Civil Rights Reflection

"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?

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time”-Malcolm X. In every movement men and women have crossed paths with others that share their goals, but not everyone shares the same path to achieve it. The civil rights movement of the nineteen fifties and sixties were no different in this case, while many shared the common goal of equality for all, not everyone shared the same style or belief system to achieve it creating sources of conflict within various civil rights organizations as well as between organizations. Freedom activists, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael sharing the same goal as other civil rights leaders John Lewis

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark legislation that resulted from a unique combination of public pressure, historical events, previous failed legislation, and a large-scale social movement. Many regard the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the most successful civil rights legislation in history. There is no doubt that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 changed the way the society addressed race and gender, but it in the context of current events resulting in racial tension, it is worth examining the true impact of the legislation and how society can continue to move forward in matters of civil equality. This paper will provide an overview of the historical context of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and examine the legislation’s impact on society

Analyze the changes that occurred during the 1960’s in the goals, strategies, and support of the movement for African American civil rights.

After so many years of struggles and difficulty, supporters for equality celebrate the way of legislation that forbids racial discrimination. The civil rights act of 1964, ending segregation in public places and prohibit employment discrimination on the part of color, race, religion or origin, is considered one of the accomplishments of the civil rights movement. The leading up to the Civil Rights act was followed by the Civil war which occurred during the years 1861-1865. It was constitutional amendments abolished slavery, and made them slave citizens and gave all men the right to vote, no matter what race they were. The presentation within the civil rights act, was under the act, segregation faced race, religion or origin was banned at all

The background of the race in america. The whites in america thought that people with different skin color and beliefs didn’t belong. Because of this the Jim Crow laws became a thing which hurt many african americans, slavery, segregation, and the KKK formed. Many strategies were used to fight for civil rights, and success, and failures were experienced along the way to achieve their goals. Paragraph 1: (strategies)

“The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.” One of the many quotes from Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American woman who carried many titles in her lifetime: educator, politician, civil rights activist, etc., but whose main goal remained the same, empowering her community. Her boldness coupled with her fierce determination allowed her to push through the barriers caging women in, at that time, educating them on their voting rights and establishing a council dedicated to empowering negro women. However, if granted the opportunity to converse with her, my questions would not focus on her accomplishments; instead, I would ask what prompted her to stray from the norm of African-Americans at the time and fight

"Even though the faces...of the civil rights movement were men, the reality that we knew, even then, was that it was women. And now, of course, there are books and writings that tell us about the role of women...my mother was one of those women"(Henderson Daniel, 2010). Inspired by many black women around her as she grew up during the civil rights era, Jessica Henderson Daniel pushed her desire to make change for the very women she looked up to. Jessica Henderson Daniel was born to a military family in San Diego, Texas (MacKay, 2010). The education she received as an undergraduate at a historically black college university in North Carolina fostered her passion to make change amongst her own people. During the time of her undergraduate education, this was the height of organized and unorganized

When the framers decided to create the Constitution, it was meant to be made for the people by the people. The difficult part about it was, as time went by, people were given more rights and were unjustly discriminated because of the past. This has happened in many cases throughout our countries history. Civil rights are a big part of our society and the past shows many ways that the civil rights of the citizens were taken from. In Unit 2 of the course, we learned three different ways the government can discriminate the people of the United States and the meticulous process it takes the government to discriminate. The different ways to discriminate are separated into three different classifications which are, Suspect classification, Quasi-Suspect classification, and Nonsuspect classification. Even though everyone has civil rights the government can sometimes discriminates to ensure the safety of the society. Which rarely happens. Discrimination is a big part of our government and well never be solved, but there are many reasons behind the most complicated subject in our society.

Two years before the long and hard fought senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, President John F. Kennedy declared, “Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves, but in this century, our Negro citizens have emancipated themselves”1. With this simple statement President John F. Kennedy addressed one of the oldest and most current issues of our nation, the blatant line between the Caucasian population and the other minorities that reside in the United States of America. The racial divide in America has existed long before the beginning of America’s struggle for independence and persists today as demonstrated recent events such as the building of the wall on the United States/Mexico border. Though it hasn’t always provided the anguished minorities with chains, shackles, and whips there has been a copious amount of major periods of time in which there was a great division and sense of hostility throughout the nation. One of the most significant times is the Civil Rights Movement and the Senate Debate on Civil Rights Act of 1964 took place during this time and is the defining topic of this paper.

The “Standing on My Sister’s Shoulders” opened my eyes to the women who played a vital role in the civil rights movement, but who are not talked about in history books. It is important that when talking about activist who made a change we do not forget to mention the women who made an impact in the African American

1. Discuss when, why and how the Cold War began. Then cite at least one factor that perpetuated the Cold War in each decade from the 1950s-1980s and discuss how the item you selected affected America at home as well. Last, discuss when and why the Cold War ended.

Society continues to nurture these depriving situations and demonstrate lack of concern towards black women by not celebrating them for the roles they played in the movements. Taylor (1998) asserted that, “despite the fact that the most celebrated leaders of the modern civil rights movements were men, African American women participated at every stage in the struggle for justice and equality” (239). Although black women were not in public eyes during these movements, it was their vision and organizing roles they played that helped in the progression of many liberation movements.

After watching this video, I had a lot different emotions running through my head. First I was happy that everyone was able to come together for a positive cause without any negativity. Second I was happy to see all races was there supporting especially white Americans. It was more White Americans than any other race supporting the women rights. Lastly I like the bond I seen everyone had it was like they already knew each other. Everyone was happy,supporting and uplifting to everyone beliefs and opioion. I wish I was there to help support the cause. Im always down for the cause especially when it has something to do with women rights. I feel like a lot of people focused more on other things and don’t focus enough on women rights, and when they do, they sometimes be close minded or rude about women feelings towards certain topics.