Deck 16: Equality and Civil Rights

Question 1

Which of the following terms refers specifically to the rights of all Americans to equal treatment under the law?

A) Civil liberties
B) Civil rights
C) Common law rights
D) Inalienable rights
E) Natural rights

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What are Jim Crow laws?

A) Laws that established slavery and contract law regulating the slave trade
B) Laws that justified slavery and set specific codes for the behavior of slaves
C) Laws that the North enforced in the South during the Reconstruction era
D) Laws that were enacted by southern whites in the late nineteenth century to establish segregation policies
E) Laws that sought to end segregation by bringing the races into closer contact with one another

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is true regarding the civil rights legislation that was passed by Congress after the Civil War?

A) Much of it was very ineffective and parts were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
B) It played a major role in creating equality for African Americans.
C) It was accepted by the American public.
D) It prevented African Americans from being extended equal public accommodations.
E) All of these are correct.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

A private club does not allow Asian Americans to join because of animus that the members of the club feel toward that group. This is an example of what type of discrimination?

A) Invidious
B) Reverse
C) Benign
D) Civil
E) Criminal

Question 5

The separate-but-equal doctrine contends that separate-but-equal facilities do not violate which of the following?

A) The equal protection clause
B) The principle of reverse discrimination
C) The strict scrutiny standard
D) The idea of affirmative action
E) The due process of law restriction

Question 6

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court hold that segregation alone did not violate the Constitution?

A) Bakke v. California
B) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
C) Lawrence v. Texas
D) Plessy v. Ferguson
E) Scott v. Sandford

Question 7

What did the U.S. Supreme Court do in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

A) It ruled that African Americans are not persons for the purposes of the Constitution.
B) It tried to stop the development of legal racial segregation known as Jim Crow laws.
C) It stated that schools may not practice any type of racial segregation.
D) It agreed that separation of races is not a violation of the Constitution.
E) It ruled that the practice of slavery must cease before the end of the century.

Question 8

Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas-Austin, and the Supreme Court heard her case in 2012. She argued that using what factor in university admissions violates the equal protection clause?

A) Gender
B) Race
C) GPA
D) Wealth
E) Religion

Question 9

What did the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolish?

A) Slavery
B) Segregation laws which had come before it
C) Restrictions on due process
D) Slavery in new states or territories
E) Restrictions on the right to vote

Question 10

Which of the following best describes the concept of civil rights?

A) Rights generally accorded all citizens
B) Political rights of speech and assembly
C) Rights extended to citizens from legislative action
D) Guarantees of life, liberty, and property granted to all citizens
E) Powers and privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected by the government to ensure equal protection and freedom from discrimination

Question 11

Allowing only those people with commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) to operate a semitruck is an example of benign discrimination because it is based on which of the following?

A) Hatred
B) Reason
C) Differences
D) Loyalty
E) Partisanship

Question 12

Which of the following did the Fifteenth Amendment do?

A) Outlaw slavery
B) Provide equal protection under the law
C) Give 18-year-olds the right to vote
D) State that the right to vote shall not be abridged on account of race
E) Give women the right to vote

Question 13

What kinds of laws were used by southern states to enforce segregation of whites and blacks in all public places?

A) Grandfather
B) Suffrage
C) Misogynist
D) Sedition
E) Jim Crow

Question 14

The extent to which all groups of citizens, regardless of race, gender, or nationality, are proportionally represented in measures of success in life represents which of the following?

A) Equality of opportunity
B) Equality of chance
C) Equality of government
D) Equality of outcome
E) Equality of existence

Question 15

Which of the following prohibited slavery in the United States?

A) Article V
B) Article IV
C) The Fifteenth Amendment
D) The Tenth Amendment
E) The Thirteenth Amendment

Question 16

What is the expectation that citizens may not be discriminated against on account of race, gender, or national background and should have an equal chance to succeed in life called?

A) Equality of opportunity
B) Equality of chance
C) Equality of outcome
D) Equality of circumstance
E) Equality of government

Question 17

Which amendment forbade the states from denying any person "equal protection under the law"?

A) Tenth
B) Twelfth
C) Thirteenth
D) Fourteenth
E) Fifteenth

Question 18

Which statement regarding the Civil War Amendments is correct?

