AP Government 3.10-Social Movements and Equal Protection

Which of the following scenarios best explains how the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has influenced political behavior?

• Grassroots libertarian advocacy organizations have advocated in favor of less economic regulation of the marketplace.

• The Supreme Court has ruled that Fifth Amendment prohibition on double jeopardy was made applicable to the states.

• Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., cited constitutional arguments as a basis for opposing segregation and inequality.

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union address urged Congress to pass legislation that would ensure greater economic security for the American people.

“…If we resort to violence then one of two things will happen: either the violence will be escalated and there will be many injuries and perhaps deaths on both sides, or there will be total demoralization of the workers.

Nonviolence has exactly the opposite effect. If, for every violent act committed against us, we respond with nonviolence, we attract people’s support. We can gather the support of millions who have a conscience and would rather see a nonviolent resolution to problems. We are convinced that when people are faced with a direct appeal from the poor struggling nonviolently against great odds, they will react positively. The American people and people everywhere still yearn for justice. It is to that yearning that we appeal.

...When victory comes through violence, it is a victory with strings attached. If we beat the growers at the expense of violence, victory would come at the expense of injury and perhaps death. Such a thing would have a tremendous impact on us. We would lose regard for human beings. Then the struggle would become a mechanical thing. When you lose your sense of life and justice, you lose your strength….”

César Chávez, "He Showed Us the Way," 1978

Which of the following is a similarity between the views expressed in the excerpt above and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"?

• Unlike César Chávez, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. supported the use of violence after all other means had been exhausted.

• Unlike Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., César Chávez supported the use of violence as a means to start the movement.

• Both César Chávez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. argued for the continued use of nonviolence to further their causes.

• Both César Chávez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. argued for the use of nonviolence after standards of equality had been met.

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.

The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.

This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963

Which of the following expresses the most significant political concern in the passage?

• Improved understanding of the flaws of the legal system

• Greater funding for education in urban areas

• Increased awareness of citizen inequalities that need to be addressed

• Decreased partisanship in congressional policy making

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.

The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.

This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963

The issues identified in the passage reflect a failure to uphold which of the following constitutional principles?

• One person, one vote

• Equal representation in Congress

• States’ rights

• Equal protection

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.

The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.

This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963

Which of the following pieces of legislation was most likely a result of the passage?

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964

• The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government . . ."

". . . Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men. . . .

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.

He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

Which of the following best captures a portion of the author’s argument?

• Women elected officials have not done enough to pass laws promoting women’s rights.

• Men and women are legally equal, but women are morally superior to men.

• The government has made women subservient by denying them the right to vote.

• Women have faced too much suffrage due to the actions of the government.