Deck 13: Civil Rights

Question 1

After decades of expanding civil rights in a variety of areas,the more recent effort of the Supreme Court has been to impose what might be called "color-blind jurisprudence." The general result is that it is more difficult to demonstrate discrimination and a greater burden of proof is put on plaintiffs.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following is a question of civil rights rather than of civil liberties?

A) the right to attend a political rally
B) access to an abortion
C) newspaper articles on hate crimes
D) accessibility to a business for a person in a wheelchair
E) the right to freely choose one's religious beliefs

Answer 2

D

Question 3

African Americans are more likely than white Americans to be convicted of crimes,and they tend to serve longer sentences.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The so-called Civil War Amendments banned the most important practices associated with slavery and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

Question 5

Although the Fourteenth Amendment explicitly mentions women in the equal protection clause,the government failed to provide women with the security that the amendment ensures until much later.

Question 6

The standard test for the legality of unequal treatment of racial minorities and women is strict scrutiny.Intermediate scrutiny remains the standard test for other groups,such as homosexuals.

Question 7

The 1965 Voting Rights Act did away with literacy tests because they were administered unfairly by local election administrators and were used primarily for the purpose of trying to deny voting rights to African Americans.

Question 8

In which document is the idea of equality mentioned?

A) Declaration of Independence
B) Articles of Confederation
C) Constitution
D) Bill of Rights
E) Magna Carta

Question 9

As Arizona illustrates,enforcing immigration is conflictual because it involves balancing:

A) U.S. law versus international law
B) national interests versus global interests
C) the people's wishes versus the politics of special interests
D) the financial interests of business owners versus the rights of immigrants to work where they want
E) the goal of controlling illegal immigration versus protecting the civil rights of immigrants

Question 10

While ________ involve limits on government action,________ involve protection from discrimination by either government or individuals.

A) civil rights; civil liberties
B) civil rights; affirmative action policies
C) affirmative action policies; civil liberties
D) civil liberties; civil rights
E) civil liberties; due process rights

Question 11

American women first began the push for the right to vote as early as 1848,at a convention in Seneca Falls,New York.

Question 12

Many white school boards and local governments initially ignored or outright resisted the Supreme Court's Brown v.Board of Education ruling leading to confrontations between the federal government and noncompliant state governments.

Question 13

White women obtained the right to vote before African Americans did,largely because white women were able to pressure their husbands and fathers for the vote without fear of retribution.

Question 14

The question of equality is part of the Bill of Rights and ultimately was the foundation of civil rights laws in the United States.

Question 15

Because of laws passed during the past fifty years,there are almost no differences between the objective conditions of racial minorities and whites.

Question 16

The U.S.Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 because of concerns rooted in the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.

Question 17

Civil rights are:

A) laws aimed at providing equality of result
B) guarantees of equal protection under the law
C) prohibitions on government action against individuals
D) guarantees of equal opportunity
E) guarantees of due process

Question 18

Even though English is not the official language of the United States,government agencies have the right to issue tests,such as those required for a driver's license,in English only.

Question 19

The belief that women were not strong enough to compete in the business world was called protectionism.It echoed claims made by slave owners that slaves were better off on plantations than they would be if they were set free because they were inherently inferior.

Question 20

The central focus of the civil rights movement in American history has been on which of the following groups?

A) African Americans
B) Latinos
C) women
D) Native Americans
E) Asian Americans

Question 21

Of the following,which Latino population is strongly Republican?

A) Puerto Ricans
B) Dominicans
C) Mexican Americans
D) Cuban Americans
E) Columbians

Question 22

Which amendment gave African American men the right to vote?

A) Thirteenth Amendment
B) Fourteenth Amendment
C) Fifteenth Amendment
D) Sixteenth Amendment
E) Nineteenth Amendment

Question 23

Which amendment abolished slavery?

