Reagan Era Highlights

In the 1980s and 1990s, Republican policies slowed the advancement of civil rights. Ronald Reagan’s attorney general dismantled affirmative action programs and he opposed busing as a means to achieve racial balance in the public school systems. He attempted to cease the IRS ban on tax exemptions for private schools that discriminated against blacks, but that was overruled by the Supreme Court. Conservative groups fought against giving preferential treatment to groups who had experienced discrimination in the past and racial tensions in the nation were at an all time high. In 1197...