{"id":121,"date":"2017-08-08T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T16:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/openstax-americangovernment\/chapter\/what-are-civil-rights-and-how-do-we-identify-them\/"},"modified":"2018-12-14T16:19:23","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T16:19:23","slug":"what-are-civil-rights-and-how-do-we-identify-them","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/chapter\/what-are-civil-rights-and-how-do-we-identify-them\/","title":{"raw":"What Are Civil Rights and How Do We Identify Them?","rendered":"What Are Civil Rights and How Do We Identify Them?"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435934955\">By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul id=\"fs-id1164435744089\">\r\n \t<li>Define the concept of civil rights<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the standards that courts use when deciding whether a discriminatory law or regulation is unconstitutional<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Identify three core questions for recognizing a civil rights problem<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435733237\">The belief that people should be treated equally under the law is one of the cornerstones of political thought in the United States. Yet not all citizens have been treated equally throughout the nation\u2019s history, and some are treated differently even today. For example, until 1920, nearly all women in the United States lacked the right to vote. Black men received the right to vote in 1870, but as late as 1940 only 3 percent of African American adults living in the South were registered to vote, largely due to laws designed to keep them from the polls.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nConstitutional Rights Foundation. \u201cRace and Voting in the Segregated South,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crf-usa.org\/black-history-month\/race-and-voting-in-the-segregated-south\">http:\/\/www.crf-usa.org\/black-history-month\/race-and-voting-in-the-segregated-south<\/a> (April 10, 2016).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nAmericans were not allowed to enter into legal marriage with a member of the same sex in many U.S. states until 2015. Some types of unequal treatment are considered acceptable, while others are not. No one would consider it acceptable to allow a ten-year-old to vote, because a child lacks the ability to understand important political issues, but all reasonable people would agree that it is wrong to mandate racial segregation or to deny someone the right to vote on the basis of race. It is important to understand which types of inequality are unacceptable and why.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435843324\" class=\"bc-section section\">\r\n<h2>DEFINING CIVIL RIGHTS<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435842757\"><em>Civil rights<\/em> are, at the most fundamental level, guarantees by the government that it will treat people equally, particularly people belonging to groups that have historically been denied the same rights and opportunities as others. The proclamation that \u201call men are created equal\u201d appears in the Declaration of Independence, and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that the federal government treat people equally. According to Chief Justice Earl <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">Warren<\/span><\/strong> in the Supreme Court case of <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Bolling v. Sharpe<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1954), \u201cdiscrimination may be so unjustifiable as to be violative of due process.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Bolling v. Sharpe<\/em>, 347 U.S. 497 (1954).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAdditional guarantees of equality are provided by the <strong>equal protection clause<\/strong> of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, which states in part that \u201cNo State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.\u201d Thus, between the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, neither state governments nor the federal government may treat people unequally unless unequal treatment is necessary to maintain important governmental interests, like public safety.\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435590504\">We can contrast <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil rights<\/span><\/strong> with <em>civil liberties<\/em>, which are limitations on government power designed to protect our fundamental freedoms. For example, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the application of \u201ccruel and unusual punishments\u201d to those convicted of crimes, a limitation on government power. As another example, the guarantee of equal protection means the laws and the Constitution must be applied on an equal basis, limiting the government\u2019s ability to discriminate or treat some people differently, unless the unequal treatment is based on a valid reason, such as age. A law that imprisons Asian Americans twice as long as Latinos for the same offense, or a law that says people with disabilities don\u2019t have the right to contact members of Congress while other people do, would treat some people differently from others for no valid reason and might well be unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court\u2019s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause, \u201call persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<div class=\"note reference\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Phyler v. Doe<\/em>, 457 U.S. 202 (1982); <em>F. S. Royster Guano v. Virginia<\/em>, 253 U.S. 412 (1920).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIf people are not similarly circumstanced, however, they may be treated differently. Asian Americans and Latinos who have broken the same law are similarly circumstanced; however, a blind driver or a ten-year-old driver is differently circumstanced than a sighted, adult driver.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435655678\" class=\"bc-section section\">\r\n<h2>IDENTIFYING DISCRIMINATION<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435660867\">Laws that treat one group of people differently from others are not always unconstitutional. In fact, the government engages in legal discrimination quite often. In most states, you must be eighteen years old to smoke cigarettes and twenty-one to drink alcohol; these laws discriminate against the young. To get a driver\u2019s license so you can legally drive a car on public roads, you have to be a minimum age and pass tests showing your knowledge, practical skills, and vision. Perhaps you are attending a public college or university run by the government; the school you attend has an open admission policy, which means the school admits all who apply. Not all public colleges and universities have an open admissions policy, however. These schools may require that students have a high school diploma or a particular score on the SAT or ACT or a GPA above a certain number. In a sense, this is discrimination, because these requirements treat people unequally; people who do not have a high school diploma or a high enough GPA or SAT score are not admitted. How can the federal, state, and local governments discriminate in all these ways even though the equal protection clause seems to suggest that everyone be treated the same?