Chapter 5 POLS exam – Flashcards
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Which of the following best summarizes the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
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Racially segregated schools can never be equal.
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United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) is an important case because the justices declared that
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anyone born in the United States was entitled to be a citizen.
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What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
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The justices declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.
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Which area was NOT covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
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WRONG ANSWER - school desegregation
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In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), the justices determined that
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WRONG ANSWER - Dred Scott was a free citizen.
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In the University of Michigan affirmative action cases, the Supreme Court justices
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rejected mechanical point systems for university admissions but upheld highly individualized affirmative action policies that were designed to promote diversity.
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The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees
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WRONG ANSWER - didn't put anything
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Which of the following statements about the abolitionist movement is FALSE?
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The movement focused most of its energies on eliminating slavery in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
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What was the ultimate destination of the Underground Railroad?
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Canada
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Which statement about the Reconstruction era is FALSE?
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Did not PUT ANYTHING
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The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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established the separate but equal rule.
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During the late nineteenth century, the equal protection clause was
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severely limited in scope by the Supreme Court.
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The Seneca Falls Convention was significant because it
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marked the starting point of the modern women's movement.
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One step taken toward the desegregation of public schools was
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busing children from poor urban school districts to wealthier suburban ones.
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In 1890, ________ became the first state to allow women to vote.
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Wyoming
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During the late 1940s and 1950s, ________ was the head lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
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Thurgood Marshall
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In ________, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
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1963
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Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992) is important because it
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asserted that violations of Title IX of the 1972 Education Act could be remedied with monetary damages.
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The right to vote was strengthened in 1975 when members of Congress
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made literacy tests illegal and mandated bilingual ballots or other assistance for non-English-speaking Americans.
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The Compromise of 1877
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WRONG ANSWER - resulted in the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes.
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In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court justices
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struck down a state law criminalizing homosexual conduct.
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________ began the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956.
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WRONG ANSWER Martin Luther King, Jr.,
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In 1870, Congress passed a law forbidding ________ from becoming U.S. citizens.
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the Chinese
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After World War II, which government institution first began drawing attention to the problem of racism in America?
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WRONG ANSWER - Congress
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What was the Seneca Falls Convention?
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a meeting in upstate New York during the mid-nineteenth century regarding women's rights
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________ was the setting for a major racial confrontation concerning school busing in the 1970s.
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Boston
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California Proposition 209 was designed to
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outlaw all affirmative action programs in state and local government.
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Before 1924, what was the political status of Native Americans?
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WRONG ANSWER - They were federal citizens but not citizens of the states in which they lived.
WRONG ANSWER - They were considered to be unauthorized immigrants, unless they lived on reservations.
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What best explains the increased attention the federal government paid to the problem of racial discrimination during the 1940s?
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Northern migration of African Americans increased their voting strength.
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What happened to California's Proposition 187?
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WRONG ANSWER - A federal judge declared it constitutional.
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Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (2007) was significant because it
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ultimately led Congress to pass a new law giving workers expanded rights to sue in cases where they learn of discriminatory treatment well after it has started.
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Which of the following are names of Latino civil rights organizations?
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G.I. Forum, LULAC, and MALDEF
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Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
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was a valuable tool for the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s because it prohibited gender discrimination.
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During World War II, ________ forced federal officials to address discriminatory hiring practices by threatening massive labor marches on Washington, D.C.
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A. Philip Randolph
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________ civil rights acts were passed during the first decade after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
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Three
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What did the Thirteenth Amendment accomplish?
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It abolished slavery.
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The Supreme Court's decisions on school desegregation policies since 1991 generally suggest that the Court will
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WRONG ANSWER - always uphold all desegregation plans, regardless of the schools involved.
WRONG ANSWER - uphold all desegregation plans involving white suburban schools that lag behind predominantly minority schools.
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Why did the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rely primarily on the courts to press for black political rights in its early years?
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The northern African American vote was too small to bring about policy change at the legislative level, so the organization chose a strategy of litigation.
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The Reconstruction era in the South came to an end because
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northern Republicans agreed to remove federal troops from the South and give up on their support for civil liberties if southern Democrats allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president.
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Which of the following is FALSE about the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
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It was a fairly weak law compared to earlier legislation on civil rights.
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In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court justices ruled that
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quotas and separate admissions standards for minorities were unconstitutional but affirmative action could be used.
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Under what conditions can a plaintiff successfully bring a sexual harassment charge?
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WRONG ANSWER - Only harassment that creates offensive or intimidating employment conditions that amount to a hostile environment may be brought to court.
