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BEFORE - Partial
2010 December
Literature Review
Legal Reform: Does the Law Adequately Level the Playing Field for Women of Color?
The battle for equality has been a long struggle, and the American legal system propelled the country forward. Equality in America was not considered an issue until after the Civil War when it ended slavery in the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Years later, in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment changed the tone adding a legal clause that gives equal protection and right to citizenship to the blacks (see, Legal Aspect Segregation). Those laws did not quickly eradicate the racial prejudice against Blacks and women.
It took a decade before women could acquire the right to vote through the 19th Amendment of 1920. Societal prejudice expressed itself in conservative attitudes which limited women’s roles to that of mother and wife. Expectation norms for women did not include work outside the home; in fact, such behavior was frowned upon and considered almost indecent. The legal profession itself was a bastion of male dominance. In essence, what should have led to the advancement of all African Americans was derailed by the conservative theory that “the woman’s place is in the home” and prevented African American women from entering higher education in large numbers to include legal studies. Moreover, once these women did manage to obtain their law degree, they often lacked the networking opportunities required to either gain employment in their field or, once employed, to break through the glass ceiling and fulfill their career potential.
It would take the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L.88-352) to end formally discrimination against blacks and women. The theory of Separate but Equal became the model most-used by the states to undermine the language of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, this doctrine served as a basis for further racial discrimination, for it effectively prohibited the integration of minorities in the legal profession.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1865 and the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 granted equal protection of the laws to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, African Americans were not afforded equal access to higher education, particularly legal studies, at that time. Title VII appeals for integration of blacks in public school and later forbids employment discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin (see , Library Congress, 2001). Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex (see Title IX Education Amendment of 1972, codified as Title 20.U.S.C. internet article).
In order to address gender inequality and bias, feminist researchers and legal activists who have studied the issue have produced important theoretical treaties and championed the significance of political, economic, and social advancement for women. Numerous studies reveal a systemic male predominance as one of the problematic components halting the social and intellectual progress of women. Historic lack of access to legal rights and current lack of access in the legal field have constituted a formidable barrier and thereby hinders their social advancement. However, many people tend to consider this a non-problematic issue. In contemporary American society, the assumption is that men and women have equal opportunities and equal rights because the law provides for such entitlements. Still, others maintain that despite the progress resulting from past legal struggles, countless court battles, and lawsuits, gender inequality and race are, to a large extent, alive at all levels in society.
For a profession that predicates itself upon fairness and justice, recent studies suggest that the legal field continues to display disparities not only in gender but also ethnicity. Women of color who have entered the legal field still face great challenges, and the route to equal treatment just remain long and difficult. Elizabeth Higginbotham disputes the idea of legal segregation resulted in African American male and female lawyers entering the legal profession have the same rights after the passage of the Civil Rights law. Between African American lawyers, class differences seemed more prominent, while gender and race appeared to be more important in terms of larger workplace exchanges and advancement (Dill and Zambrana 24-33). Both the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX prohibit gender and racial discrimination. Does disparity access for African American women lawyers still remain in spite of the legal reform?
This literature review will analyze the environmental factors affecting legislative reforms and the effectiveness of these legal decisions in achieving access and equity for women of color. Specifically, this examination will focus on African American women in the legal profession. The information required for conducting this literature review was collected from general books, law review articles, legal cases, and internet resources which present an overview of the subject. The three articles, “Title IX. Education Amendments of 1972,” “Timeline of Affirmative Action Milestones, “and “Legal Aspects Segregation and A Century of Racial Segregation” provide context for understanding the Constitutional amendments dealing with equality before the law for minorities and women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, and Title IX provide a background to discuss the cultural and historical events and figures that shaped these laws.
EDITED - text, APA
Legal Reform:
Does the Law Adequately Level
the Playing Field for Women of Color?
The battle for equality has been a long struggle. The American legal system propelled the country forward. Equality in America was not considered an issue until after the Civil War, when it ended slavery in 1865 through the Thirteenth Amendment. Years later, in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment changed the tone, adding a legal clause that gave equal protection and the right of citizenship to blacks (“Legal Aspect Segregation,” year). Neither of these laws quickly eradicated the racial prejudice against blacks and women.
It was a decade before women acquired the right to vote, through the Nineteenth Amendment in1920. Societal prejudice expressed itself in conservative attitudes, which limited women’s roles to that of mother and wife. Expectation norms for women did not include work outside the home; in fact, such behavior was frowned upon and considered almost indecent. The legal profession itself was a bastion of male dominance. In essence, what should have led to the advancement of all blacks (i.e., African Americans) was derailed by the conservative theory that “the woman’s place is in the home,” which prevented black women from entering higher education in large numbers; so, they could not be included in the legal studies. Moreover, once these women did manage to obtain a law degree, they often lacked the networking opportunities needed to gain employment in their field; or, once employed, to break through the glass ceiling and fulfill their career potential.
It took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L.88-352) to end discrimination formally against blacks and women. The theory of “Separate but Equal” became the model most used by the states, to undermine the language of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, this doctrine served as a basis for further racial discrimination; effectively, it prohibited the integration of minorities in the legal profession.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation had freed the slaves in 1865 and the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 had granted equal protection of the laws to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, blacks were not yet afforded equal access to higher education, particularly not legal studies. Title VII appealed for integration of blacks in public school, and later forbade employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin (Library of Congress, 2001). Title IX prohibited discrimination based on gender (Title IX Education Amendment of 1972, codified as Title 20.U.S.C., internet article).
In order to address gender inequality and bias, feminist researchers and legal activists studied the issue and produced important theoretical treaties; championing the significance of political, economic, and social advancement for women. Numerous studies have revealed a systemic male predominance as one of the problematic components that has halted the social and intellectual progress of women. An historical lack of access to legal rights and the current lack of access in the legal field have constituted a formidable barrier that has hindered black women’s social advancement. However, many people tend to consider this a non-problematic issue. In contemporary American society, the assumption is that both men and women have equal opportunities and equal rights because the law provides for such entitlements. Still others maintain that, despite the progress resulting from past legal struggles, countless court battles and lawsuits, to a large extent, gender inequality and race are alive at all levels in society.
For a profession that predicates itself upon fairness and justice, recent studies suggest that the legal field continues to display disparities, not only in gender but also in ethnicity. Women of color who have entered the legal field still face great challenges, and the route to equal treatment still remains long and difficult. Elizabeth Higginbotham disputed the idea that legal segregation had resulted in black male and female lawyers having the same rights after the passage of the Civil Rights Acts. Between black lawyers, class differences seem to have been more prominent; while gender and race appear to have been more important in terms of larger workplace exchanges and advancement (Dill & Zambrana, pp. 24-33). Both the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX prohibit gender and racial discrimination. Does disparity access for black women lawyers remain despite the legal reform?
This literature review will analyze the environmental factors that affected legislative reforms and the effectiveness of those legal decisions toward achieving access and equity for women of color. Specifically, this examination will focus on black (i.e., African American) women in the legal profession. The information required for conducting this literature review was collected from general books, law review articles, legal cases, and internet resources, to present an overview of the subject. The three articles, “Title IX. Education Amendments of 1972,” “Timeline of Affirmative Action Milestones,” and “Legal Aspects of Segregation and A Century of Racial Segregation” provide context for understanding the constitutional amendments that deal with equality before the law for minorities and women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, and Title IX provide a background to discuss the cultural and historical events and figures that shaped these laws.
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