Civil Rights and Public Policy Q&A
In American society the definition of equality refers to equal opportunities given to everyone. This does not mean that everyone is the same, or will be as successful financially and socially as everyone else. What is emphasizes is that Americans have the same opportunities that anybody else has. Instead of viewing equality as equal results and rewards, equality to me means that everyone has the same chance. However, even equality of opportunity does not fully exist because not everyone is born into a stable family with a good source of income. Some people are born into wealth and social class, while others are not. It takes more for those people that are not born into high classes to achieve as much. Total equality can never exist because of the human nature of society, but America is pretty stable in the sense of equality.
2. Explain the different eras of racial discrimination and the policies that were achieved by African-Americans.
There were three eras of racial-discrimination. The era of slavery was the first, when millions of African Americans had come to the Americas more than 250 years ago. The slaves were the property of their masters and therefore had no freedoms. The case of Scott v. Sandford held that African Americans had no rights in free states and they were “chattel”. The 13th Amendment was passed in order to end slavery and involuntary servitude. It was passed right after the civil war. In the era of reconstruction and resegregation, after the civil war ended, southerners imposed strict laws to try to stop the end of slavery. Strict Jim Crow laws were enacted. Plessey v. Ferguson established the separate but equal doctrine of segregation. Since these facilities ended up being more separate than equal, Brown v. Board of education had reversed the case. This was in the Era of Civil Rights. In this era the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been adopted. The NAACP became an influential group, and discrimination was stopped almost altogether.
3. How was the struggle for suffrage similar for women and African Americans?
The Struggle for suffrage was similar for women and African Americans because the same tactics had been used in trying to get them the vote. The 15th Amendment had given African Americans the rights to vote, which sparked the need for the 19th Amendment that came after. African Americans and Women were both disadvantaged and had got their vote by demonstrating, practicing civil disobedience, and rebelling against the dominant white supremacy. Even though African Americans got the vote earlier, it does not mean that they had fought harder for it.
4. Explain the nature of the feminist movement and the issue of comparable worth
The feminist movement was a minority movement established by women. The feminist movement consisted of many stages that each would bring the women a step closer to becoming socially equal to the men. The Seneca Falls Declaration was signed on July 19, 1848 which would culminate in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave Women a right to vote. Women tried to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which was introduced in congress in 1923 and passed by congress in 1972 but it had failed. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave women the right to sue their employers based on discrimination in the work place and women strived to end comparable worth which gave men more money for the same jobs. The comparable worth issue was raised when women who held traditionally female jobs were paid less than men for working at jobs requiring comparable skill.
5. Who are the “New groups” in civil rights and what are they concerned about?
There are three main newly active groups under the Civil Rights umbrella. The senior citizens or people over the age of 65 are one of them. They are mostly concerned with social security programs, welfare, and health care. The old aged are concerned also about being discriminated solely on the basis of age. Another new group that has made a big stand in American society are the Gays and Lesbians. They are concerned with equality. The Gays and Lesbians strive to get marriage laws enacted for them. Often there is a feeling of Homophobia against this group. The Gays and Lesbians are concerned with being treated like a regular human being and not be prejudged just because of their sexual preferences. The last group is the people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was a law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment. Americans with disabilities have suffered from discrimination and that is why this act was passed. Often times, the disabled would be denied rehabilitation services, education, and jobs. The Act has given disabled children free education, and has accommodated the physically challenged by building wheelchair ramps, grab bars on toilets, and Braille signs have become common features for the disabled.
6. What are the pros and cons of affirmative action?
Affirmative action is a policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment of members of some previously disadvantaged group. In the affirmative action, the goal is to go past equal opportunity for specific ethnicities and race, and to move toward equal results. The advantages of this are that these groups can gain a better education and get into better colleges because socially they were deprived earlier. Affirmative action brings diversity into a college campus which is beneficial for society as a whole. By admitting less qualified kids into school because of race, it gives a better opportunity and result to the race. The cons for Affirmative action are that a more qualified person who is white will not get into a university because a person of a different race has a starting advantage. Often, critics of Affirmative Action call it reverse discrimination. I don’t believe in affirmative action because education has nothing to do with someone race. It has to do with that person’s personality and their will to learn. If a black person works hard in school and does well he should get into the school that he wants to based on his achievements. Being a person of a different race does not show any personal achievement. Affirmative Action brings discrimination back into society which can’t be good for society.
7. How do civil rights affect the nature of democracy?
Equality is a basic principle of democracy. Every citizen has one vote because democratic government presumes that each person’s needs, interests, and preferences are neither any more nor any less important than the needs, interests, and preferences of every other person. Individual liberty is an equally important democratic principle, one that can conflict with equality. In democracy each person can use their civil rights to get what they want by using the political system of voting or outcry. Even when African Americans and Women didn’t have the vote, they used their civil liberties to gain status. That is why civil rights are so important to democracy and the people that essentially run it.
