FREE ESSAY ON GOVERNMENTAL ACTIONS TO END DISCRIMINATION SINCE THE 1950'S (OUTLINE)

GOVERNMENTAL ACTIONS TO END DISCRIMINATION SINCE THE 1950'S (OUTLINE)

Slow Improvement, but substantial gains
Judicial Actions
1954- Brown v. Board of Ed.- ends segregation
1962- Baker v. Carr- one man, one vote; redistricts congressional districts to be more
representative of minorities.
1964- Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S.- uses interstate commerce clause to ban segregated
motels, hotels and restaurants.
1966- S.C. v. Katzenbach- enforces 15th amendment's policy of ending voting
discrimination
1968- Jones v. Mayer- racial discrimination in sale or rental of housing is illegal.
1971- Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County- bussing can be used as a means of combating
state enforced segregation.
1979- United Steel Workers v. Weber- upholds affirmative action for the purpose of
remedying past injustices.
1983- Dayton Board of Ed. v. Brinkman- upholds bussing as remedy for de facto
segregation.
Legislative Actions-
1964- Civil Rights Act- Title II- forbids discrimination in public accommodations
Title III & IV- forbids discrimination by public schools
Title VII- forbids discrimination by employers
1964- 24th Amendment- ends poll tax
1965- Voting Rights Act-prohibited state gov't from using procedures that discriminated
against a certain race.
-E.E.O.C. formed to enforce these laws.
-Affirmative Action- companies with federal contracts and federally funded universities
must abide by a rule, which help, or increase the chances of blacks and minorities
receiving favorable positions.
1982- Voting Rights Amendment- creates minority-majority districts, so the likelihood of
electing minorities increases.
1988- Congress revises the Civil Rights Act to invalidate the anti-affirmative action
decision in Grove City College v. Bell.
Successfully ends, for the most part, de juro segregation and discrimination, however de
facto segregation still largely exists today. Social and political factors hindering
substantial integration:
White backlash:
-Affirmative action hated by most whites (Bakke v. Cal [78] limits affirmative action's
power)
-Racial gerrymandering seen as ridiculous, and then even unconstitutional (Shaw v. Reno
['93] & Miller v Johnson ['95])
-These public sentiments backed up by the Conservative swing of the Reagan appointed,
Rhenquist court.
-de facto segregation. Not caused by any government wrong in particular, but the tendency
of minority groups to stay living areas of their own minority group make true integration
an almost unattainable goal.
-bryant gumbell.... 'nuf said