Civil Rights Movement
Bush Vetoed Civil Rights Bill
The purpose of the bill was to restore anti-discrimination laws that were dismantled by six U.S. Supreme Court cases the previous year. Bush believed that the bill would force employers to create racial hiring quotas. "I deeply regret having to take this action with respect to a bill bearing such a title, especially since it contains provisions that I strongly endorse," said President Bush. A two thirds majority vote in the House of Representatives and Senate is required in order to override the veto, but it was only 2 votes short. Later in 1991, a weaker bill was passed.
Hopwood V. Texas
Hopwood v. Texas is considered the start of a revolution in the admission systems of schools throughout the country. Before the case, colleges and universites racially engineered the mix of their students with no regard for either public opinon or the law. After the case, schools hurried to defend their use of race in admissions, often through deliberately opaque admission systems to prove the necessity of affirmative action. Hopwood was a white female who was denied admission to the law school despite being better qualified than other admitted minority candidates. In 1996, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the University of Texas's affirmative action plan was unconstitutional.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 and was the first person to ever be elected in a democratic election. Before Mandela's presidency, he was a militant anti-apartheid activist. He had been arrested and convicted of sabotage. As a result, he was sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served for twenty-seven years in prison and was released in February of 1990. Democracy was established in South Africa in 1994 under the presidency of Mandela. Mandela focused on combating poverty and inequality in his country.