<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435896922\">The answer to this question lies in the <em>purpose<\/em> of the discriminatory practice. In most cases when the courts are deciding whether discrimination is unlawful, the government has to demonstrate only that it has a good reason for engaging in it. Unless the person or group challenging the law can prove otherwise, the courts will generally decide the discriminatory practice is allowed. In these cases, the courts are applying the <strong>rational basis test<\/strong>. That is, as long as there\u2019s a reason for treating some people differently that is \u201crationally related to a legitimate government interest,\u201d the discriminatory act or law or policy is acceptable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nCornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute. \u201cRational Basis,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/rational_basis\">https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/rational_basis<\/a> (April 10, 2016); <em>Nebbia v. New York<\/em>, 291 U.S. 502 (1934).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nFor example, since letting blind people operate cars would be dangerous to others on the road, the law forbidding them to drive is reasonably justified on the grounds of safety; thus, it is allowed even though it discriminates against the blind. Similarly, when universities and colleges refuse to admit students who fail to meet a certain test score or GPA, they can discriminate against students with weaker grades and test scores because these students most likely do not possess the knowledge or skills needed to do well in their classes and graduate from the institution. The universities and colleges have a legitimate reason for denying these students entrance.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435731037\">The courts, however, are much more skeptical when it comes to certain other forms of discrimination. Because of the United States\u2019 history of discrimination against people of non-white ancestry, women, and members of ethnic and religious minorities, the courts apply more stringent rules to policies, laws, and actions that discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or national origin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>United States v. Carolene Products Co<\/em>., 304 U.S. 144 (1938).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nDiscrimination based on gender or sex is generally examined with <strong>intermediate scrutiny<\/strong>. The standard of intermediate scrutiny was first applied by the Supreme Court in <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Craig v. Boren<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1976) and again in <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Clark v. Jeter<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1988).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Craig v. Boren<\/em>, 429 U.S. 190 (1976); <em>Clark v. Jeter<\/em>, 486 U.S. 456 (1988).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIt requires the government to demonstrate that treating men and women differently is \u201csubstantially related to an important governmental objective.\u201d This puts the burden of proof on the <em>government<\/em> to demonstrate why the unequal treatment is justifiable, not on the individual who alleges unfair discrimination has taken place. In practice, this means laws that treat men and women differently are sometimes upheld, although usually they are not. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, the courts ruled that states could not operate single-sex institutions of higher education and that such schools, like South Carolina\u2019s military college The Citadel, shown in Figure,\u00a0must admit both male and female students.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan<\/em>, 458 U.S. 718 (1982); <em>United States v. Virginia<\/em>, 518 U.S. 515 (1996).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nWomen in the military are now also allowed to serve in all combat roles, although the courts have continued to allow the Selective Service System (the draft) to register only men and not women.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nMatthew Rosenberg and Dave Philipps, \u201cAll Combat Roles Open to Women, Defense Secretary Says,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em>, 3 December 2015; <em>Rostker v. Goldberg<\/em>, 453 U.S. 57 (1981).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"OSC_AmGov_05_01_Citadel\" class=\"bc-figure figure\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"825\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2292\/2017\/08\/08163150\/OSC_AmGov_05_01_Citadel.jpg\" alt=\"A: an image of a group of cadets standing in rows. B: an image of a building with one high tower and several archways. In the foreground is a large tiled courtyard.\" width=\"825\" height=\"395\" \/> <strong>Figure 1.\u00a0<\/strong>While the first female cadets graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1980 (a), The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina (b), was an all-male institution until 1995 when a young woman named Shannon Faulkner enrolled in the school.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435558119\">Discrimination against members of racial, ethnic, or religious groups or those of various national origins is reviewed to the greatest degree by the courts, which apply the <strong>strict scrutiny<\/strong> standard in these cases. Under strict scrutiny, the burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate that there is a compelling governmental interest in treating people from one group differently from those who are not part of that group\u2014the law or action can be \u201cnarrowly tailored\u201d to achieve the goal in question, and that it is the \u201cleast restrictive means\u201d available to achieve that goal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Johnson v. California<\/em>, 543 U.S. 499 (2005).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn other words, if there is a non-discriminatory way to accomplish the goal in question, discrimination should not take place. In the modern era, laws and actions that are challenged under strict scrutiny have rarely been upheld. Strict scrutiny, however, was the legal basis for the Supreme Court\u2019s 1944 upholding of the legality of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, discussed later in this chapter.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<em>Korematsu v. United States<\/em>, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nFinally, <strong>affirmative action<\/strong> consists of government programs and policies designed to benefit members of groups historically subject to discrimination. Much of the controversy surrounding affirmative action is about whether strict scrutiny should be applied to these cases.