Nationality would invite more discriminatory laws

nationality; would invite more discriminatory laws against Chinese
(paralleling Jim Crow)
 World War II
o Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, HI (1941); response, President FDR issued exe order 9066,
which led to the internment of over 130,000 Japanese/Italian/German Americans, some
of whom were Jewish refugees. More than 2/3 were US citizens
 Korematsu v. U.S : upheld constitutionality of camps (Sup Ct ruling that
upheld the authority of the US govt to require mass interment of people of
Japanese ancestry in the US during WWII)
 Civil Liberties Act (1988): apologized to those interned and their descendants and offered
reparations to them and their families
 Fastest growing minority grp; target diverse political venues; successful in California
Gays and Lesbians

o LGBT Community : minority grp based on sexual orientation and gender identity that
includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; LGBTQ also
o Highly discriminated grps
 Don't Ask, Don't Tell
o 1993: Pres Bill Clinton signed into policy to try and ban discrimination in the military;
goal was to not ask sexual orientation and barred them from revealing orientation under
threat of discharge; however, many discharged on basis of sexual orientation
 Ended in 2010: federal dist court ruled the policy unconstitutional; issued an
injunction directing the Dept of Defense to refrain from enforcing the policy;
later that year, Congress passed and Pres Obama signed into law a formal
appeal; in sept 2011 DADT officially ended
 Lawrence v. Texas (2003): sup. Court ruled that anti-sodomy laws violated the right to
privacy
 Many corporations responded to the call for discrimination
 Same-sex marriage
o Some states: ban, legalize, don’t have anything
 Was legal only in some states
 2008: Prop 8 (CA)made same-sex marriage illegal; passes; appealed up to the
US Sup Ct and ruled unconstitutional under due process and equal
protection (14 amend)
 US v Windsor (June 2013 ): DOMA (defense of marriage act-federal law
defining marriage as between one man and one woman) declared
unconstitutional; Sup Ct refuses to hear lower court appeals
 Obergefell v Hodges (2015): Sup Ct ruling that held that same-sex couples
have a fundamental right to marry under the Constitution
 2016: Defense Sect Ashton Carter: end to longstanding ban on transgender people serving in
the military
 August 25, 2017: President Trump signed directive to military reinstating ban on transgender
serving in the military
 Controversial issue
Americans with Disabilities
 Disabled veterans
 Returning from Korea and Vietnam
 Made the problems of being disable very clear; vets saw the success of
other grps and began to advocate
 Americans with Disabilities Act (1990):
o Defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental impairment that limits
one or more “life activities,” or who has a record of such impairment; extends the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 to all citizens with physical or mental disabilities; guarantees access to
public facilities, employment, and communication services