A) The Thirteenth Amendment established the income tax.
B) The Fourteenth Amendment ended slavery.
C) The Fourteenth Amendment asserted that no state shall deny a person due process of law.
D) The Fifteenth Amendment asserted that no state shall deny a citizen equal protection under the law.
E) The Thirteenth Amendment allowed African Americans to vote.

Question 19

Which clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been used to launch progress in civil rights?

A) Affirmative action
B) Equal protection
C) Exclusionary rule
D) Supremacy
E) Separation

Question 20

The history of mistreatment of Native Americans in the United States might lead adherents of what type of equality to support laws that allow special allowances for Native Americans in areas such as university admissions?

A) Formal
B) General
C) Dynamic
D) Limited
E) Partisan

Question 21

Consider a lawmaker in a former slave state after the Civil War. This individual just witnessed the passage of the Civil War Amendments by Congress and is now working with colleagues to pass laws that will restrict the freedom of blacks in the state. What type of legislation is this lawmaker trying to pass?

A) Abolition codes
B) Black codes
C) Blockade laws
D) Jim Crow laws
E) Supremacy codes

Question 22

What act passed by Congress in 1963 prohibits employers from paying different wages for the same job on account of sex?

A) Equal Rights Amendment
B) Pay Equality Act
C) Equal Pay for Equal Work Act
D) Civil Rights Act
E) Equal Pay Act

Question 23

Which of the following is banned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

A) Only governmental acts of discrimination
B) Only discrimination by educational institutions
C) Private and governmental acts of discrimination
D) Only discrimination against women and African Americans
E) Only private discrimination

Question 24

If there is a law that requires people of Chinese descent to live in the Chinatown district of the city, this would be an example of what type of segregation?

A) De jure
B) Civil
C) De facto
D) Partisan
E) Jim Crow

Question 25

What were the tests commonly administered as a precondition for voting called?

A) Poll tests
B) Constitutional exams
C) Literacy tests
D) Primary tests
E) Registration tests

Question 26

Homer Plessy attempted to challenge Louisiana's racial segregation policies by doing which of the following?

A) Refusing to move from a "whites-only" Louisiana train car
B) Sitting in at a "whites-only" restaurant
C) Refusing to sit at the back of a New Orleans streetcar
D) Sitting on the ground floor of a public theater, instead of in the balcony
E) Sending his daughter for treatment to a superior "whites-only" hospital

Question 27

What was the grandfather clause used in southern states supposed to do?

A) Prevent African Americans from voting in primary elections, even though they had the right to vote
B) Guarantee the equal rights of senior citizens for employment
C) Deny African Americans the right to vote while protecting whites' right to vote
D) Deny the purchase of land by any person whose grandfather was not white
E) Distribute land to former slaves based on how many generations their family had served a slave owner

Question 28

Where did President Dwight Eisenhower send troops to ensure that black students could go to school?

A) Topeka, Kansas
B) Montgomery, Alabama
C) Little Rock, Arkansas
D) Greensboro, North Carolina
E) Dallas, Texas

Question 29

What was the main reason the Brown family brought a lawsuit against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas?

A) Linda Brown was not allowed to get a drink of water out of the only drinking fountain at the school because she was not white.
B) Linda Brown allowed a black student to sit next to her in the school lunchroom.
C) Linda Brown boarded a bus that was for black students only.
D) Linda Brown was not allowed to ride the same bus as the white children even though they all went to the same school.
E) Linda Brown was refused admittance to a white-only school because she was black.

Question 30

What did the Nineteenth Amendment do?

A) End racial segregation in the United States
B) Abolish slavery
C) Eliminate racial restrictions on voting
D) Expand the right to vote to women
E) Set the minimum voting age to 18

Question 31

In 1896, what did the Supreme Court rule in Plessy v. Ferguson?

A) African Americans, for purposes of the Constitution, are not persons.
B) Former slaves were not to be considered property.
C) Separation of races does not violate the Constitution.
D) Schools may not practice any type of racial segregation.
E) The practice of slavery must cease before 1900.

Question 32

What was the purpose of the poll tax used in many southern states?

A) To prevent northern immigrants from moving to the South and voting in local elections
B) To determine who was intelligent enough to vote
C) To dissuade African Americans and poor whites from voting
D) To force individuals to buy property in order to be eligible to vote
E) To raise funds for voter registration among the minority community

Question 33

Businesses refusing to serve or hire people on the basis of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or national orientation is an example of which of the following?

