Relationship Between Citizenship And Suffrage And Representation Of The American Democracy Essay

Throughout America’s history, we have believed that humans have individual rights that should be protected and supported by the rulers of our country. The Constitution’s Bill of Rights was created to protect these rights, and the Declaration of Independence even proclaims that “all men are created equal”. However, there were hundreds of people scattered throughout the colonies, and then states, in America who did not have these same rights and were not always seen as human, such as African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

Throughout America’s history the franchise has been withheld from different groups. This has been possible due to weakly written laws that do not provide adequate protections. In 1965 PL 89-110 was passed, this law, commonly known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally provided real protections for minorities living in southern states. In recent years the language of the law was modified within the Supreme Court to take away the law’s primary power. In the following mock Congressional testimony we will go back to 1848, 13 years before the American Civil War, and provide evidence of why a law like PL 89-110 is necessary and commendable.

The authors further explain their reasons for calling America a “racial democracy” and how conflicted they are. Jason Stanley and Weaver explain how minorities

Civil rights have been the example of our constitutional history. How we treat and respect others has been the foundation of American democracy, yet despite this constitutional and moral obligation, modern day anti-Hispanic racism continues to define who we

George Hall a Californian white man, murdered a Chinese immigrant in front of his peers. Hall was arrested and convicted to murder, following the law. However, Hall appealed claiming that he should be set free since Chinese shouldn’t even be allowed to testify. The case went to the Californian Supreme Court, and overturned his conviction supporting Hall. According to the court Chinese immigrants were “Indians.”

The book, Beyond Suffrage; Women in the New Deal, presents the role of women in the 1930’s in a much different light than many people think of it. The goal of this book is to enlighten the reader as to what role women played in politics during the New Deal. Because of it’s broad view I have taken several specific examples from the book and elaborated on them in order to give you a better understanding.

The act focuses on the views of millions Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. This book describes the tale of African Americans still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth and with the Supreme Court declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.

Laws are not only as the dictionary says, “any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nations.” The rules that are written reflect the racist, classist, and sexist biases and assumptions maintained in our nation. In other words, laws mirror the customs of the majority that are in power. This is especially evident in the United States during the late nineteenth century when many people were debating the question of what it means to be an American. There are various responses, some by “native born” such as, Fredrick Jackson Turner who wrote the propaganda piece: The Significance of the Frontier or some like Takao Ozawa, an immigrant from Japan who defines Americanness in his legal brief for naturalization. However, it seems as those who are vulnerable [i.e. women, Black, and Brown people] in an aggressive nation such as the United States, hold with them the true meaning of what it means to be American. For instance, while some were arguing whether or not to assimilate the “other” as Americans, one community of the other were fighting to stay in a land they were forced into; to be considered humans let alone American. In this paper, I will discuss the ways that the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments brought freedom for African Americans, for a moment, and how white supremacy has fought this from happening. It also looks at the ways non-black and non-white immigrants, such as Japanese and Mexican people, have utilized the

“It should be noted, to begin with, that all legal restrictions which curtail the civil rights of a single racial group are immediately suspect. That is not to say that all such restrictions are unconstitutional. It is to say that courts must subject them to the most rigid scrutiny. Pressing public necessity may sometimes justify the existence of such restrictions; racial antagonism never

For more than decades the court has continued to be pivotal in some of the biggest decisions for the social identity of America. Specifically noting that for many years the majority of Americans supported things that shaped the identity of American history (i.e. Slavery, Gay marriage, Sodomy, etc.). Erwin Chemernisky continues to examine whether the courts roles in major social issues have failed the American people or not. Erwin continues to explain that the supreme courts failures culminated together, are not only a failure for race issues in America, but also a failure to interpret the constitution effectively (21). These broad generalizations of the court flourish throughout his book, however, it is final assessment of the court that leaves the most to be contended with. Specifically noting that overall the court has done way more harm than good with regards to addressing minority issues an in wake of the warren court has continued to make flawed decisions in favor of the majority (53). This rhetoric must be addressed and analyzed by first looking to professor Erwin’s view of the courts take on minority, secondly analyzing his take on the court before and after the warren era and lastly addressing his support and analysis of the purpose of judicial review. Through this analysis it will become evident that Erwin Chemernisky has misinterpreted the supreme courts position as a protector of minority rights instead of the upholder and interpreter of the constitution and law.

The first case that we will glimpse into is the case of Grutter versus Bolllinger. The case is centered around the idea of diversity in the form of race is a justifiable factor in the admission to a state law school. Barbra Grutter argued that the University of Michigan Law School was breaking the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution as well as the Civil Rights Act. Grutter hassled with the fact the minority students with the same credentials assumed a greater chance of admittance to the law school. Furthermore, the text goes on the explain one of the statement s manufactured by the prestigious law school, “Effective participation by members of all racial ethnic groups in the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one Nation, indivisible, is to be realized.” (Rosenbloom) The university was not shy in explaining their concerns in the admission process.

We have come a long way from a time when only white, affluent, property owning males could vote. In terms of ‘voting rights’ it was a gradual expansion of the vote, which slowly began to expand to all whites, individuals once labeled slaves or ‘aliens’, African Americans, military personal and women. To vote in the United States, no longer do you need to pass a literacy test, but you must be a U.S citizen and at least 18 years old on Election Day. In addition, some states also require various periods of residency before voting is permitted. Furthermore some states restrict felons or those mentally incompetent to vote. In Massachusetts, for the first time, there was Early Voting. During this period, October 24th to November 4th, registered voters were allowed to cast their ballots. During this period of Early voting, I along with a group of classmates had the engaging opportunity to be an exit pollster. We decided to canvas much of the Boston area, with hopes of a ranging demographic. This hands-on experience, working with a team in carrying out the exit poll, allowed for a greater insight to the dynamics of election administration, a deeper understanding on the rights of voters and voter turn out, technique for attaining a random sample, the role of the interviewer and importance of survey design.

The United States is a country anchored on the principle of inclusivity and mutual respect. The country has a dark past characterized with instances of racial profiling and discrimination which culminated into civil unrests realized in the mid-20th century. Moving forward, the country adopted strategic frameworks that were to guide towards a new era devoid of discrimination. The aspect of political participation was one fundamental instrument that was subsequently integrated into the American social dynamics. The enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 sought to empower the minority groups to participate in the electoral processes, and to eliminate the barriers that existed in the political landscape. Some of the achievements of the act

The relationship between the law and society greatly contributes to our nation’s overall perception as to how the law affects our everyday lives. The weight of individual opinion and action through the law dictates what our nation thinks about certain topics from determining who is allowed to cross our borders to whether or not healthcare should be provided to all people. Ian Haney Lopez, Professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law, at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of White by Law, The Legal Construction of Race, describes exactly how the workings of the law contribute to society’s overall construction of race. Sarah Rose, author and professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington, in her new book, “No Right

Democracy, as most people think of it today, did not exist during the first few decades of U.S. history.