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Annenberg Classroom

Discrimination

Since its beginnings, America has struggled with the principle of equality for all people. From slaves and immigrants to women and the LGBTQ community and to the elderly and disabled, the battle against discrimination in the workplace, schools and voting booths has been long and painful.

34 resources available

Handout

Battle for Emancipation and Full Citizenship: A Journey from Dred Scott to the 15th Amendment

This high school lesson plan is designed to accompany the film “Juneteenth” and encourages students to consider the connections between historical events before, during and after the Civil War that charted the course to citizenship for enslaved people in the United States. Students will also examine societal reactions to the emancipation of enslaved people and how the resulting conflicts necessitated the need for the three Reconstruction Amendments.

Timeline

15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment prohibits using race as a factor to determine which citizens can vote.

Timeline

14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment granted U.S. citizenship to former slaves and contained three new limits on state power: a state shall not violate a citizen’s privileges or immunities; shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and must guarantee all persons equal protection of the laws.

Handout

Justice for All in the Courtroom

In this lesson, students analyze the interplay of processes and procedures that courts use to seat an impartial jury and gain appreciation for the essential role of juries in the justice system. They also explore the responsibilities and limits placed on government by the Constitution in the context of civil and criminal trials.

Handout

The Unfinished Business of Women’s Equality: Educators’ Guide

This guide for K-12 educators provides four types of activity suggestions and related resources for your upper elementary, middle or high school students: class starters; in-depth classroom activities; projects/performances for assessment; and culmination activities.

Handout

Jury Selection on Trial

In this lesson, students learn about the process used for jury selection and how the role and responsibilities of government in civil and criminal jury trials are viewed by the Supreme Court. They also reflect on the democratic values, principles, and dispositions of character working behind the scenes.

Handout

Equal Justice Under Law: Yick Wo v. Hopkins

This lesson teaches about the cause-and-effect relationships between historical events and the development of constitutional principles that protect the rights of all people in America today.

Handout

The Power of One Decision: Brown v. Board of Education

Through the lesson, students gain insight into decision-making at the Supreme Court, learn about the people behind the case, construct a persuasive argument, and evaluate the significance of Brown v. Board of Education.

Handout

Actions That Changed the Law: Ledbetter v. Goodyear

This lesson tells the law-changing story behind the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Students gain insight into law-making process and consider how statutory decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court can prompt better laws.

Video

Korematsu and Civil Liberties

This documentary explores the landmark case Korematsu v. U.S. (1944) concerning the constitutionality of presidential executive order 9066 during World War II that gave the U.S. military the power to ban thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry from areas considered important to national security.

Video

Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company

This documentary tells how an African American construction worker’s personal-injury lawsuit against his employer evolved into a landmark jury selection case Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. on the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.

Video

A Call to Act: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

This documentary tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter and her U.S. Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.. Ledbetter’s fight for equal pay for equal work eventually involved all three branches of government and resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Book

Chapter 10: The Right to Freedom from Racial Discrimination

Slavery is the ultimate form of discrimination, and racial slavery had been part of the American landscape since the mid-seventeenth century. By the time of the Revolution, holding human beings as property was allowed in all thirteen states.

Video

Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause

This documentary examines the case Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) in which the Supreme Court held that noncitizens have due process rights under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The Court said that unequal application of a law violated the rights of a Chinese immigrant.

Video

Thurgood

“Thurgood” is a production of the critically acclaimed play starring Laurence Fishburne as the nation’s first African-American Supreme Court justice.

Book

Chapter 3: The Right to Equal Protection of the Laws

“All men are created equal.” This phrase has stirred hearts around the world for more than 200 years. It is one of the values most associated with the United States, but nowhere is the language of equality among individuals found in the Constitution.