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Civil Rights In Arizona

By Sariahlc

  • Navajo Nation’s own Trail of Tears (The Long Walk) (1864-1866)

    • In 1964, the Arizona government signed treaties with the tribes of Navajo, forcing them to New Mexico to Fort Sumner.
    • Over 10,000 Navajos and Mescalero Apache were forcibly marched 300 miles over 18 days to this destination. -At the fort, the Navajo, and a smaller number of Apache, lived in crude shelters. Pneumonia, dysentery and smallpox devastated their numbers. Those there died of disease, exposure, and hunger while captive by the U.S. Army. -A third of the travelers died.

  • Woman get the right to vote in Arizona (1912-1920)

    • Women of the Equal Suffrage Association went door to door in 1912 to campaign women’s suffrage
    • They got 4000 signatures for the senate to endorse the petition
    • Over 5 million voters supported women’s suffrage in November 5, 1912
    • 19th Amendment passed in 1920

  • The Revocation of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943)

    • 1882 first significant law restricting immigration into the United States.
    • Revoked in 1943

  • Japanese Internment Camp in Arizona (1942-1946)

  • Lincoln and Eleanor Ragsdale (1952 - 1953)

    • They founded the Greater Phoenix Council for Civic Unity. They pushed for equality on many fronts, and made a major contribution to the fight to integrate schools.  In 1952, the Ragsdale's along with the NAACP and GPCCU sued the Phoenix Union High School District challenging segregation. A judge in the case ruled segregation was illegal in 1953, the year before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court found school segregation to be unconstitutional.

  • Interracial Marriage (1959-1967)

    • Arizona law also that "the marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay or Hindu is null and void."
    • A Tucson couple, Henry Oyama (Japanese-American) and Mary Ann Jordan (white) challenged that law Dec. 11, 1959.
    • Pima County Superior Court struck down the state’s anti-miscegenation law as unconstitutional.
    • The Arizona Legislature repealed the law, and the case was dismissed.
    • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Loving v. Virginia in 1967.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Arizona Civil Rights Act of 1965

    -June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American. Proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation.
    -July 2, 1964, that President Lyndon Johnson passed the civil rights act.
    -In 1965, Arizona enacted the ACRA prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, and genetic testing results in employment and places of public accommodation.

  • Employment Discrimination - 1965

    • In 1965, Arizona enacted the ACRA, mirroring Title VII. Presently, ACRA prohibits discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age (40+), physical or mental disability, and genetic testing results, in employment and places of public accommodation.
    • Feb. 4, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law HB 2045, expanding discrimination because of sex to include pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions.

  • Native American Voting Rights in Arizona (1965-1970)

    -On August 7, 1965, Apache County was included in the original list covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (change with respect to voting in a covered jurisdiction cannot legally be enforced.)
    -On November 19, 1965, Navajo and Coconino Counties also became covered by Section 5, eliminating literacy tests.
    -1970 Congress renewed the temporary provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

  • The first Latino elected Governor of Arizona 1975

    - Raúl Héctor Castro is the first Latino elected Governor of Arizona
    - Castro was sworn into office as the 14th Governor of Arizona, becoming the first Mexican American to hold the position since Arizona earned its statehood in 1912

  • The first woman on the U.S  Supreme Court 1981

    - Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice in the 191-year history of the Supreme Court
    -served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006

  • Arizona recognizes same-sex marriage after a federal ruling overturns the state ban as unconstitutional 2014

    - The U.S. state had denied marriage rights to same-sex couples by statute since 1996 and by an amendment to its State Constitution approved by voters in 2008. 
    On October 17, Judge John W. Sedwick ruled in two lawsuits that Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, and enjoined the state from enforcing its ban, effective immediately. 

  • SB1070/ Sheriff Joe Arpaio put on trial (2010-2017)

    -Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 SB 1070 was passed in 2010 as an anti-illegal immigration measure.
    - Racial profiling against Latinos, Asian-Americans, and others thought to be illegal based on appearance
    -In September 2016, through settlement the National Immigration Law Center and other rights groups sued after the enactment of S.B. 1070
    - In a criminal bench trial, Arpaio was found guilty of defying judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos. He was pardoned by Donald Trump in 2017.

  • Stop Asian Hate Movement (2020)

    With the rise of the Covid–19 Pandemic immense racism pursued against Asian American individuals. This triggered the Stop Asian Hate Movement, aimed at eliminating this racism.

  • Mass Incarceration in Arizona (-2021)

    In September 2021, Arizona became one of 13 states that did not implement any policies to accelerate releases, promote medical parole or compassionate release, prevent incarceration for technical violations of probation and parole, or hasten releases for people incarcerated on minor offenses, targeting minority groups especially the African American's and American- Indian population.