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The Civil Rights And Liberties Essay

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With all that has been examined, it is somewhat troubling to see that 21st century America today is very similar to America from the 1960’s. While it is true that Black Americans have gained civil rights and liberties, it is the current state of American society itself—as well as white fright—that dismisses these rights. The most infamous example of this is, of course, police shootings. Since the Trayvon Martin case, the United States seems to have exploded with more police shootings in which white police officers shoot unarmed black men. According to Mapping Police Violence, “Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week” (Police Violence). Indeed, America is now like the 1950’s because while Black Americans are now free to vote, walk in public, and partake in public programs of U.S. society, certain institutions still attempt to suppress their rights. This attempting at suppression of Black civil rights, moreover, can be attributed to white fright. The violent reaction to more Black Americans in the public sector—schools, entertainment, politics, etc.—can be said to be a consequence of white fright. Generally speaking, “white fright,” may be defined as the fear of white, working middle-classmen whose liberties would be replaced by the liberties of some “other.” This “other,” may be Black Americans, Asian Americans, immigrants, and anyone else who does not fulfill the historical, ideological definition of “white man” since the Civil War

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