We The People An Introduction to American Government 12th Edition by Thomas Patterson – Test Bank

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Chapter 05 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

Chapter 05

Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The focus of civil liberties is the ________ and the focus of civil rights is the ________.

A. individual; individual

B. group; group

C. individual; group

D. group; individual

E. Tenth Amendment; Fourteenth Amendment

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2. Disadvantaged Americans have generally gained their rights

A. through the enlightened policies of advantaged Americans.

B. through judicial action only.

C. through struggle against entrenched interests.

D. mainly through action by the states rather than the federal government.

E. by waiting patiently for public opinion to back their cause.

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3. Culminating in a historic victory in 1954, black activists in the early twentieth century

generally pursued civil rights through

A. legal action.

B. legislative action.

C. pressure for presidential decree.

D. bureaucratic action.

E. campaigning through mass media.

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4. The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruling (1954) held that racial

segregation in schools violated the

A. due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

B. due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

C. equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

D. Civil Rights Act.

E. establishment clause of the First Amendment.

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5. One example of a policy that aimed chiefly to overcome de facto discrimination is

A. the Equal Rights Amendment.

B. the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

C. busing to achieve racial integration in the schools.

D. the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruling.

E. the Fourteenth Amendment.

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6. Which of the following is true?

A. Public schools are becoming more segregated nationally.

B. Many urban public school districts have ended the use of busing for desegregation

purposes.

C. White flight to suburban schools has made it more difficult to desegregate urban schools.

D. The Supreme Court, after ordering cutbacks in busing, said that communities were free to

use alternatives, such as increased spending on schools in poor neighborhoods.

E. All these answers are correct.

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7. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Swann case on busing differed from the Brown decision

in that Swann

A. addressed the problem of de facto discrimination.

B. applied to many northern communities in addition to communities in the South.

C. sanctioned the use of busing in desegregation.

D. dealt specifically with the issue of busing.

E. All these answers are correct.

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8. In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that the pursuit of racial integration in public schools

through busing

A. was a practice that should be left to state governments to adopt or reject.

B. should be enacted and monitored by the federal government to ensure full compliance.

C. was as necessary to ensure racial justice as was the ending of de facto segregation in 1954.

D. was a permanent solution to an intractable problem.

E. deprived students of their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection.

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9. Since the height of the busing era, the trend in public schools has been

A. toward greater integration.

B. toward greater segregation.

C. to rely more and more on busing.

D. to reinstate de jure racial segregation.

E. to retain the gains in racial integration achieved through the 1970s, but not to further them.

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10. The Supreme Court concept of suspect classifications suggests that

A. it is impossible to impose quotas fairly because they require classifications of merit based

on race.

B. it is inherently suspect to classify one school district or public facility reserved for a

particular race as inferior or superior to another.

C. laws that classify people differently on the basis of their race or ethnicity are presumed to

have discrimination as their purpose.

D. any form of classification of people based on race or gender is not a sufficient basis for

which to overturn an established federal law.

E. any law designed to specifically affect members of different genders in different ways is

inherently discriminatory.

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11. In applying the reasonable basis test, courts tend to

A. require government only to show that a particular law is reasonable.

B. assess whether a law had the support of a two-thirds majority of legislators at the time of

passage.

C. determine whether a law is working well and, if so, to allow it to remain in effect.

D. prohibit any law that results in the unequal treatment of Americans.

E. interpret the equal protection clause in a strict manner.

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12. Any law that attempts a racial or ethnic classification is subject to the

A. reasonable basis test.

B. strict scrutiny test.

C. intermediate scrutiny test.

D. precedent basis test.

E. suspect classification test.

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13. Any law that includes a gender classification is subject to the

A. reasonable basis test.

B. strict scrutiny test.

C. intermediate scrutiny test.

D. precedent basis test.

E. suspect classification test.

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14. In the 1967 decision of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court

A. first explicitly applied the strict scrutiny test.

B. ruled that Virginia could restrict marriage between adults.

C. held that interracial marriage did not have constitutional protection.

D. countered judicial reasoning it had used thirteen years earlier in its Brown decision.

E. All these answers are correct.

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15. A law that placed restrictions on courses girls could take in high school would be

evaluated by the courts using the

A. reasonable basis test.

B. strict scrutiny test.

C. intermediate scrutiny test.

D. precedent basis test.

E. suspect classification test.

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16. In the case of United States v. Virginia (1996), the Supreme Court ruled that

A. strict racial quotas were a valid means of ensuring racial diversity on college campuses.

B. private colleges could refuse to admit prospective students on the basis of sexual

orientation.