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Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail to pass?
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It was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states.
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What does the term Jim Crow mean?
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the system of racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction
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________ inaugurated government affirmative action programs.
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Lyndon Johnson
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Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on voter registration in southern states?
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WRONG ANSWER - didn't put anything
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Which of the following statements about gender equality is FALSE?
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The percentage of female representatives in state legislatures has declined over the last 20 years.
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The attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment was an important struggle for ________.
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women
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What did the justices rule in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)?
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Racially restrictive covenants on housing could not be enforced by courts.
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The ________ forbade workplace discrimination based on race.
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
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In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress vastly expanded the role of the executive branch and the credibility of court orders by
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requiring that federal grants-in-aid to state and local governments for education be withheld from any school system practicing racial segregation.
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In ________, the Supreme Court permitted busing children as a way of bringing about desegregation of schools.
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WRONG ANSWER - 1964
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At what level of scrutiny do federal judges review cases involving gender discrimination?
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intermediate scrutiny
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The Supreme Court justices began to change their position on racial discrimination in the ________.
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WRONG ANSWER - 1960
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Redlining refers to
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the practice of bank officials refusing to make loans to people living in certain neighborhoods.
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What was the purpose of California's Proposition 187?
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It barred unauthorized immigrants from receiving most public services.
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What best explains the increased attention the federal government paid to the problem of racial discrimination during the 1940s?
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Northern migration of African Americans increased their voting strength.
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What did the Supreme Court justices rule in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)?
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WRONG ANSWER - There was a constitutional right to privacy for consensual homosexual activity.
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When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution?
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Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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The American experience with civil rights suggests which of the following things about political change in the United States?
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WRONG ANSWER - The courts are far more powerful than the legislature and therefore can advance political change on their own.
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The Compromise of 1877
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resulted in the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes.resulted in the Jim Crow system.
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Which statement best describes the path to women's suffrage in the United States?
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Some states granted women the right to vote first, and then a constitutional amendment gave all women the right to vote.
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Desegregating schools in northern states proved to be difficult because
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WRONG ANSWER - there was less hostility toward segregation in the North.
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Which of the following is true of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
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The justices outlawed de jure segregation.
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Which of the following statements best describes the number of peaceful civil rights demonstrations during the 1950s and 1960s?
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The number of demonstrations grew in the early 1960s and peaked in 1965.
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Which amendments to the U.S. Constitution seemed to offer African Americans the most hope for achieving full citizenship rights in the United States?
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the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments
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________ was the setting for a major racial confrontation concerning school busing in the 1970s.
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Boston
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What was the Supreme Court's record in segregation cases in the years before Brown v. Board of Education?
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The justices overturned forms of segregation using the separate but equal rule.
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Legally enforced segregation in public schools is a form of ________ discrimination.
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de jure
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Which of the following best summarizes the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
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Racially segregated schools can never be equal.
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The NAACP had the most success with ________ for combating racism.
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lawsuits
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Strict scrutiny is the level of judicial review that federal judges give to all cases that involve ________ classifications.
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racial
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Mendez v. Westminster (1947) was significant because
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WRONG ANSWER - it was the first court case in American history to rule on the issue of segregation.
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During the late 1940s and 1950s, ________ was the head lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
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Thurgood Marshall
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Which statement about the Reconstruction era is FALSE?
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African American voters supported the Democratic Party.
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The Reconstruction era in the South came to an end because
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northern Republicans agreed to remove federal troops from the South and give up on their support for civil liberties if southern Democrats allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president.
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Why did the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rely primarily on the courts to press for black political rights in its early years?
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The northern African American vote was too small to bring about policy change at the legislative level, so the organization chose a strategy of litigation.
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________ was one of the founders of the NAACP.
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W. E. B. Du Bois
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The rights of disabled individuals to both access public businesses and not be discriminated against in employment are guaranteed by
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the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
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California Proposition 209 was designed to
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outlaw all affirmative action programs in state and local government.
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Which of the following did the President's Commission on Civil Rights NOT discuss in its report, To Secure These Rights?
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WRONG ANSWER - a proposal to use the treaty power as a source of authority for civil rights legislation
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It was during the tenure of Chief Justice ________ that the Supreme Court established gender discrimination as a highly visible area of civil rights law.
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Burger
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The Fair Housing Act of 1968
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had little effect on housing segregation because its enforcement mechanisms were very weak.
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Ten years after Brown v. Board of Education (1954), ________ percent of black children in the Deep South attended school with white children.
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1
