Prior to the Civil War in 1865, most of the African Americans remained slaves and were denied life, liberty and property. The 14th Amendment paved the way for former slaves and oppressed groups of people to come, granting them citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. One of the main oppressed groups currently are same sex couples. For a long period of time, they were denied marriage and did not receive any rights as far as benefits because they loved a person of the same gender. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that all state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional and made same sex marriage legal in the United States of America.
Amendments
When the Civil War began, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation
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Is it possible to compare the discrimination between gays and African Americans? Yes of course. Both groups of people went through a phase of oppression and just wanted to be accepted into society as equal persons. Just like there was segregation with the whites and blacks, the homosexuals were also segregated. “Back in the 60’s, bartenders would deny drinks to patrons suspected of being gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drinks but force them to sit facing away from other customers to prevent them from socializing.”
One of the biggest known discrimination is the with United States Military. It was illegal for a homosexual person to enlist with the military. If a person enlisted and did not declare that he or she was gay, then got caught in a homosexual act, the individual could get kicked out with a dishonorable discharge and not hold a federal position ever again. The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy introduced by President Bill Clinton said that you may not ask if someone is gay, or admit that you are gay. This can be compared to the Emancipation Proclamation. This is similar in comparison because the Presidents were trying to make both sides happy, but in a hush hush kind of way.
Many homosexuals that served in the Military prior to 2015 had to hide who they were and their loved ones throughout their career. They were forbidden to get married and receive the same benefits as their heterosexual
This condemnation eventually led to the introduction of the separation of homosexuals from military service as seen with the neutral blue discharges which were often given to homosexual servicemen starting in 1916 . This neutral discharge was then labeled “general” and “undesirable”, resulting in a less honorable discharge. Discharges concerning men who were found to be guilty in engaging in homosexual acts were severely different than those who were neutrally discharged. If this were the case then you were then dishonorably discharged (“Don't Ask, Don't Tell” - Wikipedia). The current policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Harass, Don't Pursue1, derived from the original 1993 Department of Defense Directive 1332.14 coined Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ensures that any American citizen can participate in the Armed Forces. This policy is a step-up from the usual immediate discharge, however, this is only if the service member does not identify
The issue of gays in the military has been controversial in the United States for many decades. Over these decades there have been many different proposals as to what approach to take in order to handle the situation of homosexuals in the military. However, in 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for President of the United States, he made a promise to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military if he was elected (Washington Post). Bill Clinton followed through with his promise, and in December 1993 he instituted “a defense directive that military applicants should not to be asked about their sexual orientation” (Washington Post). This is now known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was the result
The 13th Amendment says “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” (Doc C) Although many years later African Americans still were not being treated like people, abolishing slavery was a big step to the stop of harsh treatment toward African Americans. The citizenship, and the right to vote are granted to African Americans by the 14, and 15 Amendments. The passing of these Amendments insured that the African Americans are people.
The genre of “Saving the Right to Organize” would be an article. This would be a secondary source because it is an article, and it refines the primary source. The topic of this source would be that it focuses on the 13th Amendment replacing the Wagner Act on labor movements in the U.S. Percentage of U.S. workers who were unionized in 1953. A good thesis from this source would be Mark Dudzic’s words, “Articulating [worker] right[s] solely as an
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is commonly regarded as a major victory against racism that further advanced democracy in America. Adopted on July 9, 1868, it attempted to transform the oppressive culture of the Confederacy by granting citizenship rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States and affording equal protection under the law to all U.S. citizens. Nonetheless, in spite of aiming to put an end to discrimination against African-Americans and other minority groups, this important amendment did not entirely succeed in eradicating racism during the Reconstruction era.
The U.S Constitution has evolved over time from what the original writers wanted. Most importantly, these changes are positive because equality is what the United States is all about. These changes pertain to the amendments regarding right to bare arms, slavery, and the right for all male citizens to vote.