C. male-only admissions policies at state-supported military academies were unconstitutional.

D. because female instructors created an undue distraction at all-male universities, the schools

in question could discriminate against women in their hiring practices.

E. colleges affiliated with a particular religion could not take the religious persuasion of job

candidates into consideration during the hiring process.

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17. The Fourteenth Amendment applies to discriminatory action by

A. government only.

B. private parties only.

C. both government and private parties.

D. the president specifically.

E. Congress specifically.

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18. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was aimed at eliminating discrimination

A. by governments in their conduct of elections (e.g., registration, placement of polling

booths).

B. by private individuals in their social relations—bigoted statements and other acts of

prejudice are unlawful under most circumstances.

C. by governments in their job practices and provision of services (e.g., schools, roads).

D. by private individuals in their employment practices and in their operation of public

accommodations (e.g., hotels, restaurants).

E. All these answers are correct.

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19. The modern civil rights movement had a peak moment with the March on Washington in

________.

A. 1954

B. 1960

C. 1963

D. 1968

E. 1973

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20. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

A. brought about greater rights to the disabled.

B. came in response to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

C. was conducted by women seeking fairer treatment in the workplace.

D. was conducted by women seeking the right to vote.

E. was conducted by African Americans seeking equality of rights.

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21. The famous speech featuring the words “I have a dream” in the civil rights movement was

delivered by

A. Jesse Jackson.

B. Martin Luther King Jr.

C. Thurgood Marshall.

D. John F. Kennedy.

E. Robert F. Kennedy.

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22. When the United States first came into being, married women were permitted to

A. vote.

B. hold office.

C. serve on juries.

D. own and dispense property without the husband’s consent.

E. None of these answers is correct.

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23. The movement for women’s rights was initially aligned with

A. the abolition movement.

B. the Progressive movement.

C. the labor movement.

D. the modern civil rights movement.

E. the modern environmental movement.

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24. The first large and well-organized attempt to promote women’s rights came in 1848 in

A. Boston, Massachusetts.

B. San Francisco, California.

C. Minneapolis, Minnesota.

D. Seneca Falls, New York.

E. Madison, Wisconsin.

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25. Women in America obtained the right to vote in national elections in ________.

A. 1790

B. 1865

C. 1890

D. 1920

E. 1974

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26. Politically, the fight for civil rights in Congress in the 1960s was led primarily by

A. southern Democrats.

B. southern Republicans.

C. Republicans.

D. Democrats.

E. an about equal coalition of Democrats and Republicans.

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27. Which of the following groups is MOST likely to identify with the Democratic Party?

A. Hispanics

B. African Americans

C. white women

D. white men

E. white southerners

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28. Which of the following groups is LEAST likely to identify with the Democratic Party?

A. Hispanics

B. African Americans

C. white women

D. white southerners

E. white liberals

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29. How many states ratified the Equal Rights Amendment?

A. none of them

B. only a few

C. about half

D. nearly three-fourths

E. all but three of them

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30. The fight to give Hispanic farm laborers better working conditions and wages was

conducted primarily in

A. Arizona.

B. California.

C. Oregon.

D. Washington.

E. New Mexico.

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31. Native Americans

A. have always been legal citizens of the United States.

B. were not given citizenship status en masse until the twentieth century.

C. do not today have the full legal rights of other U.S. citizens.

D. are U.S. citizens unless they choose to live on a reservation.

E. have numbered roughly ten million in the United States since the 1700s.

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32. Native Americans were made “official” citizens of the United States in ________.

A. 1789

B. 1856

C. 1924

D. 1972

E. 1998

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McGraw-Hill Education.Chapter 05 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

33. The first Asian immigrants to America

A. settled primarily in the Midwest and Northeast.

B. did not arrive until the early twentieth century.

C. were welcomed as equals by most whites.

D. worked as laborers in mines and railroad construction.

E. All these answers are correct.

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34. (p. 153) In 1960, the greatest percentage of immigrants to America came from

A. Europe.

B. Asia.

C. Latin America.

D. Africa.

E. Australia.

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35. In 2010, the greatest percentage of immigrants to America came from

A. Europe.

B. Asia.

C. Latin America.

D. Africa.

E. Australia.

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36. Which of the following had the GREATEST impact on increasing voting rates by African

Americans?

