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  Recently, I helped my son study for
his 8th grade social studies quarterfinal. It covered the time span between
Reconstruction to immigration at the beginning of the twentieth century. He had
a study sheet of key terms to review. One of the first items my son needed to
know about was the 14th Amendment.
When asked, he quickly informed me that, "It
grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States."
I replied,
"And…? " He forgot. "It also calls for due process of law," I added.
"Oh,
yeah."
"Do you know why that's important?"
"Not really," he honestly
admitted.
"It means that everyone has to be treated equally,
regardless of your race, gender, age, religion...even disability."
We
continued by discussing the topic of Reconstruction. The study guide wanted him
to be able to differentiate between the plans proposed by Lincoln, Wade-Davis,
and Johnson. In addition, he needed to know about "black codes." They were laws
southern states passed to deny people of color the right to vote, own guns,
and/or serve on a jury.
Fortunately, some members of Congress became outraged at
these black codes and eventually pushed through a strict Reconstruction Act.
These folks were known as the "Radical Republicans." Each southern state needed
to pass a new state constitution, which allowed African-Americans the right to
vote, and had to ratify the 14th Amendment before being allowed back into the
union. To ensure compliance, the South was divided up into five military
districts.
We proceeded through the rest of his material. I was stunned to see
the perpetuation of a cycle that seemed all too familiar in the history of our
country - civil rights struggles and war accompanied by corporate greed and
scandal. After an hour of review, we both felt satisfied that he would do well
on his test.
I sat on our living room couch later that night and began to
consider the implications. Where were the "radical republicans" of today? Were
they out defending the civil rights of constituencies protected under the 14th
Amendment to ensure their equal opportunity? Nope. In fact, with the help of
the court system, they have systematically rolled back the civil rights of
every major group, from senior citizens to women to people of color to people
with disabilities. Individuals have lost significant rights in our country over
the past few years. Are we supposed to simply write it off as an "unintended
consequence" of the current round of civil rights struggles, war, corporate
greed and scandal?
The U.S. Supreme Court just announced that they would
hear the Tennessee v. Lane case in January 2004. The plaintiffs brought suit
under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Civil rights
legislation like the ADA gets its "teeth" from the 14th Amendment. In this
particular case, two individuals with paraplegia sued the State of Tennessee
for lack of access to courthouses on the second floor of buildings without
elevators. Lane was a defendant in a criminal case. He was charged with two
misdemeanor offenses related to a car accident where he lost his leg. Lane was
arrested for failure to appear in court when he refused to crawl or be carried
up the steps. Jones was a court reporter who reluctantly put up with being
carried into the inaccessible courthouses to make a living. She had enough when
embarrassed with the indignity of having to be carried by a circuit judge into
an inaccessible bathroom.
"Reconstruction" (Continued on
page 5)
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