APAG Ch' 6 Civil Rights: Beyond Equal Protection

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APAG Ch. 6Civil Rights Beyond Equal Protection

• Assignment 1 PP. 177-183

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• What is affirmative action? What has happened to
  it since the mid 1990s?

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• Affirmative action is a policy in educational
  admissions or job hiring that gives special
  consideration or compensatory treatment to
  traditionally disadvantaged groups in an effort
  to overcome present effects of past
  discrimination.
• Since the mid 1990s, the Supreme Court has ruled
  against racial preferences, especially in college
  admissions.

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• 2. What did the Supreme Court rule in the
  University of California v. Bakke decision?

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• The Court upheld affirmative action but ruled
  that race cannot be the sole criteria for
  admissions to college or hiring.

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• 3. What was Proposition 209? How did affect
  minority enrollment in the university system?

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• Proposition 209 was voted into law in California
  outlawing state programs that discriminated
  againstor gave preferences toindividuals based
  on their race.
• The percentage of Hispanics and Blacks enrolled
  have dropped.

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• 4. How did the president of the California
  university system compensate for Proposition 209?

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• The president of the university system put into
  effect a top 4 percent plan that allowed the
  top 4 of students from certain low-performing
  and predominantly minority high schools automatic
  admission to Berkley and Los Angeles.

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• 5. Why is affirmative action difficult to
  implement?

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• The U.S. has numerous minority groups, as well as
  many multiracial Americans, many of whom cannot
  be pigeonholed into a legal minority group.

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• 6. What was the basic problem with the Civil
  Rights Act of 1964 when it came to employment of
  minorities? What did the federal government use
  to remedy this problem?

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• The basic problem was that minority groups and
  women, because of past discrimination, often
  lacked the education and skill to compete
  effectively in the marketplace.
• Affirmative action was used to level the playing
  field by giving special preferences in
  educational admissions and employment decisions.

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• 7. Who started affirmative action? Who was
  required to follow its policies?

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• Affirmative action was started by Lyndon Johnson
  in 1965.
• All government agencies (federal, state and
  local), companies that sold goods and services to
  the federal govt., institutions that received
  federal funds, and finally, labor unions and
  companies that were found to be discriminatory in
  the past.

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• 8. Who has been hurt by affirmative action? What
  is at issue in the current debate over it?

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• White males was the predominant group hurt by
  affirmative action.
• At issue in the current debate is whether such
  programs, because of the inherently
  discriminatory nature, violate the equal
  protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

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• 9. Describe the Alan Bakke case.

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• Alan Bakke sued the University of California at
  Davis because he found that his academic record
  was better than those of some of the minority
  applicants who had been admitted to their medical
  program. He alleged reverse discrimination and
  that the university violated his rights under the
  equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

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• 10. What was the effect of the Courts decision
  in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena?

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• The Courts opinion in Adarand means that an
  affirmative action program cannot make use of
  quotas or preferences for unqualified persons,
  and once it has succeeded in achieving that
  compelling government interest, the program must
  be changed or dropped.

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• 11. How did the Hopwood v. State of Texas case
  further limit affirmative action?

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• The Hopwood case stated that the use of race even
  as a means of achieving diversity on college
  campuses undercuts the 14th Amendment.

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• 12. What two states have made affirmative action
  illegal?

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• California and Washington

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• 13. What have been the different views on
  affirmative action with the two political parties?

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• Democrats usually support affirmative actions
  policies while Republicans have opposed them.

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• 14. Describe the changes in language policies of
  the U.S. beginning in the 19th century.

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• In the 19th century, the language of instruction
  was not a significant political issue. Children
  were taught in a wide variety of languages, with
  German being the most common foreign language.
• By the beginning of the 20th century with a large
  wave on new immigrants from Europe, many feared a
  babel of tongues.

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• Anti-German sentiments from WWI caused 37 states
  to pass laws restricting foreign-language
  instruction.
• English-only instruction became the norm
  throughout the country.
• With the large number of Hispanics immigrating in
  the 1950s, bilingual education programs began.

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• 1968, The Bilingual Education Act passed that
  required bilingual programs.
• 1974, the Supreme Court upheld these programs in
  Lau v. Nichols.

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• 15. How does bilingual education work? How did
  todays bilingual education programs come about?

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• Bilingual education programs teach children in
  their native language while also teaching them
  English.
• These programs are a result of the government
  policies favoring multiculturalism that grew out
  of the civil rights movement.

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• 16. What was the Supreme Court case that upheld
  bilingual education?

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• Lau v. Nichols

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• 17. What happened to bilingual education in
  California?

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• In 1998 California residents passed a ballot
  initiative that called for the end of bilingual
  education programs in that state. It allowed
  English-immersion programs which give intensive
  instruction in English for a limited period of
  time and then placed in regular classrooms.
• The Court has upheld this law thus ending
  bilingual education in California.

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• 19. What is the official language of the U.S.?
  Do you believe the nation should have an
  English-only law when it comes to governmental
  operationsschools, hospitals, public
  transportation, public accommodations, etc.?

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• There is no official language required in the
  U.S.
• Opinion