A) Thirteenth Amendment
B) Fourteenth Amendment
C) Fifteenth Amendment
D) Sixteenth Amendment
E) No amendment abolished slavery; the Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery.

Question 24

Jim Crow laws in the South are best described as:

A) rules that led to segregation of the races
B) informal restrictions on African American voters enforced by intimidation
C) prohibitions against African American participation in Democratic Party primaries
D) allowances for whites based on their family heritage that allowed them to avoid voting restrictions that kept African Americans disenfranchised
E) laws that virtually eliminated the existence of the Republican Party in the South

Question 25

Despite having long-standing roots in the United States,Latinos have historically lacked political force.This is because:

A) voter turnout among Latinos has been comparatively low when compared to others
B) there are not enough Latino voters to compel politicians to pay attention to this group
C) conflict between African American and Latino politicians has led to internal rifts
D) neither party tries to mobilize Latino voters
E) only the Democratic Party has tried to mobilize Latino voters

Question 26

When the northern army left the South to end Reconstruction:

A) African Americans were almost completely disenfranchised
B) African Americans left the South to pursue jobs in the industrial North
C) African Americans kept their political rights, but were denied economic rights
D) the Republican Party regained power in the South
E) white southerners were allowed to participate in politics again

Question 27

During the period known as Reconstruction (1866-1877):

A) African Americans were freed from slavery, but still denied basic rights of citizenship
B) African Americans left the South to pursue jobs in the industrial North
C) African Americans were able to vote and hold political office in the South
D) the Republican Party lost power in the South to the Democratic Party
E) white southerners were banned from participating in politics

Question 28

At the end of Reconstruction,which of the following was NOT used to disenfranchise African Americans in the South?

A) age requirements
B) poll taxes
C) the white primary
D) literacy tests
E) the grandfather clause

Question 29

What was the doctrine that justified segregation in the facilities used by African Americans and whites in the South?

A) due process
B) equality of opportunity
C) equality of outcome
D) Jim Crow
E) separate but equal

Question 30

What has proven to be the most divisive civil rights issue in the United States?

A) immigration
B) gay marriage
C) affirmative action
D) slavery
E) women's rights

Question 31

Which of the following events caused the southern states to secede from the Union and create the Confederacy?

A) the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency
B) passage of the Fugitive Slave Act
C) Missouri Compromise
D) admission of California to the United States
E) the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford

Question 32

Which Supreme Court case validated the type of discrimination established in Jim Crow laws?

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Plessy v. Ferguson
C) Dred Scott v. Sandford
D) Miranda v. Arizona
E) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Question 33

The grandfather clause allowed:

A) southern whites to bypass literacy and other obstacles to voting
B) African Americans in the South to hold public office
C) the development of Jim Crow laws in the North
D) the banning of segregation in the South
E) higher rates of voter registration among African Americans in the South

Question 34

The Fourteenth Amendment:

A) outlawed slavery
B) guaranteed that states could not deny newly freed slaves the equal protection of the laws
C) gave former slaves the right to vote
D) gave women the right to vote
E) gave both former slaves and women the right to vote

Question 35

Which president ordered the integration of the U.S.armed services?

A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Harry Truman
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) John F. Kennedy
E) Lyndon Johnson

Question 36

The trail of tears involved:

A) the removal of Native Americans from their land to reservations in Oklahoma
B) the great migration of African Americans from the South to the North from 1910 to 1970
C) the sustained seventy-two-year campaign by women to win the right to vote
D) violence directed against Chinese immigrants after the California gold rush
E) the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

Question 37

Which Supreme Court case ruled that slaves were property and therefore had no legal rights?

A) Plessy v. Ferguson
B) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
C) Dred Scott v. Sandford
D) Brown v. Board of Education
E) Alexander v. Sandoval

Question 38

Which of the following lists the events in correct order of occurrence?

