- Equal access to education is a vital civil right.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
The freedom to speak your mind without fear of reprisal; the right to participate in the social, economic and political institutions that make up the framework of your nation; these rights and freedoms are the American ideal. And yet for many years, women, people of color and Native Americans faced barriers preventing them from enjoying the rights guaranteed to them by law.
Nowhere has discrimination been more visible than in the field of education. Whether it was overt discrimination, such as that faced by the first African-American freshmen at the University of Alabama or the veiled discrimination practiced by the Ivy League it robbed many promising students of the opportunity to excel and in so doing made the nation poorer. - Participating in the political process is a fundamental civil right.Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
Protection from discrimination based on gender, skin color or race is a fundamental civil right. Women in America denied the basic civil liberties enjoyed by their husbands and fathers began to speak out. In the 1800s powerful advocates for women's rights, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, began to demand equal voting rights for women.
After much debate, and many passionate speeches on both sides of the issue, protection from discrimination became the law of the land. The 14th and 19th amendments to the Constitution protect women and people of all races from discrimination in voting rights. - Civil rights means not having to sit in the back of the bus.Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
The words of enlightened individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi remind us how precious it is to preserve the rights and dignity of the individual. The efforts of these great individuals and others like them illuminated the shameful existence of an America where some citizens could be treated badly for illogical and cosmetic reasons.
Speeches such as Martin Luther King's address on the Capitol Mall in Washington DC focused the attention of the nation on the simple fact that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated with dignity. - Equal opportunity is the law.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
In an ideal world, every individual will have fair and equal opportunity in housing, employment and the practice of his faith. Under the law, every individual has the right to achieve success limited only by her ability. Again, the reality was different from the ideal.
For two thirds of America's history, discrimination in employment and housing based on race or national origin was accepted and condoned by the general population. African-Americans, Irish and Italian immigrants found themselves living in ghettos and tenements doing only the most menial sort of work.
In the 21st century the reality is much closer to the ideal. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission strives to ensure that no one is discriminated against for employment based on race or gender. Nowhere in America today can you find signs that say "Irish, Negroes, and Jews need not apply."
next post