B.

Civil Rights
What are Civil Rights? - Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed legal
segregation. With the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, civil
rights became part of the Constitution, guaranteed to each citizen through
equal protection of the laws. This equal protection clause launched a century
of political movements and legal efforts to press for racial equality.

13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments.

Voting Barriers- literacy tests where only literate people could vote

Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery; the Fourteenth

Amendment guaranteed
equal protection under the law; and the Fifteenth Amendment
guaranteed voting rights for blacks.
In 1965, Congress significantly strengthened legislation protecting
voting rights by barring literacy and other tests as a condition for voting in
six southern states,35 by setting criminal penalties for interference with
efforts to vote, and by providing for the replacement of local registrars
with federally appointed registrars in counties designated by the attorney
general as significantly resistant to registering eligible blacks to vote. The
right to vote was further strengthened with ratification in 1964 of the
Twenty-fourth Amendment, which abolished the poll tax, and in 1975 with
legislation permanently outlawing literacy tests in all fifty states and
mandating bilingual ballots or oral assistance for Spanish-speakers,
Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Native Americans, and Eskimos

o Examples discussed in class

What are some examples of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 laws discussed in
class?
Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968
Voting rights act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the
United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been
responsible for the wide spread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the
U.S.[2] Echoing the language of the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibits states
from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard,
practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United
States to vote on account of race or color. Basically eliminates voting barriers
such as the literacy test. The Act is expanded and renewed in 1970, 1975, and
1982.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968, was a landmark piece of legislation in the United
States that provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or
national origin. The Act was signed into law during the King assassination
riots by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had previously signed the Civil Rights
Act and Voting Rights Act into law. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is
commonly known as the Fair Housing Act and was meant as a follow-up to the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Groups: Ethnic whites, Blacks, Women, Hispanics, and Asians versus

Seniors, Physically/Mentally Challenged, and Gays and Lesbians.
Laws to protect seniors, physically/mentally challenged persons, and gays
and lesbians.

Seniors- The 1967 federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

makes age discrimination illegal when practiced by employers with at least twenty
employees. Many states have added to the federal provisions with their own age
discrimination laws, and some such state laws are stronger than the federal
provisions. The major lobbyist for seniors, the AARP, formerly the American
Association of Retired Persons (see Chapter 11), with its claim to over 30 million
members, has been active in keeping these laws on the books and making sure
that they are vigorously implemented. Rights for older workers received a setback
in a 2009 Supreme Court decision in the case of Gross v. FBL Financial Services.68
The Court ruled that a fifty-four-year-old employee who had challenged his
dismissal on the grounds of age discrimination would have to show that his
demotion was a direct result of discrimination.
Gay and lesbian The Human Rights Campaign is the primary national political
action committee (PAC) focused on gay rights; it provides campaign financing and
volunteers to work for candidates endorsed by the group. The movement has also
formed legal-rights organizations, including the Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund. Gay and lesbian rights drew national attention in 1993, when
President Bill Clinton confronted the question of whether gays should be allowed
to serve in the military. As a candidate, Clinton had said he favored lifting the ban
on homosexuals in the military. the administration enunciated a compromise: its
Dont ask, dont tell policy. This policy allows gays and lesbians to serve in the
military as long as they do not openly proclaim their sexual orientation or engage
in homosexual activity. The administration maintained that the ruling would
protect gays and lesbians against witch hunting investigations, but many gay and
lesbian advocates expressed disappointment
Physically/Mentally challenged The seed was planted in a little-noticed
provision of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which outlawed discrimination against
individuals on the basis of disabilities. As in many other cases, the law itself
helped give rise to the movement demanding rights for the handicapped.65
Modeling itself on the NAACPs Legal Defense Fund, the disability movement
founded a Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund to press its legal claims.
The movement achieved its greatest success with the passage of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which guarantees equal employment rights
and access to public businesses for the disabled. Claims of discrimination in
violation of this act are considered by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission

Dont ask dont tell and Defense of Marriage Act

Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which declared
that states will not have to recognize a same-sex marriage, even if it is
legal in one state. The act also said that the federal government will not
recognize gay marriageeven if it is legal under state lawand that gay
marriage partners will not be eligible for the federal benefits, such as
Medicare and Social Security, normally available to spouses.5
Dont ask, dont tell policy. This policy allows gays and lesbians to
serve in the military as long as they do not openly proclaim their sexual
orientation or engage in homosexual activity

Same-sex marriage in the U.S.

o California