A) invention of the cotton gin, start of slavery, Missouri Compromise
B) Missouri Compromise, Underground Railroad, invention of the cotton gin
C) start of slavery, Missouri Compromise, Underground Railroad
D) Missouri Compromise, start of slavery, invention of the cotton gin
E) start of slavery, Underground Railroad, Missouri Compromise

Question 39

The Missouri Compromise of 1820:

A) required escaped slaves to be returned to their owners
B) allowed each state to determine for itself whether or not to allow slavery
C) banned the importation of new slaves into America
D) ensured an overall balance between the number of free states and slave states
E) banned slavery in all states except Missouri

Question 40

About ________ casualties occurred during the Civil War.

A) 58,000
B) 128,000
C) 258,000
D) 528,000
E) more than 1 million

Question 41

The average net worth of a white household is roughly ________ times larger than that of a nonwhite household.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) six
E) eight

Question 42

Which of these events initially signified a shift in tactics employed by the civil rights movement?

A) "Letter from the Birmingham Jail"
B) "I Have a Dream" speech
C) Freedom Riders
D) sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter
E) Civil Rights Act of 1964

Question 43

During World War II,Japanese Americans were forced by the U.S.government:

A) to return to Japan
B) to learn and speak English if they wanted to remain in the United States
C) to join the U.S. military to help with war intelligence gathering
D) to live in internment camps because of fears that they were sympathetic to Japan
E) to pay higher taxes to demonstrate their patriotism

Question 44

After the heyday of the California gold rush,Chinese immigrants:

A) were accepted by most Americans and became part of America's melting pot
B) returned back to China in large numbers because they were denied employment opportunities
C) encountered violence and were assessed the Foreign Miners Tax to push them out of the country
D) migrated to the Northeast, where they faced very little discrimination
E) were required to learn English if they wanted their children to attend public schools

Question 45

The civil rights organization that was most involved in coordinating student protests was:

A) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
B) the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
C) Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
D) the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
E) the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Question 46

Recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe same-sex couples:

A) are a threat to the traditional values and the traditional family
B) have been given special treatment by the government
C) should not receive recognition under the law
D) should receive recognition under the law, but not full equality
E) should be entitled to the same benefits as heterosexual couples

Question 47

Media coverage of what incident helped turn public opinion in favor of civil rights protesters?

A) the "I Have A Dream" speech
B) a children's march in Birmingham
C) the Freedom Riders
D) President John F. Kennedy's speech on civil rights
E) the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers

Question 48

Before the 1960s,what was the principal tactic used by members of the civil rights movement to press their cause?

A) nonviolent protest
B) sit-ins
C) legal action
D) voting
E) violent protests

Question 49

What guaranteed women the right to vote across the United States?

A) Voting Rights Act of 1965
B) Nineteenth Amendment
C) Fifteenth Amendment
D) Equal Rights Amendment
E) Civil Rights Act of 1964

Question 50

As recently as 1961,women were banned from:

A) serving in the military
B) attending law school
C) attending medical school
D) holding public office
E) serving on juries

Question 51

The ________ took a lead role in guaranteeing African American civil rights but not gay rights,showing the importance of ________ in American politics.

A) national government; nation-centered federalism
B) Congress; the separation of powers
C) Supreme Court; the separation of powers
D) state governments; nation-centered federalism
E) executive branch; state-centered federalism

Question 52

Perhaps the most critical moment to begin the gay rights movement occurred:

A) in 1969 during the Stonewall riots
B) in 1978 when gay rights advocate and councilman Harvey Milk was assassinated in San Francisco
C) in 1980 with the founding of the Human Rights Campaign
D) in 1993 with the implementation of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy
E) in 1996 with passage of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Question 53

Which part of the government has made the most significant attempts to expand gay rights?