A. Nineteenth Amendment

B. Twenty-fourth Amendment

C. the ending of whites-only primaries

D. the Civil Rights Act of 1964

E. the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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37. The Voting Rights Act of 1965

A. expired in the late 1990s.

B. prohibits discrimination in voting and voter registration.

C. was strengthened by the 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder.

D. applies only to federal elections, not state and local elections.

E. has no significant provisions for enforcement.

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38. The 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder interpreting the Voting Rights

Act

A. declared the entire Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.

B. was a victory for the Obama administration in general and Attorney General Eric Holder in

particular.

C. argued that Congress had set standards for ensuring voting rights that were no longer

relevant.

D. requires states be more diligent in ensuring that minorities have full voting rights.

E. was all the more emphatic because it had a unanimous 9-0 vote.

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39. Housing in America

A. falls largely outside the scope of the law—people are free to rent or sell property to

whomever they want.

B. is an area where equality in practice is now nearly a reality; people of similar incomes,

regardless of race or color, find it equally easy to qualify for home mortgages.

C. is an unimportant civil rights issue, since housing patterns almost completely reflect the

personal preferences of people and are not substantially influenced by past or present racial

bias.

D. continues to evidence a high degree of racial segregation.

E. None of these answers is correct.

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40. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 addressed

A. voting.

B. hiring.

C. education.

D. housing.

E. work conditions.

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McGraw-Hill Education.Chapter 05 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

41. The policy of affirmative action arose when

A. it became apparent that disadvantaged Americans would not attain equal employment

opportunities through lawsuits that benefited single individuals only.

B. the Supreme Court declared in Bakke that the Fourteenth Amendment requires government

and large firms to hire more women and minorities.

C. the Supreme Court ruled that de facto discrimination is unlawful.

D. private firms decided on their own that a more diverse workforce was actually a more

productive and effective workforce.

E. the Supreme Court rendered its Adarand v. Pena decision in 1995.

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42. De jure discrimination and de facto discrimination are two ways in which some

Americans are treated as less equal than others. Examples of public policies designed to

address each of these forms of discrimination are

A. the Brown decision (de jure), and affirmative action (de facto).

B. affirmative action (de jure), and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (de facto).

C. the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (de jure), and the Brown decision (de facto).

D. the Supreme Court’s busing decisions (de jure), and affirmative action decisions (de facto).

E. None of these answers is correct.

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43. Equality of result policies are primarily directed at ________ discriminatory effects.

A. de jure

B. de facto

C. religious

D. gender

E. due process

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44. One reason that affirmative action is so controversial is that

A. since the 1980s the Supreme Court has imposed it on the American public despite

congressional attempts to end it.

B. most Americans admit that they oppose programs that ensure equal treatment for

minorities.

C. it is applied only to private businesses and schools, not to government programs and

institutions.

D. the Supreme Court has repeatedly declared it unconstitutional both in principle and in

practice.

E. it is viewed as giving preferential treatment, which is unpopular, instead of simply ensuring

equal treatment.

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45. The central issue in the Bakke case was

A. school desegregation.

B. sexual harassment.

C. affirmative action.

D. Native Americans’ civil rights.

E. comparable worth.

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46. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case

A. invalidated the principle of affirmative action.

B. ruled that Bakke could not be admitted to medical school.

C. established quota systems as a legitimate basis of affirmative action.

D. upheld the principle of affirmative action.

E. None of these answers is correct.

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47. The Supreme Court halted the general use of quotas in the granting of federal contracts in

the 1995 case of

A. Adarand v. Pena.

B. Fullilove v. Klutznick.

C. Craig v. Boren.

D. Rostker v. Goldberg.

E. United States v. Virginia.

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48. In its 2014 Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action decision, the Supreme

Court ruled that

A. the United States Congress can pass affirmative action laws that are binding on both public

institutions and private businesses.

B. affirmative action is a form of reverse discrimination and is therefore unconstitutional.

C. taking race into account when deciding who to admit to college is unconstitutional.

D. states can pass laws that ban affirmative action at public education institutions.

E. states must follow the same affirmative action guidelines as the federal government does.

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49. With regard to affirmative action, the Supreme Court in recent years has

A. moved to outlaw it.

B. moved to narrow its application.

C. asked Congress to clarify the policy.

D. asked the president to clarify the policy.

E. asked the state legislatures to clarify the policy.

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50. Which type of household has the LOWEST percentage of families living in poverty?

