Vocab Notes

1. Heterogeneous: society is composed of different people or cultures

2. Immigrants: legal alien from another country

3. Reservation: public land given to the native americans by the united states government

4. Refugee: somebody who moves to another country for their protection

5. Assimilation: adapt a culture to majority's culture

Section 1:
-The population of the US today is prominently white and historically has been as well.
-Immigrants arrive in record numbers every year since the 1960s.
-Populations have grown:
     african american, hispanic american, asian american
-Minority populations exceed white populations in the following states:
     California, Texas
-More females than males

Why is there so much focus on discrimination against african americans?
1. african americans have been the victims of consistent and deliberate unjuust treatment for a longer time
2. african americans constitute a huge minority group
3. most of the gains in terms of equality have been brought about on behalf of the african americans

Native Americans
-when american settlers arrived, there were many native americans
-a few years later, this number dropped drastically
-this was due to american settlers bringing foreign diseases from europe
-Trail of Tears: Native americans were forced westward
-Indian Education Act of 1972 attempted to fix problems

Hispanics
-anybody who speaks spanish
-can be any race
-largest minority group today
-Divided into four main subgroups:
     Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central and South Americans

Asian Americans
-chinese laborers were the first asians to come to america in large numbers in the 1850s and 60s.
-they faced violence from whites who felt that they were taking their jobs.
-WWII all japanese were evacuated to the pacific coast, even native born.
-Chinese exclusion act of 1882-80 years.

Section 3:

-Those who oppose civil rights often believe you cant change morality by passing a law

Civil Rights Act of 1964:
-passed after the longest debate in senate history. (83 days)
-made four major changes:
     voting provisions
     public services could no longer deny access based on race
     federal funding programs could not discriminate for the same reasons
     employers could also not discriminate as well as labor unions
Civil Rights Act of 1968:
-aka the open housing act
-could not refuse selling or renting a living space to a person due to race

Affirmative Action:
-requires employers to take positive steps to fix the affects of past discrimination
-employers must meet quotas for minority groups/genders
-reverse discrimination: discrimination against majority group; they are denied opportunities so minority groups have more opportunities.
-California, washington, michigan, and nebraska voters passed measures to eliminate all affirmative action plans
-The Bakke Case:
     Allan Bakke sued the University of California because he was denied access to their medical school due        to affirmative action.
     He won.
-Justice Sandra Day O'Connor predicts in 25 years the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary

Section 4:

An American Citizen is a person that swears allegiance to the us and is entitled to its protection and privileges of its laws
-earlier on it didnt matter whether somebody was a citizen or not, but higher populations called for more importance to the situation
-14th Amendment was the first constitutional definition
-any citizen is subject to the jurisdiction of the judiciary of which they are a citizen
-A person can become a citizen in one of two ways
     1. By Birth
     2. Naturalization
Citizenship by Birth:
-90% of citizens
Citizenship by Naturalization
-legal process by which someone can become a us citizen.
-congress has exclusive power to provide for naturalization
-naturalization is done individually typically
-collective naturalization is when an entire group becomes citizens through en masse; normally happens when the us gains a new territory
Loss of Citizenship:
-every american citizen has a right to voluntarily abandon his citizenship; expatriation
-it is unconstitutional for congress to take away a persons citizenship based on something he has done, even if a person is involved in another countrys affairs
-naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship through denaturalization
-marriage does not make a person a citizen; only shortens the time of the naturalization process
Immigration:
-congress decide who enters and leaves the country
- quotas for immigration are like a cap; they limit the number of immigrants that are allowed to enter the united states
- immigration act of 1965 did away with the quota system; preference is given to immediate family of current american citizens
-we are currently under the immigration act of 1990; basically just adds preference to those with occupational talents and allowed more people
People can be denied entrance based on their characteristics
-criminals
-mentally ill
Deportation:
-legal process by which aliens are required to leave the country
-biggest reason for deportation: illegal immigrant or convicted of a serious crime