A) Congress
B) president
C) Supreme Court
D) state and local
E) bureaucracy

Question 54

One of the more lasting impacts of the civil rights movement in the 1960s has been:

A) an increase in racial tolerance around the world
B) expansion of voting rights movements around the world
C) a significant change in the tactics of those who resist civil rights
D) a more liberal government view on expanding civil rights to groups such as homosexuals
E) the proliferation of nonviolence as a tool of other social movements

Question 55

The poverty rate is roughly three times as great for ________ families as for ________ families.

A) African American; Latino
B) white; Latino
C) Latino; white
D) African American; white
E) Asian American; white

Question 56

The rationale justifying policies that prevented women from holding political office,filing lawsuits,and similar activities was known as:

A) Jim Crow
B) sexism
C) affirmative action
D) protectionism
E) separate but equal

Question 57

Martin Luther King Jr.wrote the famous "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," which was important because it:

A) outlined the principles of civil disobedience
B) led to a large boycott of segregation in public transportation
C) laid the foundation for color-blind principles
D) drew attention to the South's resistance to desegregation
E) forced Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act

Question 58

While there have always been significant gaps in most health measures,over the last few decades they have:

A) closed
B) stayed about the same
C) widened
D) narrowed
E) slightly increased

Question 59

Which of the following groups was the last to receive a constitutional guarantee of their voting rights?

A) Asian Americans
B) Latinos
C) women
D) African Americans
E) Native Americans

Question 60

The Chinese Exclusion Act:

A) prohibited companies from hiring a Chinese immigrant over a native-born American
B) prohibited Chinese Americans from testifying in court or serving on a jury
C) was the first law in U.S. history to ban a specific ethnic group from owning property
D) was the first law in U.S. history to ban a specific ethnic group from voting
E) was the first law in U.S. history to ban a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States

Question 61

White flight refers to the movement of:

A) whites from the cities and suburbs into rural areas
B) whites into the South, largely in response to the movement of African Americans to the North
C) African Americans to the North to avoid violent whites in the South
D) whites from the cities to suburbia because of school integration
E) whites from rural areas into suburbs

Question 62

The term de facto segregation refers to:

A) legal discrimination based in the law
B) discrimination based in actual conditions experienced by people
C) offering racial minorities chances to catch up to other groups
D) the right to live wherever you want, even if it means that people end up segregated
E) policies at the state level that the federal government has no right to question

Question 63

According to the Supreme Court,Congress has the right to eliminate segregation in public accommodations based on:

A) the contract clause
B) the due process clause
C) the commerce clause
D) the equal protection clause
E) the supremacy clause

Question 64

The landmark decision by the Supreme Court dealing with affirmative action is:

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Dred Scott v. Sandford
C) Plessy v. Ferguson
D) Alexander v. Sandoval
E) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Question 65

Which of the following was a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP's)strategy for challenging "separate but equal" in the 1930s and 40s?

A) They held sit-ins across the South at segregated restaurants and other private businesses.
B) They organized boycotts of local public services, such as busing.
C) They focused on challenging law school admission policies because the Supreme Court justices were familiar with them.
D) They held extensive marches that incurred the wrath of southerners and demonstrated the injustice of the treatment of African Americans.
E) They used the news media to get their message out to as many people as possible.

Question 66

In Shaw v.Reno,the Court ruled that congressional districts drawn principally on the basis of race are unconstitutional,thus promoting the idea of:

A) de jure segregation
B) color-blind jurisprudence
C) strict scrutiny
D) affirmative action
E) the disparate impact standard

Question 67

In what decade did the Supreme Court finally begin rejecting protectionism as a reason for treating women differently than men?

A) 1980s
B) 1970s
C) 1960s
D) 1950s
E) 1990s

Question 68

Why was the decision in Brown v.Board of Education so broadly significant?

A) It guaranteed that discrimination based on race would never happen again.
B) It showed proponents of the civil rights movement that they would eventually succeed.
C) It created the opportunity to use the Fourteenth Amendment to change many aspects of state politics.
D) It guaranteed equal rights for African Americans and women.
E) It eliminated all obstacles to voting for African Americans.