A. Two-Parent Family

B. Single-Parent Family

C. Male-Headed Family

D. Female-Headed Family

E. All of these households have about the same percentage of families with two parents.

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51. Which statement about women’s rights is correct?

A. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was ratified by the necessary 38 states in 1982.

B. The women’s rights movement began in the era of World War I and within a few years

achieved voting rights for women.

C. Women have made clear gains in the areas of appointive and elective offices.

D. Women tend to cast their votes for Republican candidates.

E. All these answers are correct.

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52. What was politically significant about Geraldine Ferraro in 1984?

A. She became the first woman to be elected governor of a state.

B. She became the first woman to run on the national ticket of a major political party.

C. She became the first woman to serve as attorney general of the United States.

D. She was the first woman to hold the top position in the U.S. House of Representatives.

E. She was the first person to hold the top position in the U.S. Senate.

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53. The first woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court was appointed by

A. President Truman.

B. President Eisenhower.

C. President Kennedy.

D. President Reagan.

E. President Carter.

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McGraw-Hill Education.Chapter 05 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

54. Today, women currently hold about ________ of the seats in the House of

Representatives.

A. 7 percent

B. 19 percent

C. 28 percent

D. 37 percent

E. 49 percent

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55. Which country has the highest proportion of women serving in its national legislatures?

A. Sweden

B. United States

C. Japan

D. Germany

E. Canada

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56. The average pay for full-time female employees is about ________ percent of that for

full-time male employees.

A. 93

B. 50

C. 65

D. 80

E. 60

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57. Native Americans

A. today number more than 2 million.

B. have a far higher infant mortality rate than the national average.

C. have in recent years filed suit to reclaim their ancestral lands.

D. are less than half as likely to finish college as other Americans.

E. All these answers are correct.

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58. (p. 166-168) All of the following statements about Hispanic Americans are true EXCEPT that

A. they are the fastest-growing minority in the United States.

B. they have made major political gains in terms of electing local officials, particularly in the

southwestern states.

C. Hispanics are healthier and have a longer life expectancy than would be expected from

their education and income levels.

D. their average annual income is relatively close to the national average.

E. they are one of the nation’s oldest ethnic groups.

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59. Of the following states, which tends to have larger numbers of Caribbean Hispanics?

A. California

B. Texas

C. New York

D. New Mexico

E. Arizona

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60. Of the following states, which one has the LOWEST percentage of Hispanics in its

population?

A. Washington

B. New Mexico

C. California

D. Arizona

E. Texas

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61. All of the following statements about Asian American rights are true EXCEPT that

A. they have not attained a proportionate share of top business positions.

B. Asian Americans are an upwardly mobile group but are underrepresented in top positions

in society due to past and present discrimination.

C. Asian Americans have the highest percentage of two-parent families of any racial group.

D. Asian Americans have made notable educational advancements.

E. Asian Americans have the second highest median family income of any group.

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62. Asian Americans account for about ________ percent of professionals and technicians in

the United States.

A. 1

B. 5

C. 10

D. 15

E. 25

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63. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the

Fourteenth Amendment in which case?

A. Obergefell v. Hodges

B. Loving v. Virginia

C. Grutter v. Bollinger

D. Shelby County v. Holder

E. Lau v. Nichols

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64. In 2004, by order of the state’s Supreme Court, ________ instituted same-sex marriage.

A. California

B. Texas

C. Vermont

D. Massachusetts

E. Alabama

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65. Public support for same-sex marriage has

A. decreased significantly since the 1990s.

B. increased significantly since the 1990s.

C. remained steady since the 1990s.

D. increased slightly since the 1990s.

E. decreased slightly since the 1990s.

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66. Regarding same-sex marriage, it is true that

A. the Supreme Court upheld the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.

B. several states have recently reversed earlier legal approval of the practice.

C. younger people are more likely to approve of it than older people are.

D. it first became legal in New York.

E. it is a state issue that is beyond federal control or influence.

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67. Which of the following statements is true of age discrimination in the United States?

A. The courts have not given government and employers much leeway in establishing age-

based policies.

