Teaching Ideas for Chapter 5:
Civil Rights and Public Policy
Ask your students to consider what equality means. When Jefferson said that "all men are created equal," what did he really mean? When people speak of equality today, do they mean something different? The textbook points out that a belief in equal rights has often led to a belief in equality of opportunity. Call for class discussion to see if your students would accept this statement—or do they have other concepts in mind, such as equal results or equal rewards?
Have your students select a case that is currently in the news or being discussed on the Internet that has implications for civil rights. The class should follow the case as it develops and try to evaluate how well it fits within the framework of what they have been reading in the textbook.
As a class project, have your class look up magazine and newspaper articles from the World War II era when Americans of Japanese descent were sent to war relocation centers. In your students' opinions, did the fear of a Japanese invasion of the Pacific Coast adequately explain what happened? Or is this an example of racism, as many have charged? Ask one group of students to review the Court decision (and public reaction) in Korematsu v. United States, as well as recent decision to pay families sent to relocation centers for damages incurred. Do you agree with this recent decision?
Suggest that your students compare the Equal Rights Amendment with the Fourteenth Amendment. Did the ERA cover some of the same ground as the Fourteenth Amendment, or did they deal with completely separate concepts?
Divide your class into panels to discuss the role that women and homosexuals should play in the military. One team should be assigned to examine the congressional hearings that were conducted after the Persian Gulf War which led to a congressional decision to permit women to serve as combat pilots; another team should be given an assignment to look at coverage in the media of public reaction to the 1993 compromise concerning gays in the military ("don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue").
Americans with disabilities have suffered from both direct and indirect discrimination. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires employers and public facilities to provide "reasonable accommodations" and prohibits employment discrimination against the disabled. Ask your class to consider who is "disabled" within the meaning of this act. For example, is a person with a terminal illness disabled? What rights do employers have in the equation?
Surveys show that most Americans oppose affirmative action programs, even though Americans in general support nondiscrimination in employment and education. Have several members of your class debate the concepts of affirmative action and reverse discrimination. Can one group be protected without discriminating against another? Where would your students place their priorities?
It can be instructive to show a segment of Eyes on the Prize in a classroom setting. The civil rights era is recreated through newsreel footage and interviews, and the era is "brought to life" for students who otherwise view the 1950s and 1960s only as "history." This award-winning series is available on videocassette.