A Lecture On Civil Rights

The process of establishing if an action/policy is discriminatory can be very challenging. However, a number of theories seek to differentiate actions that constitute discrimination and those that do not. Disparate treatment Theory is amongst the most commonly used theories that have been used to ascertain whether an act or policy amounts to discrimination or not. The theory argues that one is subject to discrimination if they are treated less favorably than others are in similar situations (Bent, 2011).

"If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands, they must be made brighter in our own. If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free. If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intolerance, we must provide a safe place for their perpetuation." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1938 (Isaacs 66)

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights are two terms that are often used interchangeably in America. Since the founding of our nation there has always been the debate of the limit of government and what rights were guaranteed to each individual. Many of the architects of our government feared that national government could one day become too powerful and begin to infringe on the individual rights of the citizens. As a result, a Bill of Rights was added to our constitution. The Bill of Rights serves as a guide of what the government cannot do. Civil Liberties simply establish precedent on what rights the United States government cannot abridge on. Civil Rights, on the other hand applies to the rights of individuals. Over the history of our nation the question of civil rights has found itself becoming a pillar of our legal system and has been very instrumental in our quest to become a “more perfect union”. In recent history one civil liberty that has caused a continual controversial debate is the second amendment, in addition to how it applies to gun control measures that are being proposed in order to decrease the level of mass shootings. The second amendment clearly defines the intention of individuals to have the right to bear arms. In order to understand why gun control advocates have failed to secure effective gun control legislation, we must explore the reasoning why the second amendment is interpreted the way it is and should Americans be allowed to own guns?

Our Founding Founders established the federal government with three distinct branches, each with powers over the other in order to have a proper checks and balances to ensure fairness across the board. The U.S. Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three branches of government and is a critical document for the federal government. Important laws and documents such as The Bill of Rights, The US Civil Rights Act and The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) are managed by our Constitution. Below we will discuss three subjects which set up a diverse broad range of viewpoints that are essential in our democracy.

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

Racial discrimination is defined by Law.com “as unequal treatment of persons, for a reason which has nothing to do with legal rights or ability.” Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination in many facets of society. However, racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based

part in todays lessons plan. Also should be parents aware, that not talking to your

Generally, the statutory classification provided by Congress is presumptively valid, unless such a classification is considered suspect. The classification touches upon race or ethnicity of citizens falls within one of the suspect categories. The Court stated that “all racial classifications, imposed by whatever federal, state, or local governmental actor, must be analyzed by a reviewing court under strict scrutiny.” Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200 (1995). Thus, suspect classifications are presumed to be void and subjected to heightened scrutiny.

The Supreme Court, in Grutter v. Bollinger, skirts around the issue of violating the Equal Protection Clause through affirmative action by stating that the goal of affirmative action is not about repaying for the United States’ history toward racial minorities, but instead about achieving classroom diversity. While the Supreme Court argues that classroom diversity is beneficial in a learning environment, this claim is unproven. Had the court stated outright that the goal of an affirmative action plan was to repay for past wrongs, it would have been struck down in violation of strict scrutiny, which ensures that there is no “racial prejudice” in a law by it being “specifically and narrow framed” or tailored (Grutter 990). Narrowly tailored affirmative

He believe in equality". It showed that when Clarence Thomas issued a opinion in Adarand constructors v. Pena holding that strict scrutiny applied to racial classifications. Clarence james wrote " i believe that there is a moral and constitutional equivalence; between law designed to subjugate a race and those that distribute benefits on the basis of race in order to foster some current notion or equality.... That these program may have been motivated,in part, by good intentions cannot provide refuge from the principal that under our constitution the government may not make distinction on the basis of race [ supreme coutreview 2017].

One of the largest deciding factors in the Shelby County decision relied on the equal sovereignty doctrine. The majority’s opinion in Shelby County v. Holder stated that the VRA treated the sovereignty of the states differently by subjecting only certain states and districts to federal regulation (Litman 2016: 1209). The Court has historically has treated cases such as this with the rational basis test. This was the case for South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966) and City of Rome v. United States (1980). Under these cases, it was decided that coverage formula was a rational tool to be used in order to counter voting discrimination measures. In order to determine the standard to review congressional acts based off of the Civil War Amendments, the

Discrimination is prejudicial treatment towards different kinds of people based on any differentiating criteria, such as their race, behavior, or sex. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, various forms of discrimination are shown. Racism is an obvious form that is shown in the story with characters such as Tom Robinson and Calpurnia being the targets. However, there are also signs of prejudice and sexism in the story with characters such as Boo Radley and Scout Finch.. The forms of discrimination shown in To Kill a Mockingbird are racism, prejudice, and sexism

To begin with, the suspect classification works alongside the strict scrutiny test. The suspect classification falls into play when a law is possibly considered unconstitutional because it categorizes a person based upon their race, ethnicity,

I’m not African American, but I am an ally; I have friends and loved ones who are African American, and I cannot stand by and watch people die.

It’s about whites thinking they run this world no matter what because blacks aren’t “IT”