worldwide according to the fbi jewish people or property are the most frequent targets of hate crimes motivated by religious bias jewish cemeteries and places of worship are frequently attacked or defaced and insensitive jokes and frequent references to the holocaust are widely used muslims have also experienced a rise in discrimination and hate crimes and most americans including non-muslims report a belief that significant anti-muslim sentiment exists in the united states although title vii of the civil rights act of 1964 prevents employment discrimination on the basis of religion and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations so that employees can engage in religious rituals and practices muslim employees are often discriminated against often the source of controversy is the wearing of head coverings by observant muslims which some employers claim violates uniform policies or dress codes even when non-muslim co-workers are allowed to wear head coverings that are not part of work uniforms hate crimes against muslims have also increased and many muslims believe they are subject to racial profiling by law enforcement officers who suspect them of being terrorists many christians have recently argued that they are being deprived of their rights because of their religious beliefs and have used this claim to justify their refusal to acknowledge the rights of others the owner of hobby lobby stores for example a conservative christian argued that his company's health care plan should not have to pay for contraception because his religious beliefs are opposed to the practice in 2014 in the case of burwell versus hobby lobby stores incorporated the supreme court ruled in his favor as discussed earlier many conservative christians have also argued that they should not have to recognize same-sex marriages because they consider homosexuality to be a sin this has been american government 3rd edition an openstax textbook all openstax textbooks are covered under a creative commons license and are completely free for more details visit openstacks.org the music is take me higher by jazzar which is also covered under creative commons license his website is betterwithmusic.com we want to give special thanks to cc echo the california consortium for equitable change and hispanic serving institutions open educational resources for providing the funding for this project you can learn more about cc echo by visiting hancockcollege.edu cc echo if you would like to contact us please email audiobook fastmail.com thank you for listening and for sharing this recording with a colleague or 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