Cornell Notes

Topic(s): Chapter 9- Civil Rights

Big ideas, questions, main Notes, answers, details, answers, examples, sentences, pg.
ideas, vocab numbers
Civil Rights: pre-civil war Slavery was a state-by-state decision leaving north to ignore the
problems and south to engage in slavery. Dred Scott was
massive blow to the abolition /movement, sparked outrage

Reconstruction Amdts 13th ended slavery, 15th gave all men right to vote, 14th gave
citizenship and equal protection clause. All were lead by Radical
Repubs to protect slaves and reconstruct country, ratification
was often a requirement for readmitting states.

Using 14 pt 1 14th was directed for slaves, but was interpreted to include
women, LGBTQ, others later on.

Late 1800’s Civil Rights Act of 1875 outlawed discrimination and secured
some rights for Black people, soon undermined by SCOTUS in
“Civil Rights Cases (1833)” Though Black representation
increased at first, it dropped w/ end of reconstruction and start
of Jim Crow. Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clause
disenfranchised Black people while adhering to 15th amdt.
Plessy v. Ferguson established separate but equal in 1896.

NAACP Started in 1909 to advocate for Black rights, lobbied Wilson

admin heavily, successful had SCOTUS rule against grandfather
clause and residential segregation, worked with LDF* to end the

Themes in the information:

Political Freedom, Common Good, Equality, Diversity, Individual Rights

Other questions or inquiries:

I have no idea how this country has been able to justify racism for as long as it has.

3 things learned:
1. Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed thanks to Johnson
2. Civil Rights Act followed numerous similar bills which failed to secure equality
3. Sodomy laws and DOMA are interesting relics that show the progress made by LGBTQ in
recent years alone

Relate one thing learned to your life:

Civil Rights is an ongoing battle as Black voters are still suppressed, and new laws are coming up
to target LGBTQ and especially the T individuals.
 Notes Continued
White primary.** NAACP worked first to desegregate colleges
and was successful in cases like Missouri ex. Rel. Gaines v.
Canada, finding that the separate schools hadn’t been equal-
colleges must admit Black people.

*Legal Defense Fund

**Primary where only white men could vote, legal in south,
essentially killed republican party

Brown v. Board Actually consisted of several cases on discrimination which

were all heard at once. Thurgood Marshall led the petitioners as
attorney. Argument was founded on moral failings of
segregation and social harm to children. “Separate... is
inherently unequal” Decision gave no specifics, so SCOTUS
invited parties back for Brown II which decided timeline and
methods to be decided by lower courts.

Reaction to Brown Southerners came out in opposition, delayed integration, and

lost the battle. Congress passed some legislation to enforce
school integration and anti-discrimination. Eisenhower was
lukewarm on Civil Rights but sent troops to Little Rock for
integration and lobbied for a civil rights act. Civil Rights Act of
1957 was passed 72-18 in senate despite filibuster by Strom
Thurmond.

“Letter from a Birmingham Nonviolent campaign has 4 steps: collection of facts to

Jail” determine injustices, negotiation, self-purification, direct
action. KNOW THESE. King also acknowledges calls to wait from
White leaders but refutes them arguing that “there comes a
time when the cup of endurance runs over”

Kennedy (pres) Came into office in 1961 without much attention to civil rights.
Bobby persuaded him to raise its priority. He shifted focus and
began lobbying for a civil rights bill to outlaw discrimination,
buckled down for challenging fight.

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Kennedy’s insistence on what became Title II (integration in
fight to pass public accommodations) was driver of controversy. Images of
beaten civil rights leaders and violence at peaceful protests
from media drove support for the bill. Johnson took over after
JFK assassination and made passing the bill a top priority: as
frmr congressional leader with folksy personality, he was a
skilled negotiator.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Largely because of Johnson’s skillful negotiation and
Passed relationship with lawmakers, bill passes house. Faces filibuster
in senate which is ended by cloture vote and passes 73-27.
Challenged in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, which
ends in unanimous ruling supporting Congress based on
commerce clause.

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Title I: Equal application of voter registration rules
Provisions Titles II/III: Banned discrimination in public places
Title IV: AG can sue noncompliant schools
Title VI: Cut off fed. funding for discriminatory govt agencies
Title VII: Outlawed discrimination in hiring

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Opened doors for MANY people over time. Later was
Impacts interpreted to protect women, Latinos, Native Americans, gay
people, etc. ADA was modeled on it, immigration policy is
derived from it, cases like bathroom bills and baker case relate
back to it.

Focus on Franchise: CRA64 helped discrimination, voting needed attention. 24th

Voting Rights Act of 1965 amdt passed and ended poll taxes. Leaders continue to protest
in places like Selma to demand equal access to the vote. Selma
leads to Johnson speech to Congress (“We shall overcome”) and
introduction of Voting Rights Act. Gave fed govt oversight of
state elections, required states ask for “preclearance” before
changing laws.