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435633923\" class=\"bc-section section\">\r\n<h2>PUTTING CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435650141\">At the time of the nation\u2019s founding, of course, the treatment of many groups was unequal: hundreds of thousands of people of African descent were not free, the rights of women were decidedly fewer than those of men, and the native peoples of North America were generally not considered U.S. citizens at all. While the early United States was perhaps a more inclusive society than most of the world at that time, equal treatment of all was at best still a radical idea.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435843819\">The aftermath of the Civil War marked a turning point for civil rights. The Republican majority in Congress was enraged by the actions of the reconstituted governments of the southern states. In these states, many former Confederate politicians and their sympathizers returned to power and attempted to circumvent the Thirteenth Amendment\u2019s freeing of slaves by passing laws known as the <strong>black codes<\/strong>. These laws were designed to reduce former slaves to the status of serfs or indentured servants; blacks were not just denied the right to vote but also could be arrested and jailed for vagrancy or idleness if they lacked jobs. Blacks were excluded from public schools and state colleges and were subject to violence at the hands of whites (Figure).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n\u201cMississippi Black Code,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/courses\/122\/recon\/code.html\"> https:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/courses\/122\/recon\/code.html<\/a> (April 10, 2016); \u201cBlack Codes and Pig Laws,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/tpt\/slavery-by-another-name\/themes\/black-codes\/\">http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/tpt\/slavery-by-another-name\/themes\/black-codes\/<\/a> (April 10, 2016).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"OSC_AmGov_05_01_SchoolFire\" class=\"bc-figure figure\">[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"825\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2292\/2017\/08\/08163210\/OSC_AmGov_05_01_SchoolFire.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a sketch of a building on fire. Several people are standing outside the building. Some of the people are armed. At the bottom of the image reads \u201cScenes in Memphis, Tennessee, during the riot\u2014burning a freedmen\u2019s school-house. [Sketched by A. R. W.]\u201d.\" width=\"825\" height=\"673\" \/> <strong>Figure 2.\u00a0<\/strong>A school built by the federal government for former slaves burned after being set on fire during a race riot in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1866. White southerners, angered by their defeat in the Civil War and the loss of their slave property, attacked and killed former slaves, destroyed their property, and terrorized white northerners who attempted to improve the freed slaves\u2019 lives.[\/caption]<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435552282\">To override the southern states\u2019 actions, lawmakers in Congress proposed two amendments to the Constitution designed to give political equality and power to former slaves; once passed by Congress and ratified by the necessary number of states, these became the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment, in addition to including the equal protection clause as noted above, also was designed to ensure that the states would respect the <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil liberties<\/span> <\/strong>of freed slaves. The Fifteenth Amendment was proposed to ensure the right to vote for black men, which will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435579824\" class=\"bc-section section\">\r\n<h2>IDENTIFYING CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435607840\">When we look back at the past, it\u2019s relatively easy to identify civil rights issues that arose. But looking into the future is much harder. For example, few people fifty years ago would have identified the rights of the LGBT community as an important civil rights issue or predicted it would become one, yet in the intervening decades it has certainly done so. Similarly, in past decades the rights of those with disabilities, particularly mental disabilities, were often ignored by the public at large. Many people with disabilities were institutionalized and given little further thought, and within the past century, it was common for those with mental disabilities to be subject to forced sterilization.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"note reference\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nCatherine K. Harbour, and Pallab K. Maulik. 2010. \u201cHistory of Intellectual Disability.\u201d In <em>International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation<\/em>, eds. J. H. Stone and M. Blouin. <a href=\"http:\/\/cirrie.buffalo.edu\/encyclopedia\/en\/article\/143\/\">http:\/\/cirrie.buffalo.edu\/encyclopedia\/en\/article\/143\/<\/a> (April 10, 2016).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nToday, most of us view this treatment as barbaric.\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435732139\">Clearly, then, new <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil rights<\/span><\/strong> issues can emerge over time. How can we, as citizens, identify them as they emerge and distinguish genuine claims of discrimination from claims by those who have merely been unable to convince a majority to agree with their viewpoints? For example, how do we decide if twelve-year-olds are discriminated against because they are not allowed to vote? We can identify true discrimination by applying the following analytical process:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435683678\">\r\n \t<li><em>Which groups?<\/em> First, identify the group of people who are facing discrimination.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><em>Which right(s) are threatened?<\/em> Second, what right or rights are being denied to members of this group?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><em>What do we do?<\/em> Third, what can the government do to bring about a fair situation for the affected group? Is proposing and enacting such a remedy realistic?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435597370\" class=\"note get-connected\">\r\n<div class=\"title\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<h3 class=\"title\">Join the Fight for Civil Rights<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435658977\">One way to get involved in the fight for civil rights is to stay informed. The <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">Southern Poverty Law Center<\/span><\/strong> (SPLC) is a not-for-profit advocacy group based in Montgomery, Alabama. Lawyers for the SPLC specialize in civil rights litigation and represent many people whose rights have been violated, from victims of hate crimes to undocumented immigrants. They provide <a href=\"https:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29SPLCcivri\">summaries of important civil rights cases<\/a> under their Docket section.