A) Freedom of choice
B) Private discrimination
C) Legal discrimination
D) Public discrimination
E) Private choice

Question 34

What was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)?

A) Ethnic minorities have no rights to equal treatment by the government.
B) Public school segregation of races violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
C) The national government does not have the power to force any type of action on local school boards.
D) Separation of races for a reason such as education is not a violation of the Constitution.
E) African Americans could not be denied the right to a college education.

Question 35

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous speech telling the world "I have a dream" during which of the following?

A) The signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act
B) The March on Washington
C) The Woolworth lunch counter sit-in
D) The Montgomery bus boycott
E) The March on Selma

Question 36

If a school has all black students because only black families live in the neighborhoods that feed into the school, it is an example of what type of segregation?

A) De jure
B) Civil
C) De facto
D) Partisan
E) Jim Crow

Question 37

President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order in 1948 that ordered the dismantling of authorized racial segregation of the armed forces. What is this an example of?

A) The separate-but-equal doctrine
B) Gerrymandering
C) Racial profiling
D) Disenfranchisement
E) Desegregation

Question 38

While the Brown ruling was historic, the ruling itself did little to desegregate schools due to its ambiguous command that schools should desegregate how?

A) With all deliberate speed
B) With all due process
C) With extreme prejudice
D) With all practical manner
E) With all good intent

Question 39

The verdict of Plessy v. Ferguson directly resulted in which of the following?

A) The integration of public schools in the South
B) The development of a system of legalized racial segregation
C) The end of racial segregation
D) A constitutional amendment granting Congress more power to deal authoritatively with racial problems
E) A complex system of busing to alleviate the effects of past racism

Question 40

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, did which of the following?

A) Banned poll taxes in primary and general elections for national office
B) Empowered the attorney general to register potential voters
C) Gave women the right to vote
D) Banned racial discrimination in the rental and sale of most housing
E) Gave state courts the lawful refusal to follow a Supreme Court order

Question 41

Nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage was the result of which of the following?

A) A 2015 Supreme Court decision
B) A 2016 congressional law
C) A 2010 constitutional amendment
D) An international treaty on human rights
E) A 2015 executive order

Question 42

Which of the following best describes the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell"?

A) It came into full enforcement in 2011.
B) It came as a result of a U.S. District Court ruling.
C) It came because of quick action by Congress after the 2008 election.
D) It came because of a change in public opinion on the issue.
E) It came into full enforcement in 2011 after a change in public opinion on the issue.

Question 43

Those advocating for women's suffrage, including Susan B. Anthony, were working primarily for what goal?

A) The prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol
B) Women's right to vote
C) The prohibition of so-called "marriage laws" giving husbands control over women's property
D) Women's right to free public education
E) The opportunity to work at male-dominated jobs

Question 44

Attorney Theodore Olson argued that the California law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional on what basis?

A) Marriage is a fundamental constitutional right.
B) Restriction of marriage violates due process.
C) Marriage is protected by the Thirteenth Amendment.
D) Marriage is protected by the Defense of Marriage Act.
E) States do not have the constitutional right to regulate family relationships.

Question 45

What did the Equal Pay Act of 1963 do?

A) Require employers to provide equal pay for substantially equal work
B) Require employers to re-grade the pay scales for comparable but different jobs held by women and men to make them more equitable
C) Require that employers promote more women into managerial positions
D) Allow for either men or women with the same job responsibilities to be paid more if they are the primary wage earner for their families
E) All of these are correct.

Question 46

What notion could be found at the heart of laws that "sheltered women from life's harsh realities"?

A) Protectionism
B) Pure democracy
C) Nationalism
D) Deprivation
E) Isolationism

Question 47

If there were new legislation written that is based on assumptions about the nature and role of women and that has the impact of locking women out of jobs that call for substantial overtime (and limit their overtime pay), it would be based on what idea?

A) Isolationism
B) Protectionism
C) Sexism
D) Nationalism
E) Partisanship

Question 48

Federal law that did which of the following was struck down by the 2013 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor?

