Is America’s Civil Rights all that equal?

Chapter 16 was about America’s civil rights and how politics and public policies have affected the status of equal protection and equal treatment of all Americans. You saw first-hand of how the American civil rights movements have changed throughout history. Civil rights in America has been the framework for our American democracy. Often times, the struggle for this basic right has changed and shaped our representative democracy. The expansion of civil rights has expanded the formal political equality in the United States. However, many African American, Latino, Native Americans and other minority groups believe and were asked if “discrimination based in the prejudice of individual people” or “discrimination based on laws and government policies.” In their responses they believed that a majority of the issue lies in the individual, however, a substantial amount of respondents reported that they felt that governmental factors were also a factor.

To be exact, between African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans (49%, 25%, 25%) believed that the prejudice of individual people are the main reason people believe there is still racism and our civil rights are not so equal. Some of the biggest reasons for these statistics is because of the factors that lead to shooting fatalities are very hotly debated among protestors. Many see these police shootings as reminders that African American and Latino’s in the United States are treated unequally by government authorities. In past incidents, Michael Brown-an unarmed black man- was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri by a white police officer who was reporting to a 911 call about a suspicious man walking around. In result, Ferguson, Missouri became a hotbed for racial tensions and protests hit the nation hard with statements regarding the racial tension in Americas streets. As Pew research suggests after the event, Blacks thought racial issues were at the heart of what happened to Michael Brown. On another note, whites believed that race had little to do with what happened to Michael Brown.

Civil rights has changed drastically over the course of American history. Today, people do not feel as if there civil rights are all so equal to everyone else’s. In your opinion and based off the information above, where do you believe most Americans stand on our civil rights?

Carlin O'Neill says:

April 22, 2018 at 8:51 pm

Thanks for the post, Alexander! I think that people’s personal beliefs on civil rights can definitely be considered a subjective factor because based on individual backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, race, gender, etc. personal experiences with civil rights will differ. A wealthy white man and a middle class Latino women may definitely have different opinions on how their rights and themselves are respected by other citizens and by the law or government. However, I do not necessarily think that people’s stances on rights should be a subjective matter. Rights and how citizens feel their rights are being respected by other individuals or by the government should not greatly differ, as technically every citizen regardless of race, gender, or status is supposed to be protected and respected under the law equally. To think of the protection of rights in a more objective way could possibly be an improvement in the way that different Americans see rights in general because looking beyond the differences between individuals to just seeing equal citizens could lead to a more universal society. However, it is important to note that taking an objective stance on the topic of rights is difficult for people because it is hard to remove themselves from the contexts of their own scenarios and imagine every different person’s situations as the same under a body of laws, even though it ideally shouldn’t be.

Austin Marsilia says:

April 22, 2018 at 11:19 pm

Alexander, you bring up an important point that many Americans deliberate on today. We have seen leaps and bounds in progress for civil rights of minority groups. In recent years, we have personally witnessed the increase in legal rights for members of the LGBT community. You mention that many Americans believe that racism is rampant within our government due to negative individual interactions between citizens. I agree with this statement. The actions of the few do not reflect the American government or majority beliefs. Although racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice still exist in the United States, it is important to note the progress towards equality that this nation has achieved. In comparison to other developed nations, the United States is more concerned with civil rights. For example, according to the Independent, there are still mass gay beatings that the government does nothing to stop. The United States is the epitome of civil rights progress and this is outlined in Chapter 16. It is important to note that while we still have progress to make, we are on the right track and have to set the example for the rest of the developed and developing world. Overall, interesting post that mentions a common discussion topic among American citizens. However, I would have liked to see more specific examples of civil rights advancement in the United States.