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Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy

Get Connected

Get Connected

This activity contains 2 questions.

	Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy While we vote on many things, the most important votes we cast are the votes to choose who will represent us in Congress. In fact, one of the rallying cries during the American Revolution was "No Taxation Without Representation." Yet, in the District of Columbia residents don't have representation in Congress. Is this a problem? Search Tips Go to the DC Vote web page at http://www.dcvote.org/index.htm and click on the "About the Issue" link to read the issues related to the District of Columbia's lack of representation in Congress. Then go to the District of Columbia's Office of Planning web page at http://planning.dc.gov/main.shtm to look at the racial makeup of the District of Columbia. Click on "D.C. By the Numbers" and then click on "Key Indicators." Review the data in this document. Questions to Ask Why does the District of Columbia not have any representation in Congress? Is this right in your view? Since the majority of people in the District of Columbia are African American and since residents of the District have no representation in Congress, is the lack of representation racially discriminatory? Why or why not? How should this issue be solved? Why it Matters Fundamental to a representative democracy is having a representative. However, residents of the District of Columbia have no representative. Since the District is majority African American, some people have alleged that Congress is being racial discriminatory in not giving citizens of the District representation. Get Involved Send your member of Congress an e-mail outlining your views on the District of Columbia's lack of representation in Congress.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy As noted in the chapter, the percentage of women who work outside of the home has increased steadily in the past several decades. Today almost as many women work as men. However, even though the numbers of men and women workers are about the same, many other things are not. For instance, men still earn more than women often for performing the same job. This earnings gap flies in the face of our countries stated objective of gender equality. While the differential treatment of men and women has certainly been reduced since 1964 and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, some differences still exists. Search Tips Go to http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/gender/ppl-121/tab13.txt and review the table of data on earnings of full time male and female workers. Questions to Ask Where is the wage disparity the greatest? Where is the wage disparity the least? What sorts of jobs do you think pay between $15,000 and $25,000? What sorts of jobs do you think pay over $75,000? Why it Matters At its roots, our political system is concerned with fairness. While we haven't always practiced treating each other fair, we have made it a goal. Thus, it is important to understand how near or far we are from achieving the goal. Get Involved Look up the data on earnings in your state. Is there a gap between male and female earnings? Compare your state to other states. It might be worth writing a paper on this topic in a future class.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

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