A) Prohibited gays and lesbians from serving in the armed forces
B) Denied federal benefits to same-sex couples
C) Protected gays and lesbians against employment discrimination
D) Allowed gays to take leadership roles in the Boy Scouts
E) Permitted housing discrimination against gays and lesbians

Question 49

Today, versions of protectionism are most evident in what types of laws?

A) State laws that are meant to deter women from having abortions even though the procedure is legal
B) Laws that limit the number of hours a week women can work
C) State laws that prohibit women from working in "toxic" environments even if they are safe
D) Laws that limit the number of pounds women can lift in their jobs
E) Wage-equality laws

Question 50

Which of the following is accurate regarding the efforts to amend the Constitution to include an Equal Rights Amendment for women?

A) It has never made it through the congressional amendment proposal process.
B) It has passed through Congress, but failed ratification in the states.
C) It was proposed as a part of the Bill of Rights, but failed to be ratified.
D) It was ratified by the states in 1972, after passing through Congress.
E) It is largely seen as unnecessary, now that women's incomes are equal to those of men.

Question 51

If a woman accepts the salary offered to her by her employer but 7 months later discovers she earns less than the men in her office who are working in the same position and who have similar qualifications, experience, and performance, she can file a complaint thanks to what legislation?

A) Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
B) Equal Rights Act of 1964
C) Title IX
D) Title VII
E) Equal Rights Amendment

Question 52

When did the modern movement for LGBTQ rights begin?

A) When gay veterans of World War II organized in the 1950s
B) With the growth of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s
C) In 1969, following a riot that broke out when police raided the Stonewall Inn
D) In 1986, with a campaign against sodomy laws in the state of Texas
E) In 1996, with the campaign for same-sex marriage in the state of Hawaii

Question 53

By August 1920, with effective lobbying by suffragist groups, three-quarters of the states ratified which amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote in the November 1920 presidential election?

A) Thirteenth
B) Fourteenth
C) Fifteenth
D) Nineteenth
E) Twenty-First

Question 54

In Obergefell v. Hodges, which amendment, with its equal protection clause, ultimately provided protection for same-sex marriages in every state?

A) Thirteenth Amendment
B) Fourteenth Amendment
C) Fifteenth Amendment
D) Sixteenth Amendment
E) Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Question 55

While the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was proposed in 1923, it did not get through Congress until what year?

A) 1925
B) 1945
C) 1953
D) 1972
E) 2012

Question 56

Women used to lag behind men in college degree attainment, but today they surpass them. This is in large part due to which of the following?

A) Equal Rights Amendment
B) Equal Rights Act of 1964
C) Title IX
D) Title VII
E) Nineteenth Amendment

Question 57

In what case did the Court rule that the section of DOMA that limited spousal recognition under federal law to a man and a woman is unconstitutional?

A) United States v. Windsor
B) United States v. Spyer
C) United States v. Roth
D) United States v. Newby
E) United States v. Nixon

Question 58

In what year did women get the right to vote nationally?

A) 1897
B) 1911
C) 1920
D) 1967
E) 1973

Question 59

If presenting the Obergefell v. Hodges case to the Supreme Court, which argument would you make to convince a majority of the Court to rule that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional?

A) Gay marriage laws were the purview of the states.
B) The Court had gone too far in the United States v. Windsor case, usurping the power of state legislatures who possessed the right to define marriage.
C) The right to marry was fundamental, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, and essential to liberty regardless of whether the couple was same-sex or opposite sex.
D) The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was constitutional.
E) Parts of DOMA were unconstitutional.

Question 60

The riot at the Stonewall Inn that began the modern movement for equality for gay males and lesbians was sparked by what?

A) A raid by police on a bar popular with gay men and lesbians
B) Refusal of the bar to serve gay and lesbian patrons
C) Anti-gay protestors who showed up at the bar
D) An attempt by a gay couple to hold a marriage ceremony at the bar
E) Refusal of the bar to hire openly gay workers

Question 61

When did most Native American Indians receive U.S. citizenship?

A) They have always had it.
B) 1776
C) 1848
D) 1924
E) 1969

Question 62

A same-sex couple lived in a state that allowed them to adopt a child. They moved to a state that prohibits same-sex adoption. What concept requires the new state to recognize the couple as legal parents of the child?

A) The Constitution's full faith and credit clause
B) The "don't ask, don't tell" policy
C) The Defense of Marriage Act
D) The right to free association
E) The guarantee of due process

Question 63

If you wanted to immigrate to the United States prior to 1965, you probably would have faced discrimination in U.S. immigration laws unless you were a member of what group?