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435910004\"><em>Activity: Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29splcwebsite\">SPLC website<\/a> to find current information about a variety of different hate groups. In what part of the country do hate groups seem to be concentrated? Where are hate incidents most likely to occur? What might be some reasons for this?<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435605080\" class=\"note american government link-to-learning\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435579824\" class=\"bc-section section\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435605080\" class=\"note american government link-to-learning\">\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435882750\" style=\"text-align: center\">Civil rights institutes are found throughout the United States and especially in the south. One of the most prominent civil rights institutes is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29birmingcilrig\">Birmingham Civil Rights Institute,<\/a> which is located in Alabama.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435693783\" class=\"summary\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435935941\">The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment gives all people and groups in the United States the right to be treated equally regardless of individual attributes. That logic has been expanded in the twenty-first century to cover attributes such as race, color, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. People may still be treated unequally by the government, but only if there is at least a rational basis for it, such as a disability that makes a person unable to perform the essential functions required by a job, or if a person is too young to be trusted with an important responsibility, like driving safely. If the characteristic on which discrimination is based is related to sex, race, or ethnicity, the reason for it must serve, respectively, an important government interest or a compelling government interest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435897663\" class=\"review-questions\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435652845\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435627115\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435652845\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435627115\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435558827\">A group of African American students believes a college admissions test that is used by a public university discriminates against them. What legal standard would the courts use in deciding their case?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435541051\">\r\n \t<li>rational basis test<\/li>\r\n \t<li>intermediate scrutiny<\/li>\r\n \t<li>strict scrutiny<\/li>\r\n \t<li>equal protection<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"210034\"]Show Solution[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"210034\"]C[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435893998\" class=\"solution\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435628449\">The equal protection clause became part of the Constitution as a result of ________.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435565673\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435640762\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435592773\">\r\n \t<li>affirmative action<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the Fourteenth Amendment<\/li>\r\n \t<li>intermediate scrutiny<\/li>\r\n \t<li>strict scrutiny<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435609939\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435611871\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435612033\">Which of the following types of discrimination would be subject to the rational basis test?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435625372\">\r\n \t<li>A law that treats men differently from women<\/li>\r\n \t<li>An action by a state governor that treats Asian Americans differently from other citizens<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A law that treats whites differently from other citizens<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A law that treats 10-year-olds differently from 28-year-olds<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435925452\" class=\"solution\">[reveal-answer q=\"155991\"]Show Solution[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"155991\"]D[\/hidden-answer]<\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435569851\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435635982\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435547387\">What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<h2>Glossary<\/h2>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435734964\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>affirmative action<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435561749\">the use of programs and policies designed to assist groups that have historically been subject to discrimination<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435833938\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>black codes<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435625336\">laws passed immediately after the Civil War that discriminated against freed slaves and other blacks and deprived them of their rights<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435833525\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>equal protection clause<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435843616\">a provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all residents equally under the law<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435822396\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>intermediate scrutiny<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435551420\">the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on gender and sex; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate an important governmental interest is at stake in treating men differently from women<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435711774\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>rational basis test<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435561392\">the standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435558126\" class=\"definition\">\r\n \t<dt><strong>strict scrutiny<\/strong><\/dt>\r\n \t<dd id=\"fs-id1164435546441\">the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate a compelling governmental interest is at stake and no alternative means are available to accomplish its goals<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435934955\">By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"fs-id1164435744089\">\n<li>Define the concept of civil rights<\/li>\n<li>Describe the standards that courts use when deciding whether a discriminatory law or regulation is unconstitutional<\/li>\n<li>Identify three core questions for recognizing a civil rights problem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435733237\">The belief that people should be treated equally under the law is one of the cornerstones of political thought in the United States. Yet not all citizens have been treated equally throughout the nation\u2019s history, and some are treated differently even today. For example, until 1920, nearly all women in the United States lacked the right to vote. Black men received the right to vote in 1870, but as late as 1940 only 3 percent of African American adults living in the South were registered to vote, largely due to laws designed to keep them from the polls.