Social Ethics/Philosophy 226: Ch 12 Equality and Discrimination

The rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship, especially the fundamental freedoms and privilages guaranteed by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress, including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination.

1. of or relating to such rights and privilages: civil rights legislation 2. Of or relating to a political movement, especially during the 1950s and 1960s, devoted to securing equal opportunity and treatment for members of minority groups.

The equal protection clause
- no state may "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law."
- followed the 13th Amendment in 1865, which prohibited slavery.

- gender discrimination continues to be a problem
- racial stereotypes have been thought to be the cause of continuing discriminatory attitudes.
- discrimination in the application of criminal laws also has not been completely overcome.
- a clearer form of discrimination is that of a hate crime.


Clearly, the ideal of equal treatment and equal respect for all people regardless of race, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity has not been fully realized.

- many European countries do not have effective antidiscrimination laws.
- in many countries, women and men do not have equal rights.
- in Afghanistan, for example, the ruling Islamic fundamentalist Taliban group had banned women from working except in nursing, and girls older than eight could not attend formal schools.
- Migrant workers in the U.S. and Europe and other parts of the world continue to face discrimination.
- in Singapore, "most working women are limited to low-paying jobs in both periphery and core industries" to protect male economic success.

- Even in countries where such killing is illegal, families who murder their daughters because they have brought shame to them often are not prosecuted.
- "the women died because they did not bring what in-laws considered satisfactory dowries or, sometimes, because the grooms were not happy with brides chosen by their families."

- More than 200 women were disfigured in assaults often by acid and most often by men or boys whom the women had rejected.

- The U.N. Population Fund has estimated that some 5,000 females are killed each year by "honor killings".
- even suspected sexual misbehavior of a female family member is thought to dishonor the family; the suspicion or the fact becomes grounds for their murder.
(these cases are typically Middle East countries or those with majority Muslim populations.

AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa
- Women are three times more likely than men of the same age to be infected.
- women are dependent economically on men and "marry older men who have been sexually active for decades."

- "on average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day."

Gave women the right to vote.

Gave blacks the right to vote.

Allowed "seperate but equal" segrated schools.

Integrated the schools.

Prohibited discrimination in employment.

Forbade the use of racial quotas in school admissions

Allowed a company to use quotas to remedy past discrimination

Reaffirmed BAKKE and a state interest in educational diversity.

Schools closed up to 5 years. (Prince Edward County)