Question 69

Legal challenges to a law school created explicitly for African Americans in Texas were important because they led the Supreme Court to:

A) finally overturn the "separate but equal" standard
B) implement quotas in African American admissions to graduate schools
C) question whether intangible aspects of institutions meant that such institutions were equal
D) eliminate the practice of giving African American students scholarships to go elsewhere for law school
E) order states to establish more law schools

Question 70

In 1971,the Supreme Court ruled that employment tests not related to job performance violate:

A) the commerce clause
B) the supremacy clause
C) the necessary and proper clause
D) the 1965 Voting Rights Act
E) the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Question 71

The term de jure segregation refers to:

A) policies at the state level that the federal government has no right to question
B) discrimination based on actual conditions experienced by people
C) offering racial minorities chances to catch up to other groups
D) the right to live wherever you want, even if it means that people end up segregated
E) legal discrimination based in the law

Question 72

Which president furthered the cause of civil rights by using the National Guard to enforce the edicts of Brown v.Board of Education?

A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Harry Truman
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Richard Nixon
E) John F. Kennedy

Question 73

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is an example of:

A) how a social movement can produce a legislative accomplishment
B) how shifting public opinion can influence the actions of Congress
C) how the culture war continues to divide red states and blue states on women's rights
D) how state governments often take the lead on civil rights and can influence the actions of the federal government
E) how Congress will sometimes take action on civil rights, even if it means overturning a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court

Question 74

The reasonable basis test holds that:

A) discrimination is permitted if an argument could be made for such behavior that was not racial
B) discrimination is allowed when an important government objective is served
C) discrimination is only allowed when there is a compelling state interest at stake
D) no discrimination should be allowed
E) age-based discrimination is always acceptable

Question 75

When the Supreme Court approved school busing as a way to advance integration of the schools,it caused:

A) white flight from the cities to the suburbs
B) more de facto segregation
C) the civil rights movement to finally organize mass protests rather than take legal action
D) Congress to step in and pass laws guaranteeing civil rights to African Americans
E) states to pass stricter laws banning segregation

Question 76

The intermediate scrutiny test holds that:

A) discrimination is permitted if a reasonable argument could be made for such behavior
B) discrimination is allowed when an important government objective is served
C) discrimination is only allowed when there is a compelling state interest at stake
D) no discrimination should be allowed
E) gender-based discrimination is never allowed

Question 77

The strict scrutiny test holds that:

A) discrimination is permitted if a reasonable argument could be made for such behavior
B) discrimination is allowed when an important government objective is served
C) discrimination is only allowed when there is a compelling state interest at stake
D) no discrimination should be allowed
E) states should be allowed to pass laws in the best interests of their citizens

Question 78

A controversial Supreme Court ruling in 1984 limited application of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 only to colleges and universities that received federal funds.One of the major consequences of this ruling was that:

A) fewer female students were admitted into colleges and universities
B) it ended a system of racial and gender quotas in college admission decisions
C) student diversity was not seen as a compelling state interest to justify affirmative action at colleges and universities
D) it became more difficult for the federal government to enforce laws guaranteeing civil rights and equal rights at colleges and universities
E) several athletic programs were released from their obligation to provide equal opportunity for female athletes

Question 79

There was some debate by civil rights supporters over whether to directly challenge the "separate but equal" standard because:

A) it was unclear whether the Supreme Court was ready to take that step
B) they were having a lot of success with the more piecemeal approach
C) there were few cases that made the legal principle clear
D) some of its members believed more strongly in black separatism
E) they believed they could have more success at the state level

Question 80

The term affirmative action refers to:

A) legal discrimination against whites based on the law
B) discrimination based in actual conditions experienced by people
C) offering racial minorities chances to catch up to other groups through legal means
D) the right to live wherever you want, even if it means that people end up segregated
E) policies at the state level that the federal government has no right to question