A) Southern and Eastern Europeans
B) Northern and Western Europeans
C) Asians
D) Africans
E) Jews

Question 64

Discuss at least three ways that African Americans were politically disenfranchised after the Civil War. Also, briefly discuss how the federal government rectified this disenfranchisement.

Question 65

Explain the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. What rights did it infringe upon?

Question 66

What were the Civil Rights Amendments, and what impact did they have on the lives of African Americans? Discuss at least one way in which states pushed back against the implementation of the Civil Rights Amendments.

Question 67

You work for an employer who applies affirmative action in its hiring practices. This means your company does which of the following?

A) Gives special preferences to disadvantaged groups
B) Sets strict quotas for the number of minorities it will hire
C) Guarantees that a woman must be hired for the next job opening
D) Disregards disadvantaged status, all other things being equal
E) Hires based on minority status, rather than qualifications

Question 68

If you were presenting a case similar to Boy Scouts of America v. Dale to the Supreme Court, which argument would you make to convince a majority of the Court to rule in your club's favor allowing you to revoke the membership of gay members because their conduct is inconsistent with the club's mission?

A) The club's right to freedom of association
B) The club's right to public accommodations
C) The club's right to equal treatment
D) The club's right to due process
E) The club's right to free speech

Question 69

Recent state policies designed to address voter fraud are typically criticized by Democrats as which of the following?

A) Ineffective
B) Unnecessary
C) Attempts to deny potential voters their civil rights
D) Undemocratic
E) Measures that decrease turnout of working professionals

Question 70

A university uses an admissions policy that gives special consideration to traditionally disadvantaged groups to overcome the present effects of past discrimination. The university is applying which of the following?

A) Affirmative action
B) Legislative mandate
C) Civil liberties
D) Strict scrutiny
E) White primaries

Question 71

Though the civil rights movement focused primarily on the rights of this group, it had what added effect?

A) African Americans; benefiting nearly all minority groups
B) Women; benefiting gay Americans as well
C) Latinos; benefiting African Americans
D) African Americans; strengthening the disenfranchisement of other racial minorities
E) Women; strengthening the disenfranchisement of gay Americans

Question 72

One unintended result of the immigration legislation signed by President Johnson in 1965 was "chain migration." Which of the following happened under that legislation?

A) More persons than anticipated from Africa and Asia with specified technical skills or education applied to immigrate.
B) Some immigrants would reapply for residence repeatedly, making it hard to send them back to their home countries when their visas expired.
C) People from certain regions of foreign countries uncovered loopholes in the law allowing many more people than expected from certain villages, for example, to immigrate.
D) People repeatedly applied for immigration from different countries until they were successful.
E) Immigrants would petition for their relatives to come to the United States.

Question 73

Given current demographic trends, which group will become increasingly important in the nation's political system?

A) African Americans
B) Hispanics, or Latinos
C) Native Americans
D) Asians
E) Whites

Question 74

What are government efforts to expand opportunities for women, minorities, and veterans called?

A) Strict scrutiny
B) Affirmative action
C) No Child Left Behind
D) The New Deal
E) Social services

Question 75

Explain the relationship between equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes, and explain how this differs from quotas.

Question 76

Explain the significance of the constitutional amendments enacted in the five years following the end of the Civil War.

Question 77

While important to do, removing laws that produce obvious invidious discrimination have which of the following limitations?

A) They may not reduce inequity in outcomes.
B) They reduce equity in outcomes.
C) They reduce inequity in outcomes, but not in opportunities.
D) They reduce equity in both opportunities and outcomes.
E) They increase inequity in opportunity and outcomes.

Question 78

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to extend protections to people with physical and mental disabilities that were not otherwise included in which of the following legislation?

A) Civil Rights Act of 1964
B) Fifteenth Amendment
C) Nineteenth Amendment
D) Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965
E) PATRIOT Act

Question 79

In 2016, what state adopted the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, prohibiting people from using bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex?

A) North Carolina
B) Massachusetts
C) Texas
D) California
E) Missouri

Question 80

Discuss why the civil rights acts passed from 1865 to 1875 were unsuccessful in enforcing the Civil War Amendments during Reconstruction.