B. Forced retirement for reasons of age is not permissible even if justified by the nature of a

particular job or the performance of a particular employee.

C. Age discrimination is among the forms of discrimination prohibited by the U.S.

Constitution.

D. Mandatory retirement ages for most jobs have been eliminated by law.

E. Hiring bias on the basis of age is still allowed by all private companies, but has been most

abolished in government and public agencies.

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68. Which of the following is true of discrimination against the disabled in the United States?

A. The Americans with Disabilities Act grants protections to the disabled only in the

employment sphere.

B. Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1975.

C. Before 1975, four million children with disabilities were getting either no education or an

inappropriate one.

D. Through the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, Congress required that

schools receiving federal funding provide all children, however severe their disability, with a

free and appropriate education.

E. Discrimination against the disabled is among the forms of discrimination prohibited by the

Constitution, but has also been strengthened through statutes.

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69. According to Gunnar Myrdal, what is America’s curse?

A. greed

B. racial discrimination

C. obesity

D. street violence

E. religious intolerance

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Essay Questions

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70. What is the equal protection clause? What three tests are associated with discrimination in

law?

The equal protection clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which reads in part that no

state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This

clause has been used by the courts to protect minorities from discrimination. The tests

associated with legal discrimination are the reasonable-basis test and the strict-scrutiny test.

The first test stipulates that some inequalities (such as unequal tax rates for people of different

income levels) are acceptable as long as they are related to legitimate government interests.

The second test is premised on the belief that racial and ethnic-based classifications are

unconstitutional almost by definition. There is a third form of judgment—an “intermediate”

category, which has been used with regard to sex classifications, and is less rigid than the

strict-scrutiny test but more rigid than the reasonable-basis test. For example, the exclusion of

women from the military draft has been judged by the courts to be constitutional, whereas

most other forms of gender discrimination in law have been judged unconstitutional.

71. Discuss the racial problems addressed by the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,

Kansas decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What provisions of the Constitution

provided the basis for each of these policy decisions?

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), the Supreme Court justices

overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled

that segregated schools were inherently unequal, and thus they violated the equal protection

clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court further stated that the maintenance of

separate school systems generates feelings of social inferiority on the part of minority

students. Because the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to acts of government, private

firms are not affected by it. In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress used its commerce

power to entitle all persons equal access to establishments serving the general public, and to

forbid discrimination in hiring, promotion, and payment of employees in medium and large

firms. Congress’s commerce power was utilized to restrict discrimination in public places and

employment.

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McGraw-Hill Education.Chapter 05 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness

72. Describe the provisions and impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights

Act of 1968.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act entitles all persons to equal access to restaurants, bars, theatres,

hotels, gasoline stations, and similar establishments serving the general public. It also bars

discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the hiring,

promotion, and wages of employees of medium-size and large firms. However, this legislation

did not immediately result in equality of opportunity of hiring practices. The Act did not

require employers to prove that their employment practices were not discriminatory, and

many continued to give preferential treatment to white males. The concentration of the Civil

Rights Act of 1968 was equality in housing. To prevent discrimination in housing, this act

prevented building owners from refusing to sell or rent housing because of a person’s race,

religion, ethnicity, or sex. An exception is allowed for owners of small multifamily dwellings

who reside on the premises.

73. What is affirmative action? What is the Supreme Court’s general position on affirmative

action?

Affirmative action is a deliberate effort to counteract de facto discrimination and provide full

and equal opportunity in areas such as education and employment for traditionally

disadvantaged groups. This policy attempts to require providers of opportunities to show that

their policies are not discriminatory. The Supreme Court has limited the application of

affirmative action. In general, the Supreme Court has allowed practices seeking to redress

instances of discrimination unless those practices infringe on the rights of individuals or

unless they involve the strict use of quotas.

74. What is equality of result? What relation does it have to de facto and de jure

discrimination?

Equality of result is the aim of policies intended to reduce or eliminate discriminatory effects

so that members of traditionally disadvantaged groups may obtain the same benefits of society

as members of traditionally advantaged groups. De facto discrimination is discrimination that

is a consequence of social, economic, and cultural biases and conditions. De jure

discrimination is discrimination based on law. Equality of result is intended to combat the

effects of de facto discrimination. Busing and affirmative action are examples of policies

designed to achieve equality of result. Many Americans, however, believe that the

government should only address de jure discrimination.

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McGraw-Hill Education.