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Constitutional Rights Foundation. \u201cRace and Voting in the Segregated South,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crf-usa.org\/black-history-month\/race-and-voting-in-the-segregated-south\">http:\/\/www.crf-usa.org\/black-history-month\/race-and-voting-in-the-segregated-south<\/a> (April 10, 2016).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Americans were not allowed to enter into legal marriage with a member of the same sex in many U.S. states until 2015. Some types of unequal treatment are considered acceptable, while others are not. No one would consider it acceptable to allow a ten-year-old to vote, because a child lacks the ability to understand important political issues, but all reasonable people would agree that it is wrong to mandate racial segregation or to deny someone the right to vote on the basis of race. It is important to understand which types of inequality are unacceptable and why.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435843324\" class=\"bc-section section\">\n<h2>DEFINING CIVIL RIGHTS<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435842757\"><em>Civil rights<\/em> are, at the most fundamental level, guarantees by the government that it will treat people equally, particularly people belonging to groups that have historically been denied the same rights and opportunities as others. The proclamation that \u201call men are created equal\u201d appears in the Declaration of Independence, and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that the federal government treat people equally. According to Chief Justice Earl <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">Warren<\/span><\/strong> in the Supreme Court case of <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Bolling v. Sharpe<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1954), \u201cdiscrimination may be so unjustifiable as to be violative of due process.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Bolling v. Sharpe<\/em>, 347 U.S. 497 (1954).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Additional guarantees of equality are provided by the <strong>equal protection clause<\/strong> of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, which states in part that \u201cNo State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.\u201d Thus, between the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, neither state governments nor the federal government may treat people unequally unless unequal treatment is necessary to maintain important governmental interests, like public safety.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435590504\">We can contrast <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil rights<\/span><\/strong> with <em>civil liberties<\/em>, which are limitations on government power designed to protect our fundamental freedoms. For example, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the application of \u201ccruel and unusual punishments\u201d to those convicted of crimes, a limitation on government power. As another example, the guarantee of equal protection means the laws and the Constitution must be applied on an equal basis, limiting the government\u2019s ability to discriminate or treat some people differently, unless the unequal treatment is based on a valid reason, such as age. A law that imprisons Asian Americans twice as long as Latinos for the same offense, or a law that says people with disabilities don\u2019t have the right to contact members of Congress while other people do, would treat some people differently from others for no valid reason and might well be unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court\u2019s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause, \u201call persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<div class=\"note reference\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Phyler v. Doe<\/em>, 457 U.S. 202 (1982); <em>F. S. Royster Guano v. Virginia<\/em>, 253 U.S. 412 (1920).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If people are not similarly circumstanced, however, they may be treated differently. Asian Americans and Latinos who have broken the same law are similarly circumstanced; however, a blind driver or a ten-year-old driver is differently circumstanced than a sighted, adult driver.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435655678\" class=\"bc-section section\">\n<h2>IDENTIFYING DISCRIMINATION<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435660867\">Laws that treat one group of people differently from others are not always unconstitutional. In fact, the government engages in legal discrimination quite often. In most states, you must be eighteen years old to smoke cigarettes and twenty-one to drink alcohol; these laws discriminate against the young. To get a driver\u2019s license so you can legally drive a car on public roads, you have to be a minimum age and pass tests showing your knowledge, practical skills, and vision. Perhaps you are attending a public college or university run by the government; the school you attend has an open admission policy, which means the school admits all who apply. Not all public colleges and universities have an open admissions policy, however. These schools may require that students have a high school diploma or a particular score on the SAT or ACT or a GPA above a certain number. In a sense, this is discrimination, because these requirements treat people unequally; people who do not have a high school diploma or a high enough GPA or SAT score are not admitted. How can the federal, state, and local governments discriminate in all these ways even though the equal protection clause seems to suggest that everyone be treated the same?<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435896922\">The answer to this question lies in the <em>purpose<\/em> of the discriminatory practice. In most cases when the courts are deciding whether discrimination is unlawful, the government has to demonstrate only that it has a good reason for engaging in it. Unless the person or group challenging the law can prove otherwise, the courts will generally decide the discriminatory practice is allowed. In these cases, the courts are applying the <strong>rational basis test<\/strong>. That is, as long as there\u2019s a reason for treating some people differently that is \u201crationally related to a legitimate government interest,\u201d the discriminatory act or law or policy is acceptable.