In December of 1865, Congress passed the 13th amendment abolishing slavery in the United States. By July of 1868, the 14th amendment was passed to grant citizenship to anyone, regardless of race, born in the United States and prohibiting states from depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or rejecting to any person, within their jurisdiction, the equal protection of the laws (Jim Crow Stories). Immediately following the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and Republicans were trying to give equal rights to African Americans and set rules that would allow the Southern states back into the Union. At the same time, the Radical Republicans were working to minimize African Americans’ rights; this era is known as
After the United States abolished slavery, the country passed three new Constitutional amendments. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment provided citizenship to newly freed slaves, and the 15th Amendment gave them the right to vote. However, the Supreme Court stated judgments and rulings that placed blacks in a degrading and an inferior position in the United States. Established from the Jim Crow Laws, throughout the years of 1877 to 1954, schools were segregated by law. Black people were not allowed to attend a white-dominant school. In 1957, Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African American students enrolled at Central High School, an all-white school, were prevented from entering the school because they were black. It caused conflict and controversy between the governor of Arkansas and the president of the united states, rebellion of society and the students (Civil Rights Movement), and in our society today, education is accessible to everyone.
In addition to economically depriving prisoners, the Thirteenth Amendment is responsible for the creation of private prisons that often violate inmates’ health and safety.
The Don’t Ask Don’t tell act which prevented openly gay and lesbians from serving in the United States Armed forces was placed into law on December 21st, 1993. It states that the military cannot discriminate against any gay, lesbian or bisexual person as long as they are discreet about their sexuality. They believed that any persons showing or acting in homosexual behavior would go against strict military moral codes and policy. However on September 20th, 2011 the Don’t ask Don’t Tell was repealed because the government felt it was discriminatory against homosexuals. I agree that openly gay and lesbians should able to serve in the military because nobody should have to hide who they are in order to serve and
Gay Rights. As a homosexual male or female, you were able to serve your country in the military. The person who allowed and signed as a law is President Bill Clinton. They could only serve in the military if only if they didn't show any love or affection to another solider. For a homosexual person in the military has to hide their love for the same sex. In the military they lie to everyone so they live one big lie to serve the military.
In the Civil War Amendments, the Fourteenth Amendment had by far the most far reaching effects on the Constitution. It promises “equal protection of the laws.” In section one, it says that any person has the right to life, liberty, or property within its jurisdiction to equal protection of the laws. The pursuit of happiness is to freely pursue joy and live happy, as long as they do not violate the rights of others. Homosexuals are not harming anyone in any way. There was a time when African Americans were also discriminated against. For instance, if a
Another discrimination against the gay populace is when one partner dies. To start off, when one partner in a marriage dies, the spouse receives death benefits such as time off from work so that they can mourn; the ability to file a claim if their partner dies from an unnatural death, and they will inherit assets automatically if the spouse has not written a will. A gay couple receives none of this. Since gay couples are not married, by law, they are not entitled to the rights that straight married couples are allotted. Since a gay couple does not receive these benefits, they are forced to work while having to cope with the death of the love of their life. A gay person cannot file for recompense after their partner died because of an oversight by their employer. A lesbian woman will not be able to receive the home they shared with their partner or any of the belongings within that home. It doesn’t take a genius to understand what the problem here is.
There may be laws in place to prevent the discrimination of an individual, however they usually do not protect gay people from being treated unjustifiably. Many people are denied jobs solely for the reason of loving someone of the same sex. “In 28 states it’s perfectly legal to terminate an employee because you don’t like the gender of the person he or she is in love with” (Boylan, 2017). The results of this may leave many citizens without a source of income to support themselves or their families. A woman was even fired from her job as a college instructor because she had been seen kissing her girlfriend goodbye. “Former Indiana community college instructor who claimed she wa denied promotion over a five-year period and eventually let go” (Jost, 2017). Although she had been working at the college for a continuous five years, she was always denied a promotion and then was eventually fired because the school did not like the fact that she was dating another woman. Her complaint to the school was even ignored, and the school had claimed it did not discriminate against her in any way.
In the summer of 2015 the U.S supreme court ruled in favor to legalize same-sex marriage in all the fifty states .This was a huge change in the world and this difference was made because of popular case which is called the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). This very important case involved “14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased” in this case the couples argued that the “state officials violated [their] 14th amendment by denying them the right to marry or to have marriages lawfully performed in another state given full recognition and also violated their equal protection Clause.” The supreme court ruled in favor for this case because in the 14th Amendment it clearly declares that all people should have “equal protection under the law”, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexuality.(source 2, pg.1)