Persuasive Essay On Civil Rights

Most of us today cannot say we’ve experience the horror of war. I infact have never. I’m ignorant to the subject, while others can say they’ve stared death in the face. We fought for slave rights, for equal rights, and allowed people to immigrate here believing America was a peaceful place. I infact am honored to be an American. I have rights, I do not serve under a dictator, but most countries aren't as lucky as I. Unfortunately, tragedy is the only magnet that pulls us together. We have not learned from the sacrifices of our own sons and daughters. It is my hope that America can move on from its childish antics and turn away from all the violence.

During this year of 1794, we have come through many tribulations and have suffered to great extent for our freedom of Britain. This country has lost fathers and sons to bring us freedom and ensure our rights are kept. It brings me displeasure to write about grievances with our own government. However we must be aware of current and past issues and let it be known that this country and government will defend its people’s rights and preserve their freedom.

The 50s, 60s and 70s were a tumultuous time in American society. Roles were constantly being redefined. Events like the war created upheaval in the lives of many individuals and everyone was scrambling to find his or her place in society. The same was profoundly true for blacks in America. No societal movement had a more profound effect on the lives of Black Americans than did the Civil Rights Movement. The status of Black Americans would be redefined to a revolutionary degree. Civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X would bring the cause to the national stage. Although the movement was plagued with violence and death, it was eventually successful. The South was radically changed from a society of

he basis of most Republican opposition to the 1964 law, even from GOP members of Congress who backed the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights bills signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, was discomfort about forcing private business to comply with public accommodation laws. Few Republicans expressed any qualms about requiring things like public busses and government buildings to integrate. Because Republicans had been the party of civil rights and liked more in it than they didn’t, they voted for it. Democrats were split. It was Democrats that used a herculean effort to block it through filibusters. Some local municipalities and governments in the South had laws prohibiting private business owners from serving black customers. Goldwater wanted to end

The civil rights of African Americans were a concern among the majority of Americans before the Civil War. During the war, it became evident that this was the primary cause of the war. The North reigned victor, and with the Emancipation Proclamation, all the former slaves were set free in the South. This was the first step for African Americans to achieve permanent civil rights, but the effort was temporarily put at rest when Reconstruction ended. Ultimately, it was the opposition in the South, and the changing mindset of northern Republicans that made Reconstruction a failure in achieving permanent African American civil rights.

Following this event, many were getting back to the idea that equality does exist in America. However twenty years later they were proved wrong by the new movement that had struck. According to the Facebook post by Mic, “Americans are as skeptical of Black Lives Matter today as they were of the civil rights movement in the ‘60s." In Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon’s essay, “My Selfie, My Self: Ma(s)king Identity in the New Millennium,” the authors claim “...race is no longer a significant factor in American life....insisting that America has reached a “post-racial condition in which race no longer matters…” (494). Black Lives Matter was created by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Mark-Anthony Johnson, in 2012 after the murderer of a seventeen-year old African American boy named Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a volunteer neighborhood watch person named George Zimmerman. According to Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin seemed “suspicious”. According to the article, What Does Black Lives Matter Want? Now Its Demands Are Clearer Than Ever, the Black Lives Matter group made several demands which, “lays out six demands and 40 corresponding policy recommendations to paint a picture of what today’s black activists are fighting for,” but their main focus is on police reform and receiving justice for the deaths of the African Americans (The Nation). They believed that the police officers displayed an unnecessary use of force which was based upon the individual’s race, as opposed to the crime that was being committed.

In this paper we are looking at two philosophers and how they treat the down and out. The first philosopher that will be discussed is Fredrick Nietzsche. Nietzsche is a late 19th century, German, atheist philosopher. Some issues involving this issue are quite common from Fredrick Nietzsche. The second philosopher is Martin Luther King Jr. The explanations from King are expected simply because of the person he is. King was a 20th century, African American, civil rights activist, as well as a Baptist minister philosopher. From their backgrounds and century their perspective are noticeably different.

In the mid-1960s, Malcolm X said, "If you stick a knife nine inches into my back and pull it out three inches, that it not progress. Even if you pull it all the way out, that is not progress. Progress is healing the wound, and America hasn't even begun to pull out the knife." And, to this day, Malcolm X's words are just as salient and prophetic as they were during the Civil Rights Era. The exigent problem that American society recognizes but refuses to acknowledge is that black people have and continue to be excluded from the so-called white American humanity. Some Americans could argue that the 13th amendment left an encouraging and indelible impression on the racial fabric of American society. There is a historical and prevalent notion that America prides and extols herself in her pursuit for equality and justice. Furthermore, America worships herself on the altars of democracy, justice and equality. American patriots said that black people should be grateful for the 13th amendment. But, the problem, like an ominous shadow, remains. American patriots said that they acknowledged the error of their ways and consequently conferred former black slaves with the 14th and 15th amendments; yet, the exigent issue remains. American patriots told black people to show some gratitude for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and yet, the problem akin to an individual who tirelessly struggles to extricate himself from the invisible shackles, remains. Though some could argue that the passing