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Cornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute. \u201cRational Basis,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/rational_basis\">https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/rational_basis<\/a> (April 10, 2016); <em>Nebbia v. New York<\/em>, 291 U.S. 502 (1934).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For example, since letting blind people operate cars would be dangerous to others on the road, the law forbidding them to drive is reasonably justified on the grounds of safety; thus, it is allowed even though it discriminates against the blind. Similarly, when universities and colleges refuse to admit students who fail to meet a certain test score or GPA, they can discriminate against students with weaker grades and test scores because these students most likely do not possess the knowledge or skills needed to do well in their classes and graduate from the institution. The universities and colleges have a legitimate reason for denying these students entrance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435731037\">The courts, however, are much more skeptical when it comes to certain other forms of discrimination. Because of the United States\u2019 history of discrimination against people of non-white ancestry, women, and members of ethnic and religious minorities, the courts apply more stringent rules to policies, laws, and actions that discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or national origin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>United States v. Carolene Products Co<\/em>., 304 U.S. 144 (1938).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Discrimination based on gender or sex is generally examined with <strong>intermediate scrutiny<\/strong>. The standard of intermediate scrutiny was first applied by the Supreme Court in <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Craig v. Boren<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1976) and again in <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\"><em>Clark v. Jeter<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1988).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Craig v. Boren<\/em>, 429 U.S. 190 (1976); <em>Clark v. Jeter<\/em>, 486 U.S. 456 (1988).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It requires the government to demonstrate that treating men and women differently is \u201csubstantially related to an important governmental objective.\u201d This puts the burden of proof on the <em>government<\/em> to demonstrate why the unequal treatment is justifiable, not on the individual who alleges unfair discrimination has taken place. In practice, this means laws that treat men and women differently are sometimes upheld, although usually they are not. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, the courts ruled that states could not operate single-sex institutions of higher education and that such schools, like South Carolina\u2019s military college The Citadel, shown in Figure,\u00a0must admit both male and female students.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan<\/em>, 458 U.S. 718 (1982); <em>United States v. Virginia<\/em>, 518 U.S. 515 (1996).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Women in the military are now also allowed to serve in all combat roles, although the courts have continued to allow the Selective Service System (the draft) to register only men and not women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Matthew Rosenberg and Dave Philipps, \u201cAll Combat Roles Open to Women, Defense Secretary Says,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em>, 3 December 2015; <em>Rostker v. Goldberg<\/em>, 453 U.S. 57 (1981).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"OSC_AmGov_05_01_Citadel\" class=\"bc-figure figure\">\n<div style=\"width: 835px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2292\/2017\/08\/08163150\/OSC_AmGov_05_01_Citadel.jpg\" alt=\"A: an image of a group of cadets standing in rows. B: an image of a building with one high tower and several archways. In the foreground is a large tiled courtyard.\" width=\"825\" height=\"395\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 1.\u00a0<\/strong>While the first female cadets graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1980 (a), The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina (b), was an all-male institution until 1995 when a young woman named Shannon Faulkner enrolled in the school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435558119\">Discrimination against members of racial, ethnic, or religious groups or those of various national origins is reviewed to the greatest degree by the courts, which apply the <strong>strict scrutiny<\/strong> standard in these cases. Under strict scrutiny, the burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate that there is a compelling governmental interest in treating people from one group differently from those who are not part of that group\u2014the law or action can be \u201cnarrowly tailored\u201d to achieve the goal in question, and that it is the \u201cleast restrictive means\u201d available to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Johnson v. California<\/em>, 543 U.S. 499 (2005).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In other words, if there is a non-discriminatory way to accomplish the goal in question, discrimination should not take place. In the modern era, laws and actions that are challenged under strict scrutiny have rarely been upheld. Strict scrutiny, however, was the legal basis for the Supreme Court\u2019s 1944 upholding of the legality of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, discussed later in this chapter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Korematsu v. United States<\/em>, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Finally, <strong>affirmative action<\/strong> consists of government programs and policies designed to benefit members of groups historically subject to discrimination. Much of the controversy surrounding affirmative action is about whether strict scrutiny should be applied to these cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435633923\" class=\"bc-section section\">\n<h2>PUTTING CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435650141\">At the time of the nation\u2019s founding, of course, the treatment of many groups was unequal: hundreds of thousands of people of African descent were not free, the rights of women were decidedly fewer than those of men, and the native peoples of North America were generally not considered U.S. citizens at all. While the early United States was perhaps a more inclusive society than most of the world at that time, equal treatment of all was at best still a radical idea.