Through-out the 19th and 20th century, races and ethnic minorities faced the discrimination and racial inequality. Many of these minorities being unfairly treated even restricting their rights. As a result, two major acts occurred to help promote equity and inclusion; The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These movements became a huge event in history, organized to end racial discrimination and achieve equal rights for everyone. The struggle for freedom soon became apparent; the movement ended in the late 1960s. African Americans, Mexican Americans/Latinos, Asian Americans, and many other groups were restricted of their rights and liberty. It was because of these groups that freedom and equality became something within the reach of their arms.
Many minority groups went through the racial discrimination and inequality. The majority of White Americans claimed to be a superior race and stripped the groups of their rights. Race, a social construct that is based off of appearances such as the color of one’s skin, was created to exclude groups. In accordance to be a social construct, it was applied to politics in order to pass laws and policies that would separate and put down minority groups. These laws and policies were the basis of inequality and unfair treatment. An example of this is the “Plessy V. Ferguson 1896” case. This case came as a result of Homer Plessy being told to move to the blacks-only car even after purchasing a first-class ticket. After explaining that he passed as white and is only one-eighth black, he was still didn’t move. The policy he violated was the Louisiana’s Separate Car Act of 1890. Although Homer identified more as white, society still classified him as black and was arrested for not acting in accordance to the law. Although the case did not conflict with the 14th amendment, the rights are supposed to be protected from State aggression. Nevertheless, it legalized the equality between Whites and African Americans, not their social equality. Homer quoted. “in my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case” (1857), which had declared that African Americans were not entitled to the rights of U.S. citizenship.”
African Americans was made out to be an inferior race many times through-out history. The enslavement in the United States became one way to segregate their rights. African Americans in many states were the majority population, facing discrimination and not even being considered human. Slaves were seen as property regardless of their servitude status. The Thirteenth amendment was created in order to remove slavery and involuntary servitude, but Southern states passed laws known as Black Code in order to single out African Americans for mistreatment and discrimination. The Black Codes would be used to have any orphaned, homeless, or unemployed Black person be forced to work as an apprentice. Law VII states that “Marriage between a white person and a person of color, shall be illegal and void.” The law that follows states, “The marriage of an apprentice shall not, without consent of the master, be lawful.” These laws do not allow African Americans marry interracial, nor with others without consent of master which shows how little freedom they had despite the Thirteenth Amendment being passed.
Although the majority of Southern States had slavery, some Northern States had already abolished slavery. There were many who rebelled against those who were pro-slavery and fought for their freedom. An example of this is the Dred Scott (1857) case. Dred Scott was a slave that lived in the slave state Missouri, who sued for his freedom that was based on the period of time he spent living with his master in Illinois and Minnesota (were made free states by 1820 Missouri Compromise). The case was taken to the Supreme Court, but the court ruled that the case held no jurisdiction. Dred Scott wasn’t an American citizen because African Americans were seen as property therefore had no civil rights to sue, nor be standing in a court of law. Chief Justice Taney also ruled that “Congress lacked the authority to regulate slavery in the territories; therefore, territories could determine basic civil rights questions for themselves.” The Supreme Court established strong roles for the states, which was considered Dual Federalism. This type of federalism dominated during the late 19th and early 20th centuries which is defined by McClain and Tauber as, “the national government is limited to a strict interpretation of the powers granted in the Constitution, while states enjoy broad police power to rule within their own territory.” Dual Federalism, also referenced as a “layer cake federalism” by Martin Grodzins, separated state and national government that can only rule their own spheres.
The Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 was the “extension of the right to vote to black male; no denial of this right based on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude” (McClain & Tauber, 51). Yet disenfranchisement became another form of discrimination towards African Americans. Disenfranchise is the government denying a group the right to vote. In 1875, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress lacked jurisdiction to regulate states and local elections, which allowed states to enact policies intended to disenfranchise African Americans in those elections (McClain & Tauber, 142). As African Americans attempted to register to vote ended up facing Literary Tests. Literary Tests is a form of disenfranchise in which the vote demonstrates the ability to read as a condition for registering to vote. Regardless, the tests were administered in a discriminatory fashion. For example, Whites would only be given a simple reading test while African Americans were required to read and understand complicated provisions in the state constitution (McClain & Tauber, 143). Whites were given a less harsh grade scale while African Americans were graded more harshly. By the end of the Civil War, the Grandfather Clause and Poll Taxes came about. The Grandfather Clause exempted Whites from having to take Literary Tests, and only applied to whites. Poll Taxes were fees that charged citizens to vote which mainly applied to African Americans because they were less likely to afford those fees than Whites. The Ku Klux Klan often terrorized in an intimidating manner towards African Americans when they attempted to vote. This was the way African Americans were controlled to not vote. The chance that they could vote, it would give equality to African Americans, be able to fight the discriminatory laws, and challenge political laws that treat them unequally.
Mexican Americans/Latinos alongside African Americans have suffered the feeling of being inferior. As a result of the American conquest of Mexico during the Mexican American War (1946-1848) and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, Mexico had ceded its northern portion to the United States. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the Mexicans who previously lived in the ceded territory the choice of either living in American territory where they can become American citizens or returning to Mexico. Although those who became American citizens and their descendants still experienced the same kinds of discrimination, segregation, and violent intimidation that African Americans faced. As more Mexicans immigrated over to the United States, they also faced unequal treatment and segregation. The Mendez vs. Westminster case shows how unequal Mexicans were compared to White Americans. In 1943, 9-year-old Sylvia and her two brothers were not allowed to enroll in a ‘white’ elementary school although her two light skinned cousins (with French surnames) were allowed to enroll. The Mendez family hired a Los Angeles civil rights attorney to sue the Westminster school district. The trial started July 5th in the U.S. Federal District Court in Los Angeles. The argument was that Mexican children were not equally treated by attending inferior schools with substandard books. Along with the children were not given adequate language testing before inclusion in the Mexican schools. By March 18, 1946, Judge Paul J McCormick ruled the “segregation prevalent in the defendant school districts foster antagonism in the children and suggest inferiority among them where none exists” and that equal protection clause had been violated. The school districts appealed the decision, but on April 14, 1947, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the court ruling. This court case also paved way for another historic civil rights trial, the Brown vs. Board of Education case. Despite this, the Mendez vs. Westminster case remained largely unknown and unacknowledged. By the 1960s, Mexican Americans, like African Americans, had secured legal protection for civil rights, although inequality of outcome remained (McClain & Tauber, 152). By 1975, the Mexican Americans achieved a major victory when Congress expanded the Voting Rights Act to cover “language minorities.” This meant that if at least 5 percent of a county didn’t speak English and less than 50 percent of eligible citizens registered to vote in the previous election did not, then the county was required to print bilingual ballots. Mexican Americans who only spoke Spanish were now able to vote and no longer faced a linguistic barrier to voting.
The 19th and 20th century were hard times for these race and ethnic minorities. They had their civil and political rights taken away from them. Yet they still fought for what they believed it, freedom and equality. Not every group faced the same pain, but they all faced the same outcome. Their own leadership helped Congress pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These two acts were important to bring equality and freedom. Unfortunately, inequality exists but these groups banded together and organized movements that helped get rid of discrimination and have their rights in the U.S.