ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL

THE DECLARATION'S FAULTS

• The Declaration of Independence says "All men are created equal."
• This has been interpreted as political and legal equality, also equality of opportunity.
• This, to this day, excludes economical equality.

THE CONSTITUTION'S FAULTS

• No mentions of "equality" in the neither the Bill of Rights nor the Constitution.
• 14th amendment: States are forbidden to deny a citizen "the protection of the laws."

AFRICAN AMERICAN RIGHTS

Segregation and inequality stems from the Dark Ages, when white people who encountered people of color sought to eliminate the source of their numerical inferiority by enslaving and murdering those they were threatened by.

FEDERAL ACTS OF INEQUALITY

• DRED SCOTT v. SANFORD (1857): ruled black people were not citizens, and could not petition the court.
• PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896): ruled segregation was constitutional, as the people were "separate but equal".
• Not to mention the hundreds of hate crimes, unwarranted uses of force, and inequalities spawned from state laws.

Blacks were condemned to separate (often lesser) public facilities, such as schools, eateries, and even water fountains. In many areas, they were sentenced to their own part of town.

BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION ruled that segregation in schools violated the 14th amendment and made "separate but equal" invalid.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

• Ended segregation on a national level by making discrimination illegal.
• Allowed the initiation of lawsuits against segregated schools.
• Prohibited discrimination on many levels (age, race, sex, etc) during employment.

MEANS OF DISENFRANCHISEMENT

• Poll tax: a price paid to vote
• Literacy test: a reading comprehension quiz to ensure a voter's education
• "White primaries": primary elections that didn't allow the vote of African Americans

VOTING AGED AFRICAN AMERICANS 1960

VOTING AGED WHITES 1960

The 24th amendment eliminate poll taxes in 1964, and two years later, the Supreme Court declared poll taxes void in state elections.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 went further to ensure all were allowed to vote by outlawing literacy tests and by providing federal surveillance of areas that had previously discriminated against voters.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

From the beginning, women were denied any roles in community aside from mother and wife. Such beliefs were derived from the Bible, and reinforced by the government. Women were denied the basic rights to dispose of property, vote, and divorce.

Women sought suffrage, and were granted such right in the 19th amendment in 1920. However, this did not eliminate the low social standing of women.

EQUAL PAY ACT, 1963

• Requires equal pay among men and women for equal work.
• Regardless, women make $0.77 to each dollar a man makes.

REED V. REED

• Determined that any law that fell to the basis of gender must be rational.
• Said laws must serve "important government objectives".

Title IX forbids any school receiving federal money from discriminating students on the basis of gender. This helped in enriching women's sports leagues.

AFFIRMITAVE ACTION

Enacted by President Johnson, affirmative action is the hiring of minorities and women to help alleviate and remedy past discrimination.

PROS

• Disadvantaged students and workers are encouraged to succeed.
• Increases diversity.
• Makes up for years of discrimination.
• Helps dismantle stereotypes.

CONS

• Can appear demeaning to minorities.
• Still is a decision made by race.
• Can cause the discrimination of majorities.
• Creates a competitor field where race can outweigh qualifications.

REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA v. BAKKE

• UC Davis admitted 100 students and allotted 16 spots for disadvantaged and minority students.
• The disadvantaged and minority students were held to a lower academic standing than typical applicants.
• Allan Bakke, a white NASA engineer, was denied admission, despite scoring higher than all minority students.
• The Supreme Court ruled that Bakke was being denied protection from the 14th amendment.
• Bakke was admitted.

In GRUTTER v. BOLLINGER and GRATZ v. BOLLINGER, the Supreme Court adhered to its ruling that race could be a factor in college admissions, but quotas are illegal.

That all men are equal is a proposition which at ordinary times no sane individual has ever given his assent.

-Aldous Huxley