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435843819\">The aftermath of the Civil War marked a turning point for civil rights. The Republican majority in Congress was enraged by the actions of the reconstituted governments of the southern states. In these states, many former Confederate politicians and their sympathizers returned to power and attempted to circumvent the Thirteenth Amendment\u2019s freeing of slaves by passing laws known as the <strong>black codes<\/strong>. These laws were designed to reduce former slaves to the status of serfs or indentured servants; blacks were not just denied the right to vote but also could be arrested and jailed for vagrancy or idleness if they lacked jobs. Blacks were excluded from public schools and state colleges and were subject to violence at the hands of whites (Figure).<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>\u201cMississippi Black Code,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/courses\/122\/recon\/code.html\"> https:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/courses\/122\/recon\/code.html<\/a> (April 10, 2016); \u201cBlack Codes and Pig Laws,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/tpt\/slavery-by-another-name\/themes\/black-codes\/\">http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/tpt\/slavery-by-another-name\/themes\/black-codes\/<\/a> (April 10, 2016).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"OSC_AmGov_05_01_SchoolFire\" class=\"bc-figure figure\">\n<div style=\"width: 835px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2292\/2017\/08\/08163210\/OSC_AmGov_05_01_SchoolFire.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a sketch of a building on fire. Several people are standing outside the building. Some of the people are armed. At the bottom of the image reads \u201cScenes in Memphis, Tennessee, during the riot\u2014burning a freedmen\u2019s school-house. [Sketched by A. R. W.]\u201d.\" width=\"825\" height=\"673\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 2.\u00a0<\/strong>A school built by the federal government for former slaves burned after being set on fire during a race riot in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1866. White southerners, angered by their defeat in the Civil War and the loss of their slave property, attacked and killed former slaves, destroyed their property, and terrorized white northerners who attempted to improve the freed slaves\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435552282\">To override the southern states\u2019 actions, lawmakers in Congress proposed two amendments to the Constitution designed to give political equality and power to former slaves; once passed by Congress and ratified by the necessary number of states, these became the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment, in addition to including the equal protection clause as noted above, also was designed to ensure that the states would respect the <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil liberties<\/span> <\/strong>of freed slaves. The Fifteenth Amendment was proposed to ensure the right to vote for black men, which will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435579824\" class=\"bc-section section\">\n<h2>IDENTIFYING CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435607840\">When we look back at the past, it\u2019s relatively easy to identify civil rights issues that arose. But looking into the future is much harder. For example, few people fifty years ago would have identified the rights of the LGBT community as an important civil rights issue or predicted it would become one, yet in the intervening decades it has certainly done so. Similarly, in past decades the rights of those with disabilities, particularly mental disabilities, were often ignored by the public at large. Many people with disabilities were institutionalized and given little further thought, and within the past century, it was common for those with mental disabilities to be subject to forced sterilization.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note reference\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Catherine K. Harbour, and Pallab K. Maulik. 2010. \u201cHistory of Intellectual Disability.\u201d In <em>International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation<\/em>, eds. J. H. Stone and M. Blouin. <a href=\"http:\/\/cirrie.buffalo.edu\/encyclopedia\/en\/article\/143\/\">http:\/\/cirrie.buffalo.edu\/encyclopedia\/en\/article\/143\/<\/a> (April 10, 2016).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Today, most of us view this treatment as barbaric.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435732139\">Clearly, then, new <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">civil rights<\/span><\/strong> issues can emerge over time. How can we, as citizens, identify them as they emerge and distinguish genuine claims of discrimination from claims by those who have merely been unable to convince a majority to agree with their viewpoints? For example, how do we decide if twelve-year-olds are discriminated against because they are not allowed to vote? We can identify true discrimination by applying the following analytical process:<\/p>\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435683678\">\n<li><em>Which groups?<\/em> First, identify the group of people who are facing discrimination.<\/li>\n<li><em>Which right(s) are threatened?<\/em> Second, what right or rights are being denied to members of this group?<\/li>\n<li><em>What do we do?<\/em> Third, what can the government do to bring about a fair situation for the affected group? Is proposing and enacting such a remedy realistic?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435597370\" class=\"note get-connected\">\n<div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Join the Fight for Civil Rights<\/h3>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435658977\">One way to get involved in the fight for civil rights is to stay informed. The <strong><span class=\"no-emphasis\">Southern Poverty Law Center<\/span><\/strong> (SPLC) is a not-for-profit advocacy group based in Montgomery, Alabama. Lawyers for the SPLC specialize in civil rights litigation and represent many people whose rights have been violated, from victims of hate crimes to undocumented immigrants. They provide <a href=\"https:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29SPLCcivri\">summaries of important civil rights cases<\/a> under their Docket section.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435910004\"><em>Activity: Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29splcwebsite\">SPLC website<\/a> to find current information about a variety of different hate groups. In what part of the country do hate groups seem to be concentrated? Where are hate incidents most likely to occur? What might be some reasons for this?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435605080\" class=\"note american government link-to-learning\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435579824\" class=\"bc-section section\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435605080\" class=\"note american government link-to-learning\">\n<hr \/>\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435882750\" style=\"text-align: center\">Civil rights institutes are found throughout the United States and especially in the south. One of the most prominent civil rights institutes is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openstaxcollege.org\/l\/29birmingcilrig\">Birmingham Civil Rights Institute,<\/a> which is located in Alabama.