Preview

Civil Rights in the United States

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1289 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civil Rights in the United States
Pieces of the People’s Puzzle
In total there are fifteen laws that count towards the topic of civil rights in the United States, alone. Kenji Yoshino, author of “The New Civil Rights” says that in order for us to turn our current beliefs into a set of ‘new’ civil rights, law must play a role. Obvious enough, law alone cannot bring about a new set of civil rights. There are more than enough pieces that could make up this puzzle. For instance, media plays a huge role in this situation. The media only shows what they want us, the people, to see. If we only see what they want us to see then wouldn’t that leave us very narrow-minded? The media adds irrelevant detail to every situation. For example, a person’s race, which otherwise makes no difference, could be the topic of discussion while a news crew covers a crime. Another component to solving this dilemma is spreading word of a new set of civil rights to the next generation starting at a young age. If adults with young children start to tell their kids what is right and what is wrong, from a civil rights perspective, from a young age, they will go their whole life knowing these ‘new’ civil rights.
If we, the people were to put an exclusive focus on laws and how they affect civil rights it would be detrimental to the new civil rights. We would be relying too much on the government to make our decisions. “It is only when we leave the law that civil rights suddenly stops being about particular groups and starts to become a project of human flourishing in which we all have a stake (Yoshino 488).” Also, what the government thinks is right is not always what we think is right. In essence, if the government puts all the pieces to the puzzle together we may end up with major setbacks and no advancements in civil rights.
Conversation is voicing our opinions weighing in on different topics. In this case, the topic is new civil rights. As previously stated, laws are not the only things that can guarantee

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A positive spirit fills the hearts of supporters of equal rights with the Civil Rights Act being passed by Congress on April 9th, 1866. President Andrew Jackson had unfortunately previously vetoed this bill where he cited a rather slipshod excuse that it violated states’ rights, and ever since the conclusion of the Civil War, there has been rising support for this act. This bill holds another layer of importance, as it is the first time in which Congress has legislated upon civil rights in a formal matter. This historic bill ensures that anyone born in the United States of America, no matter their race, are citizens and thereby receive the protection under the law which is inherent to an American citizen. The law also included specific rights…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The authors make reference to the fact that the civil rights movement has been working for decades and it appears at times that no progress has been made. They make this point by mentioning the nightly newscasts on television that show global atrocities brought on by policies of ethnic cleansing or other forms of hate. This is proof that more work has to be done and we must continue to seek and promote understanding and equality.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    My first point is the violation of civil rights. In order to clarify today’s debate, we offer the following definition: Civil rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted action by government and private organizations and individuals and ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination and repression.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead of creating the ultimate or comprehensive history of the civil rights movement, we should focus on telling our readers that this would be hard if not impossible to achieve. Instead, we should re-examine our own motives when we speak to our sources and be upfront why we approach the history from a certain perspective. All vantage points provide us with important details. A well-researched account of the political history that fully engages the material pressures that the government faced domestically and internationally, helps us to understand that a concerted national effort at times aids in propelling important legislative and legal…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The modern civil rights movement has been affected by three very important Supreme Court cases. The first infamous case was the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision which dreadfully took away the rights of African Americans. Then the case of Plessy v. Ferguson was held in 1896 which had a major impact on the civil rights movement. This case decided that African Americans were “separate but equal”. Then finally the last infamous case was the Board v. the Board of Education which overruled the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. These cases made a huge dent on the civil rights movement and the equality laws we have instilled today.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kenji Yoshino argues in his essay covering: The hidden assault on our civil rights “Civil rights has always been to permit people to pursue the human flourishing without limitation based on bias Focusing on law prevents us from seeing the revolutionary breadth of that aspiration, as law has limited civil rights to particular groups.”(235). Kenji Yoshino has a great point, what still exist in our structural and economical world is inequality among different, gender, races, discrimination of race and culture and all other areas of society. This is important because to what extend are the lawmakers going to get involved. If lawmakers are going to keep ignoring their constituents than they’re not helping fight social inequality. Lawmakers are ignoring the actually needs and wants of their constituents.…

