AP® United States Government and Politics review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/gov/units/3/3-10)
Unit 3 · Topic 3.10
3.10 Social Movements and Equal Protection
The Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause requires states to treat people equally under the law, and social movements have used it, along with protest and political pressure, to push for change. The civil rights movement, whose case for nonviolent resistance to unjust laws Martin Luther King Jr. made in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (1963), is the central example. The women's rights movement, LGBTQ rights advocates and the pro-life and pro-choice movements have also shaped policy.
Key terms
- equal protection clause
- civil rights movement
- "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
- civil disobedience
- National Organization for Women (NOW)
The Equal Protection Clause
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) says no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” It was written to protect formerly enslaved people, but it now applies to discrimination of many kinds. Laws treat people differently all the time (by age for driving, for example), so courts use levels of scrutiny to decide which differences are allowed:
| Level | Used for | What government must show |
|---|---|---|
| Strict scrutiny | Race, national origin | A compelling interest, with the law narrowly tailored to it |
| Intermediate scrutiny | Sex | An important interest, with the law substantially related to it |
| Rational basis | Most other classifications, such as age or income | A legitimate interest, with the law rationally related to it |
The civil rights movement and the Birmingham letter
In the 1950s and 1960s, the civil rights movement challenged segregation and voting discrimination through lawsuits, boycotts, sit-ins, marches and voter registration drives. In spring 1963, King and other activists led protests against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Arrested for marching in violation of a court order, King wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963, replying to eight white Alabama clergymen who had publicly called the protests “unwise and untimely.”
King's main arguments, in summary:
- He wasn't an outsider meddling in local affairs, because all communities are connected: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
- The campaign followed deliberate steps: gather facts to confirm injustice, negotiate, prepare participants for nonviolence, then take direct action. Negotiation had failed, and direct action was meant to create enough tension that leaders would have to negotiate.
- Waiting wasn't an option. For Black Americans, being told to wait had almost always meant never.
- There are just and unjust laws. A just law matches the moral law; an unjust law degrades human personality, or is imposed by a majority on a minority that had no voice in making it. People have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws.
- Breaking an unjust law must be done openly, peacefully and with willingness to accept the penalty. Doing so shows respect for law, not contempt for it. This is civil disobedience.
- He was disappointed with white moderates who preferred order to justice.
Other movements using equal protection
- Women's rights: the National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966 with Betty Friedan among its founders, pushed for equal pay, an end to job discrimination and the Equal Rights Amendment. Congress passed the ERA in 1972, but it wasn't ratified by enough states before its deadline. In Reed v. Reed (1971), the Court first struck down a law for discriminating by sex under the Equal Protection Clause, and it later adopted intermediate scrutiny for sex-based laws.
- LGBTQ rights: advocates won rulings striking down laws criminalizing same-sex relations (2003) and state bans on same-sex marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015), and a ruling that the Civil Rights Act's ban on job discrimination “because of sex” covers sexual orientation and gender identity (Bostock v. Clayton County, 2020). Opponents raised concerns about religious liberty and the role of courts versus voters.
- Pro-life and pro-choice movements: both organized for decades around abortion, through lobbying, litigation, elections and protest. Pro-life advocates argue for protecting unborn life; pro-choice advocates argue for protecting women's decisions about their bodies. After Dobbs (3.9), both focus heavily on state legislatures and ballot measures.
How movements create change
Movements work through every access point: courts (lawsuits based on equal protection), Congress (lobbying for laws), states (ballot initiatives and legislation), and public opinion (protests and media). The government's responses to these movements are the subject of 3.11.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Using the Birmingham letter as evidence
Write a supporting paragraph for the claim: “Citizens are sometimes justified in breaking laws to achieve justice.” Use “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Explain King's distinction between just and unjust laws, in your own words: an unjust law is out of line with moral law or is imposed on a minority that had no voice in making it.
- Step 2: Connect to his method: King argued that unjust laws must be broken openly and peacefully, with willingness to accept the penalty, which shows respect for law.
- Step 3: Add a historical link: civil disobedience in the 1960s helped build pressure that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- Step 4: Tie the evidence back to the claim.
Answer: Sample: In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King argued that people have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws, such as segregation laws imposed on Black citizens who were blocked from voting on them. He insisted this be done openly, nonviolently and with willingness to accept punishment, which he said shows the highest respect for law. Civil disobedience in Birmingham and elsewhere built national pressure that helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, showing that lawbreaking of this kind can advance justice.
Common mistakes
- Saying King urged people to break any law they disliked. He distinguished unjust laws and insisted on nonviolence and accepting the penalty.
- Applying strict scrutiny to sex discrimination. Sex-based classifications get intermediate scrutiny; race gets strict scrutiny.
- Saying the Equal Protection Clause is in the Bill of Rights. It's in the Fourteenth Amendment (1868).
On the exam
- “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is a required document and a strong choice for argument essays about civil disobedience, participation or minority rights.
- Expect questions asking how a social movement used constitutional arguments or political tactics to win change.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 3.10 Social Movements and Equal Protection. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
In April 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed for leading protests against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. A group of local white clergymen had published a statement calling the protests unwise and untimely and urging Black residents to wait for change through the courts.
In his reply, King argued that Black Americans had waited long enough and that “wait” had too often meant “never.” He distinguished just laws from unjust ones: an unjust law, he wrote, is one that a majority forces on a minority but does not apply to itself, or that the minority had no part in making because it was denied the vote. People have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws, he argued, but they must do so openly and peacefully, and be ready to accept the punishment.
Summary of Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” 1963, written for this practice set
King's definition of an unjust law most directly connects to which constitutional principle?
The method of protest King defends is best described as
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness …
Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848
The authors most likely modeled their statement on the Declaration of Independence in order to
In the 1960s and 1970s, women's rights groups such as the National Organization for Women challenged laws that treated men and women differently. Which strategy did they use?
0 of 4 answered