Civil Rights (US) Flashcards
(49 cards)
1
Q
What are civil liberties?
A
- Fundamental individual freedons - freedom of speech, religion and association.
- Detailed in the bill of rights.
2
Q
What are civil rights?
A
- Additional protection to ensure that groups of citizens are not discriminated against.
- Many originate from the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment - gives former enslaved people equal protection of the law.
- Used to end racial segregation in Brown V Topeka and give women abortion rights in Roe V Wade (1973).
3
Q
How does the constitution protect civil rights?
A
- Codified system of checks and balances - means that each branch of government is limited in their powers.
- Framers believed that people had inalienable rights - hence why the constitution has a complex amendment process.
4
Q
What was the Bill of Rights (1971) ?
A
- First ten amendments to the constitution.
5
Q
Thirteenth Amendment (1865):
A
Abolished slaery.
6
Q
Fourteenth Amendment (1868) :
A
- Gave former enslaved people full citzienship.
‘equal protection’ clause has provided the basis for many important civil rights judgements by the Supreme Court.
7
Q
19th Amendment (1920) :
A
- Gave women the right to vote on the same terms as men.
8
Q
What was the Equal Rights Amendment?
A
- Civil rights amendment - never ratified.
- Would have made it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sex.
9
Q
Which groups campaigned against the Equal Rights Amendment?
A
- The National Organisation for Women.
- Opposition led by Phyllis Schlafly.
10
Q
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment not pass>
A
- It was not ratified by the necessary 3/4s of states.
- Final deadline for ratification was 1982.
- 2020 House Democrats voted to extend the deadline - approval however was with held by the Republican Senate.
11
Q
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
A
- Rights of students not to be segregated by race.
12
Q
Miranda v Arizona (1966)
A
Right of suspects to be informed of their 5th amendment rights before being questioned by the police.
13
Q
Roe v Wade (1973)
A
Right to an abortion in the first two trimesters in pregnancy.
14
Q
District of Columbia V Heller (2008)
A
- Individual right to bear arms.
15
Q
What methods have pressure groups used to protect and support rights?
A
- Fundraising to pay for ads for campaigns.
- Online campaigns, rallies, marches, TV advertising.
- Political campaigning - lobbying government officials.
- Legal campaigning - amicus curies briefs.
16
Q
How many members does the American Civil Liberties Union have?
A
1.5 million.
- Has a staff of 300 lawyers.
17
Q
What are the aims of the ACLU?
A
- Protect the civil liberties of all Americans - even the KKK.
- Their objectives typically align with those of liberal and civil rights campaigners.
18
Q
Evidence of the ACLU supporting white supremacists:
A
- 1978 the ACLU successfully defended the rights of Neo-nazis group to march through an area of Chicago where many holocaust survivors lived.
19
Q
Which landmark cases has the ACLU contributed to?
A
- Brown v Topeka (1954)
- Roe v Wade (1973)
- Also led legal challenges to US national security measures that were introduced after 9/11.
20
Q
How many lawsuits did the ACLU file against he Trump administration by 2020?
A
- Its challenge to the Muslim ban ended with it being challenged by the Supreme Court.
21
Q
Example of the ACLU defending the rights of individuals against private employers?
A
Harris Funeral Homes v Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (2020)
Defended a woman who was fired for being transgender.
Lead to a landmark Supreme Court Ruling that discrimination on the grounds of gender orientation is unconstitutional.
22
Q
How many members does the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People have?
A
Over a million.
23
Q
Success of the NAACP:
A
- Major success in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Helped to plan the 1963 march on washinfron.
Lobies congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1958, 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act 1965.
- It’s special council lawyer won a series of important victories - Brown v Topeka (1954)
24
Q
What are the aims of the NAACP in the 21st century?
A
- Focused on ensuring that African-Americans receive equal economic, education and voting rights.
- 2020, WeAreDoneDying Campaign against institutional racism.
- Reaction to the disproportionate number of African American deaths during Covid-19.
25
Examples of social movements in the US?
- BLM.
- Women's March campaigning for civil rights for women.
- MeToo campaign.
- Anti-Lockdown movement.
26
Which groups typically defend civil liberties?
- Conservative Americans particularly libertarians - keen to protect individual freedoms such as the right to bear arms.
27
What was the anti-lockdown movement?
- Social movement in protest against the lockdown.
- Protestors argued that state governors' stay at home orders violated their civil liberties.
- By May 2020, 2 million people were associated with the group.
- There were crowded demonstrations.
- 2020 armed protestors entered the capital in Michigan - FBI arrested members of the mite who were planning on kidnapping Michigan's governor.
28
Which amendment abolishes slavery?
- 13th Amendment (1865)
29
What were the Jim Crow laws in the south?
- Response to the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery and the subsequent amendments that protected black rights.
- Jim Crow laws ensured racial segregation.
30
Plessy v Ferguson (1896)
- Ruled that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' facilities was legal.
31
When did Native Americans become citizens?
- 1924.
32
Indian Civil Rights Act (1968)
- Extended the protections of the Bill of Rights to Native Americans.
33
Affirmative Action:
- A positive form of discrimination.
- Makes it easier for people from racial minorities to get a job or win a uni place.
34
How many states have banned affirmative action?
9.
35
Example of the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action?
- In Fisher V University of Texas (2016).
- Ruled that racial affirmative action was legal as long as certain criteria were met.
- Anthony Kennedy provided the critical swing justice in the vote.
36
Example of a Trump executive order on affirmative action:
- 2020, Trump administration argued that Harvard's use of race in admissions was unconstitutional.
- Federal court ruled in favour of Havard.
37
38
Shelby County v Holder (2013)
- Supreme Court ruled that states could impose restrictions on voting.
- More than 25 states have introduced voter restrictions like strict IS laws.
- African-Americans and Hispanic are more likely to vote Democrat, meaning that voter ID laws make it easier for Republicans to win election.
- 2016 - black voter turnout fell by 7% points.
39
What percentage of black 18-30 year olds voted for Biden in 2020?
- 88%,
40
What is the incarceration rate of African-Americans?
- 5 times that of white people.
41
During covid, what percentage of violations of social distancing went to African-Americans?
- 80%.
42
What are the bans on prisoner voting in the US?
- All but two states prohibit people convicted of a felony from voting.
- 11 states have extended the ban until after the sentence, probation and parole periods have ended.
43
Examples of felony disenfranchisement amongst African-Americans?
- By 2016 - 1 in every 13 African Americans of a voting age couldn't vote because of a previous criminal conviction.
- Voters in Florida (state with the highest rate of felony disenfranchisement) restored the right to vote for people who had finished their sentence.
- Restores the vote for 1.4 million.
44
How many African-Americans were disenfranchised in 2020?
- 1 in 16.
3.7 times greater than that of any other American.
45
What pressure groups were involved in giving former felons voting rights in Florida?
- NAACP
- The ACLU.
- Christian coalition - motivated by redemption and forgiveness.
46
How many people in America attended BLM marches?
23 million.
47
What was the impact of the BLM campaign?
- Led to crowds toppling figures connected to slavery and colonialism.
- Confederate flag was banned in the US Navy.
48
What proportion of terrorist activity in the US is carried out by far-right extremists and white supremacists?
2/3s
49
Examples of acts of terrorism from the far-right in America:
- 23 people were murdered in 2019 in a shooting at Walmart in Texas.
- Hsipanics were the main target.
- Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose 150% during covid.
- 2021 capital riots - swastikas and confederate flags.