    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of the most extreme controversies in American history. It was an extremely important step to equality for many American citizens. The bill was passed on July 2, 1964 and was signed into law by President Johnson. In 1963, the Civil Rights Act was first written, before President Kennedy's assassination. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the civil rights movement had lasted for centuries long. There had been countless riots, protests, fights, acts, boycotts, laws and many more actions to stop the racism and separate-but-equal concept. The civil rights movement can be described as a mass mobilization across socio-economic, gender, religious and racial lines to affect the development of policy and legislation to foster greater equality in the United States. The civil rights movement in America was centered on the thought that social and economic equality should be accessible for all people and that it is the federal government’s responsibility in producing that equality. One hundred years after the Civil War, civil rights finally declared itself. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ban discrimination in public accommodations. It also prohibited state and local governments from banning access to public spaces on account or race, religion, or ethnicity. Lastly, the act ban government agencies from discriminating and it threatened federal funding. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the country’s leading civil rights legislation. The act also enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. This act greatly affected employment, education and society. In present day, the act still affects us. We experience the outcome of the act every day of our lives, black children go to school with white children, black men work alongside of white men, and different cultures and races essentially live life together all because of the Civil Rights Act of…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Civil liberties and civil rights are fundamental for everyday living. In today’s society both of these terms have different prospective; civil rights are considered to be natural rights. In other words, civil rights means that people have the right to be treated the same regardless of their race, gender, or religion. Even thought civil rights are guaranteed by law, this prospective took many years to be achieved. For example, after the Civil War African and Americans were still treated badly; they got the worst jobs and were paid poorly. On the other hand, civil liberties are “Rights in freedom that protect an individual from the government” (Welch 404). Most civil liberties are found in the bill of rights; which are the first ten amendments of the constitution.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civil rights and legal mobilization movements all start from a root. The root being a grievance in which a person’s fundamental rights are being compromised whether it be a right that is explicitly written in the constitution or an enumerated right. The Fundamental rights are rights that are recognized by the Supreme Court as being fair and legal. The fundamental rights are illustrated in the first amendment. As it reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.…

    • 1975 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil Rights are in place to protect citizen from being treated unfairly. When Supreme Court created the “Separate But Equal Doctrine,” it allowed whites to be superior to any other race. A case in Topeka, Kansas known as, Brown vs Board of Education, helped end this segregation. Soon after African Americans became equal to whites by law, women began to fight for equality. Women wanted to have a job, own land, and be her own person. The 19th amendment allowed that to happen.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civil Rights Act of 1964

    • 6125 Words
    • 25 Pages

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered by some to be one of the most important laws in American history. (The Most Important Cases, Speeches, Laws & Documents in American History) This Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964 and it is a “comprehensive federal statute aimed at reducing discrimination in public accommodations and employment situations.” (Feuerbach Twomey, 2010) Specifically, it aimed at prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2010) Additionally, it also protects individuals who are associated with a member of one of the protected classes. (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was ultimately created because the citizens of the United States expected the rights promised by the Fourteenth Amendment to be fulfilled and protected. (Teaching With Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) By the time the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, the Supreme Court had made decisions, some of which will be discussed later in this paper, that limited the reach of the Fourteenth Amendment. To reverse these limitations Congress used “its powers to regulate interstate commerce” and enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Civil Rights) The Civil Rights Act is comprised of eleven titles that cover various aspects of life in the United States. These titles cover everything from voting rights (Title I) to desegregation of public education (Title IV) to federal assistance (Title VI) to community relations service (Title X). Although each of these eleven titles is equally important and has changed the way that Americans live, Title VII and its effects on employment will be the focus of this paper.…

    • 6125 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Constitution should be interpreted based on the current times and events. The interpretation of the Constitution in the past was unlawful in so many ways. There are still unratified amendments pending right now because they are unconstitutional. The method of interpretation might frame how political elites and the public at large view the court’s decision, as well as influence the court’s ability to avoid charges of judicial activism (Nardi, Jr., 2014). There were a lot of Jim Crow laws that prohibited minorities and women from exercising certain rights. The Constitution was not intended to remedy future issues and problems. Therefore, it should be interpreted based on current events and used as a guide to prevent unethical laws and…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civil Rights

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The legislature of the fictitious state of Xanadu passes a law that states "All people are welcome at all state-run swimming, beach and golf facilities, as long as they are white. Non-whites may not use any of those facilities."…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jim Crow Laws

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Civil Rights didn’t just involve one law, but multiple laws and amendments. These laws and supreme court rulings helped desegregate public places. There are laws that gave African Americans a chance to have more freedom. That freedom could have been a definite right to vote or being able to go to whatever school they wanted to go to, but there were laws that didn’t always help them. Those laws that went against it or found a way around the Civil Rights act of 1866. There have been laws, acts, and amendments to help end segregation and then there have also been laws to encourage segregation.…

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Is Civil Right Bad

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Civil rights back then were not good and they used hurt people in so many ways they also kept them from doing good and better. People fought to get there civil rights, they were hurt, tortured, and even killed just so that they could get a voice out there that they wanted rights, equal rights as everyone that was doing alright or good. Our civil rights now are not bad but they're also not the best. People who were not born here are fighting to get the right to stay with no problem because there actually working there helping the country. We are still fighting for salary to be good. Poverty in cities is also something that has to do with our civil rights. Police are also taking advantage of where they stand.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays