notoes from 12/12/08

3rd period notes from Friday 12/12/08 Chapter 16
Americans want equality but they differ on the extent to which gov. should provide it.
1. Most americans support equality of opportunity which gives individuals the same opportunities to get ahead
2. American are less committed to equality of outcome, which entails uniformity of social, economic and political power for people
3. Civil rights movement in the U.S. has been based on the idea that social and economic equality should be attainable for all people. Individual discrimination shouldnt be sanctioned by gov. policies.
Civil war amendments (13,14, and 15) were adopted to provide black americans with civil and policital rights.The SC (Supreme Court) seemed to intend on weakening federal attempts to ensure the the civil rights of black American.
Court ruled in 1873 that state citizenship and national citizenship remained distinct despite the rights guarneted in the 14th amendment.The SC sturck down the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 dealing with equality of public accommodation on the grounds that the federal gov. couldnt prohibit discrimination by private citizens.Voting rights of black were weakened through several discriminatory mechanism like poll taxes.
2. With the nullificaton of Civil Rights Act of 1875 sate laws that formally protected racial segreagation
Jim Crow laws required that housing and all other public facilities for black and whites be seperated.Plessy vs Ferguson 1896 the SC upheld state imposed racial segregation based on seperate but equal faclilities. SC extended sperate but equal for school.Denied acces to the policital system black americans began to seek access to the courts in order to challenge racial segregation in education
The NAACP helped black Americans challegne in court state laws denying them access to white only universititesMissouri Ex Rel Gaines vs Canada 1938 the SC ruled that Gaines had to be admitted to the Univeristy of Missouri law School due that Missouri couldnt shift him to another state.
In 1984, the SC went further to reject the seperated but equal in its Brown vs Board of Education decison.
Prez. Truman ordered desegregation of armed forcesMany state resisted that desegregation be implemented "with all deliberate speed"The courts approved several remedies to achieve intergration.