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435693783\" class=\"summary\">\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435935941\">The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment gives all people and groups in the United States the right to be treated equally regardless of individual attributes. That logic has been expanded in the twenty-first century to cover attributes such as race, color, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. People may still be treated unequally by the government, but only if there is at least a rational basis for it, such as a disability that makes a person unable to perform the essential functions required by a job, or if a person is too young to be trusted with an important responsibility, like driving safely. If the characteristic on which discrimination is based is related to sex, race, or ethnicity, the reason for it must serve, respectively, an important government interest or a compelling government interest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435897663\" class=\"review-questions\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435652845\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435627115\" class=\"problem\">\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435652845\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435627115\" class=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435558827\">A group of African American students believes a college admissions test that is used by a public university discriminates against them. What legal standard would the courts use in deciding their case?<\/p>\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435541051\">\n<li>rational basis test<\/li>\n<li>intermediate scrutiny<\/li>\n<li>strict scrutiny<\/li>\n<li>equal protection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q210034\">Show Solution<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q210034\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">C<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435893998\" class=\"solution\">\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435628449\">The equal protection clause became part of the Constitution as a result of ________.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435565673\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435640762\" class=\"problem\">\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435592773\">\n<li>affirmative action<\/li>\n<li>the Fourteenth Amendment<\/li>\n<li>intermediate scrutiny<\/li>\n<li>strict scrutiny<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435609939\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435611871\" class=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435612033\">Which of the following types of discrimination would be subject to the rational basis test?<\/p>\n<ol id=\"fs-id1164435625372\">\n<li>A law that treats men differently from women<\/li>\n<li>An action by a state governor that treats Asian Americans differently from other citizens<\/li>\n<li>A law that treats whites differently from other citizens<\/li>\n<li>A law that treats 10-year-olds differently from 28-year-olds<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435925452\" class=\"solution\">\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q155991\">Show Solution<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q155991\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">D<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435569851\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id1164435635982\" class=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-id1164435547387\">What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<h2>Glossary<\/h2>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435734964\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>affirmative action<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435561749\">the use of programs and policies designed to assist groups that have historically been subject to discrimination<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435833938\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>black codes<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435625336\">laws passed immediately after the Civil War that discriminated against freed slaves and other blacks and deprived them of their rights<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435833525\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>equal protection clause<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435843616\">a provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all residents equally under the law<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435822396\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>intermediate scrutiny<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435551420\">the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on gender and sex; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate an important governmental interest is at stake in treating men differently from women<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435711774\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>rational basis test<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435561392\">the standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl id=\"fs-id1164435558126\" class=\"definition\">\n<dt><strong>strict scrutiny<\/strong><\/dt>\n<dd id=\"fs-id1164435546441\">the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate a compelling governmental interest is at stake and no alternative means are available to accomplish its goals<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-121\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>OpenStax American Government. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OpenStax CNX. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/5bcc0e59-7345-421d-8507-a1e4608685e8@18.14\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/5bcc0e59-7345-421d-8507-a1e4608685e8@18.14<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/5bcc0e59-7345-421d-8507-a1e4608685e8@18.14<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17533,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"OpenStax American Government\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OpenStax CNX\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/5bcc0e59-7345-421d-8507-a1e4608685e8@18.14\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/5bcc0e59-7345-421d-8507-a1e4608685e8@18.14\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":"cc-by"},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[50],"class_list":["post-121","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","license-cc-by"],"part":116,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17533"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/121\/revisions\/842"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/116"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/121\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osamgovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}