The Civil Rights Movement from the mid 1950’s to late 1960’s fought for equal rights of People of color in this nation. That movement was successful in pushing for an end to racial segregation and discrimination in the country. Decades later, a new movement is beginning to gain traction in the fights against excess police brutality against People of Color. “Since the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's killer in 2013 and the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the phrase "black lives matter" has become a rallying cry for a new chapter in the long black freedom struggle” ( Cooper 2017). The movement has been growing since and more and more after every new case of a person of color being killed by police enforcement. Contemporary anti-racist social movements like Black Lives Matter have had a definitive impact in changing the way people of color are treated, by creating the very important conversation of police brutality against people of color. In order to keep the movement growing, it have has to keep expanding its message of excessive police violence and push for policies that would create better training for law enforcement.

For decades black Americans have been treated as animals, looked at as if they are monsters, and killed like bugs. Actions like Police brutality and racism is what caused Black Lives Matter. The creation of the Black Lives Matter was a response by the black community to give a voice to black Americans affected by the increase of wrongful deaths due to the law enforcements and vigilantes across the country. This has been going on for so long that it seems like we are stuck in the past. For years, even decades black Americans have had to live the struggle of being equal. Even when things are going good and we think we finally have the same rights, something happened to change that. It is time to shed a light on the real purpose of Black Lives Matter and why they are important to today's society.

The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, states that all citizens have certain unalienable rights which are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Over the next 250 years, these “unalienable rights” have been deteriorating in our country and the amount of them that everyone has slowly gone away. This led to civil liberty issues arising from race, sex, and wealth classes. Civil liberties are rights that governments can’t take away from the people and everyone has. Civil liberty issues of the American past have not been resolved because the deliberate murder of people is still prominent in America, women in society are controlled by men, and the discrimination of blacks and whites continues to exist.

Personally, I believe it is difficult to place ourselves in the shoes of the senators that were faced with these decisions. Looking back at these speeches now, I can truly see the hard work and mental strain that these men went through in order to place this bill. When using these speeches as historical sources, I think we should consider several things. The time period in which they were given, the position each Senator stood for, and the general purpose behind it. For example, when looking at most filibusters we would not consider them as credible sources mostly because they are used to “drag out the debate and exhaust their opponents by simply reading from the newspaper or telephone book.” (pg.248) However, this was certainly not the case when regarding the Civil Rights Bill.

Civil Rights protects citizens from discrimination, and because of different civil rights movements, constitutional rights are now guaranteed for all U.S. citizens (Civil Right for kids overview, 2017). These rights give all citizens the opportunity of “...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence, 1776). There were different movements fought for their population against discriminated. It is because of people like Martin Luther King J., Helen Keller, and Rosa Parks, who made people aware of discrimination through activities like the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Little Rock Nine (Civil Rights for Kids overview, 2017). There people and others helped to protect people against discrimination.

The American declaration of independence stated, that: “All men are created equal”. But in the 19th century only whites were born with equal opportunities. Africans were imported as slaves and had to work on the fields of the whites. Until 1865 the Negroes were treated and looked at as something lower than human. They were compared to apes, and therefore just owned the same rights as animals. They were raised believing that whites were superior. It took them years to realize that they have to stand up for their rights. The uprising turned into a brutal civil war.

Prejudice is part of our history and sadly it is something that continues in our society. At this moment with our president in charge, people seem to think it is okay to discriminate others for their ethnicity, religion and/or race. We are starting to see it more and more since our own president has based his whole campaign on discrimination. According to him, he is going to get rid of, in his own words “all the bad hombres”. He also banned Muslims from entering the country; by doing this, he is stereotyping all Latinos as if they were all criminals and Muslims all terrorists. Evidently, because of his actions, you see more people following his steps, discriminating others more openly than ever. Stop and think if the president of The United States is doing it publicly and nothing happens to him why can’t I do it? This is the way of thinking of these people who take their anger and frustration on others by discriminating them. Racism is thinking less of others based on their skin color, culture, language or nationality. Racist seem to think they are superior to the rest and manifest this way of thinking, discriminating others that are not like themselves. It is important to mention that a prejudiced person may not act on their negative feeling towards a specific group of people, they can have a prejudiced attitude but not put their feelings into actions or discriminate. Racism has many causes, one of them is realistic conflict theory people tend to discriminate those people whom they feel are preventing them from getting what they want.