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Scott v. Sanford
Slave Dred Scott moved to free Wisconsin but sued because his former owner still called him property. Court ruled that slaves were not citizens under the 5th amendment right of protection of property. -
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Reconstruction Era
After the Civil War America tries to make things equal between blacks and whites. -
13th Amendment
Abolishes slavery. -
14th Amendment
Gives basic guarantees of equality and due process to all. Equal protection clause. Immigration issues. "Any person born or naturalized is a citizen" -
15th Amendment
Gave anyone 18+ right to vote regardless of race. -
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Jim Crow Era
Segregation between blacks and whites considered "separate but equal". Not equal by use of black codes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow laws. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy, a black man, sues saying that whites only train cars and blacks only train cars aren't constitutional. Court ruled that "separate but equal" accomadations are constitutional. -
19th Amendment
Gave women the right to vote. -
Scottsboro Boys
After a fight between one black and one white hobo on a train, two women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, accused 9 black teenagers, ages 13 to 19, of raping them. In trail, the boys were given a crappy lawyer and an all white jury. There was no evidence that the boys actually raped the girls. The boys spent up to 15 years in jail. -
George Stinney Case
14 year old George Stinney was accused of murdering two white girls. Trial was highly unconstitutional: all white jury, no warrant for arrest, took three hours, crappy lawyer, lawyer wouldn't appoint any witnesses. Stinney was sentenced to death by electric chair. -
Brown v. Board
The NAACP and the father of Linda Brown sued because segregated schools weren't "separate but equal". The schools were tangibly equal (same physical items), but Court ruled them intangibly equal because black kids have a sense of inferiority. The Doll Test supports it because the white kids favored white dolls (because they look similar), but the black kids chose the white dolls to be considered better because they are white. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
-Created the five protected classes (race, age, religion, disability, sex)
-Told States that continued voting discrimination based on race that they'd lose federal funding if they didn't stop. -
24th Amendment
Gov't cannot deny anyone right to vote if they cannot pay a poll tax. Made sure certain States don't try to deny POC right to vote. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
-Made sure the South's "tests" of discrimination went away (literacy tests, grandfather clause, etc)
-Discriminatory States had to get every voting law approved by federal gov't.
-^Called "preclearance". Blocks discrimination before it happens. Still in effect today. -
California v. Bakke
University of CA medical school set aside 16/100 seats for minority students. White student who didn't get in sues saying its racial discrimination. Court ruled that this type of affirmative action is unconstitutional because quotas are used. Schools cannot set aside a certain number of seats for minority students. -
Gratz v. Bollinger
UM considered race as a sole factor for increasing diversity. 2 white students didn't get in and sued on basis of racial discrimination. Court ruled that universities cannot use race as the sole factor in creating diversity. -
Meredith v. Jefferson County Board
Louisville schools said there cannot be a certain % more or less of POC students or white students at a school. Parents sued, saying that the numbers violated the equal protection clause because the kids couldn't go to their favored school. Court ruled you cannot do this affirmative action because 1) its public school and everyone has to go and 2) YOU CAN'T USE NUMBERS -
Shelby County v. Holder
Shelby County, Alabama had to get preclearance to create voting laws and sued, saying that the need for all the Southern States to have preclearance doesn't apply today because there's not voting discrimination. The Court ruled in their favor and said the preclearance thing was unconstitutional.