Voting Rights Act Section 2 outlaws dilution of a race’s vote through redistricting.
expanded Thornburg v. Gingles creates majority-minority districts. Shaw v.
Reno calls colorblind constitution into question and requires
strict scrutiny of any changes due to race. Law expired in 1971
initially but has been renewed repeatedly.

Strict scrutiny Laws infringing on certain right must:

-have compelling state interest for the law
-be designed to protect that interest & be as narrow as possible

Voting Rights Today Voter ID laws are often presented in state legislatures as
counter to voter fraud. Many argue these constitute
suppression. AL county sued and ended preclearance with 5-4
decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

Brown cont. Despite Brown II requiring all deliberate speed, schools dragged
their feet by placing burden of transfer on students and
 creating reasons for delay. Continued lawsuits resulted often in
pro-integration decisions such as Cooper v. Aaron which ruled
potential violence was not reason for delay. In 68 courts ruled
freedom of choice plans unconstitutional.

Swann v. Charlotte- SCOTUS approved lower court judge’s plan for integration
Mecklenburg involving mathematical equation to attain enrollment
proportional to town, Court endorsed mathematical equation
systems.

Bussing and White Flight Court endorsed bussing to achieve integration, northern cities
protested. Amdt was proposed to outlaw bussing to achieve
integration. Many white families left cities and went to mainly
white neighborhoods.

Milliken v. Bradley Marked one fo the final pushes on the issue from NAACP. Court
decided 5-4 that unless lines were drawn for integration,
interdistrict bussing is not justified.

Path to suffrage Calls started as early as 1848 at Seneca Falls Convention. In

1872, Anthony voted and was convicted; she goes on to author
19th Amendment. By 1916, both parties promoted suffrage in
platforms, but WWI took the attention away until movements
lead by Paul pressured Wilson to act and amdt passed Congress
in 1919, ratified in 1920.

Suffrage to action Many women stayed home at first. Later, second wave
feminism, spurred by Feminine Mystique, helped women get
involved and promote Equal Pay Act and inclusion in CRA64.
Title IX protected women in education. Roe secured abortion
rights. Many have pushed for strict scrutiny but have received
heightened instead: scrutiny that allows for a reasonableness
standard in difference for treatment of sexes.

ERA ERA received 30 ratifications in 1 year, 35 before deadline, but

came up 3 short at that time. It died largely because of
campaign from anti-choice advocates who argued it would
include women in the draft and cost them divorce victories.

LGBTQ Rights: intro Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until ’73; anti-
gay executive orders have been in place; army had oath that
swore someone was neither a communist nor gay; “Don’t ask,
don’t tell”; stand-offs ensue over federalism and article IV v.
amdt 10.
Sodimy Laws Bowers v. Hardwick decided that states could ban same-sex
relations based on police powers. In 2003, Lawrence v. Texas
overruled the decision and declared these laws illegal based on
equal protections clause.

DOMA Under Clinton, act was passed with nearly unanimous

republican votes and a majority of democratic votes. The law
defined marriage between a man and a woman nationally and
limited what benefits same-sex partners could have access to.

Anti-discrimination for Laws passed in urban areas, conservatives pretended these

LGBTQ were unfair to straight people (somehow,) and SCOTUS decided
that private organizations could discriminate based on free
speech and association ideas (boy scout case).

Same-sex marriage Same-sex couples could not enjoy benefits of hetero couples.
Early decision here came from MN lawsuit where citizen sued
state ban arguing it was equal to ban on interracial marriage:
court decided decision based on color was different from a
“fundamental difference in sex.”

’04 ballot initiatives 2004 ballot initiatives were reaction to legalization of same-sex
marriage in 11 states. These pushed back with new bans.
Energized conservatives to turn out and support Bush for re-
election. Many conservatives (including Bush) called for amdt
defining marriage between a man and a woman.

Path to success Obama was friendly to gay community while campaigning,

stopped short of support.. Starting 2011, majority of country
support same-sex marriage and Obama supported in 2012
causing jump in support especially among Black Americans.
Edith Windsor case chipped away at DOMA, Obergefell v.
Hodges declared same-sex marriage legal.

Contemporary problems No federal law protects LGBTQ workers, less than half of states
since Obergefell have laws that do. Sexual harassment rules illegal under CVA64
Title VI. Right to refusal is still hotly contested given
interpretations of CVA64 and 1st amdt rights. Bathroom Bills try
to bar transgender people from bathrooms of their chosen sex,
hotly debated issue.

Affirmative Action Defined by Kennedy and Johnson, requires groups to take

specific action in diversifying. Two schools of thought exist
based on idea of a colorblind Constitution versus one that only
opposes race-based decisions when they harm a minority. The
latter of the two uses quotas: number based targets to secure
proportional membership. UC v. Bakke was based on student
who was excluded due to quotas; SCOTUS decided his reverse-
discrimination was unconstitutional. This is evidently seen often
times as a more strange, complex area of law which confuses
many scholars, so I think it’s okay that I’m a little confused still.
This area has many often contradicting decisions such as the U
of M cases.