Blog #78 – Do we need a new Civil Rights Movement?
After studying the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) this week, you may wonder if the CRM is still around. And, the bigger question is, is there a need for one? You might think that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 / 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had fixed many of the egregious racist violations of human and civil rights that had existed since slavery ended in 1865. Why would we need a CRM when we’ve got a black president, some of the wealthiest Americans are black, and many entertainers are black and are “visible” in movies and TV and on the Internet (as opposed to “invisible” during the 1950s that we saw in the video, The Rage Within). Right? Isn’t America dedicated to the proposition that everyone is equal and has an equal chance to reach for that American Dream? So what’s the problem?
Well, if we limit our civil rights discussion to just Black Americans, we can see several things that pop out at us:
1. The income gap between whites and blacks is dramatically widening since 2007 (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth-gaps-great-recession/). 
Using the chart at the left, you can see that the average household income between whites, blacks, and Latinos has continued to plague the country. Obviously, the Great Recession (2007-2009) broke a lot of peoples’ dreams to own their own homes and live a comfortable life. But what these numbers show is that since the 1980s, it’s gotten worse, twenty years after the Voting Rights Act. Watch this link to a CNN video that explains why this gap has existed (http://money.cnn.com/video/news/economy/2014/12/14/the-economy-in-black–white-animation.cnnmoney/). This leads to my next point.
2. There is systemic racism in this country as shown in the way Black Americans lose their jobs more readily than white Americans and more likely to had been the victims of foreclosure at the end of the real estate boom in 2007 (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-wealth-gap-between-whites-and-minorities-is-growing/). We see this in still who controls the majority of the wealth of the country and the barriers that still exist for Black Americans to gain home loans and job opportunities. This racism is also seen in urban public schools and their lack of funding. Most urban public schools are segregated de facto (by choice) rather than by law. And with urban schools failing, it seems to compound the cycle of poverty that we read about in the excerpt from Michael Harrington’s The Other America. We also see this structural racism in the way Black Americans are portrayed in the media. When white mass murderers are examined in the media, they’re sometimes portrayed as loners with mental problems, but when Black men are murdered, the character is called into question as if that justifies their murder. 
3. Most visibly, we see African Americans made victims of police brutality and violence. With the proliferation or spread of camera phones, dash cams, and other video recording devices, murders or assaults by police that might have been hushed up are now receiving the attention they deserve. With incidents in Baltimore, Ferguson, Cleveland, Texas, and too many other locations to mention, even the U.S. government is getting involved in examining the effects of police brutality and unequal enforcement on communities. (U.S. Justice Dept. report on Ferguson).
4. The continuing rise of respectability politics puts down one aspect of the Black community while highlighting another aspect. This idea comes from an early 20th Century movement in the Black community itself to change “Black American culture – and Black Americans themselves – are broken and need to be fixed. And “fixing” means improving the “Black underclass” that holds us back.” Much of this comes from forcing Black Americans to attain the standards of white America as a way to improve upon Black culture. (http://alineinthesand.com/respectability-politics/). The underlying thinking is that one group of Blacks is making it impossible for the “more respectable” Black Americans to rise up and defeat racism. President Obama has been guilty of engaging in respectability politics when he talks about the role of the father in Black families. Comedian Bill Cosby has also been a big proponent of this concept.
5. The school-to-prison pipeline is systematic of two things: underfunded schools and lack of real job opportunities for African Americans. This pipeline “refers to the policies and practices that push our nation’s schoolchildren, especially our most at-risk children, out of classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. This pipeline reflects the prioritization of incarceration over education” (https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/what-school-prison-pipeline). With insufficient funding in urban schools and zero-tolerance educational practices, students who violate school rules in major ways are shuffled out of school and into the criminal justice system. This kind of educational discipline, made in response to the numerous school shootings that have happened since 1999, also affects students with special needs. Some for-profit schools are being created to treat drop-outs or “troubled children” with a no-nonsense approach and have had dismal records of meeting the needs of these students.
If we were to just focus on African Americans to the exclusion of other minorities, I would stop there. But what about the biggest minority group in America, Latino Americans?
6. Using Donald Trump’s comments over the summer as his presidential race debut, he described Mexicans who came over our porous national border as “rapists” and criminals. If he had it his way, The Donald would have Mexico pay for this wall he’d like to put up on our southern border (despite the fact that there is already a wall along many parts of the U.S.- Mexico border). These comments just add to the way many Republican candidates see the influx of Latinos coming into the country as a negative thing. 
But what about those already here illegally?
7. President Obama’s been deporting more undocumented workers by 2014 (2 million) than previous presidents, yet the Republicans say he’s not doing enough. Many plans have been bandied about with regards how to include the 11.5 million undocumented workers legally into the American taxpayer system: give them Social Security numbers so they can pay taxes; put them on the road to citizenship and learn English; pay penalties, etc.
8. Much like the gap between whites and blacks with regards to income equality, the same can be said for Latinos and whites. Questions include, are there enough resources for ELL (English Language Learners) in our schools? Why do only 52% of Latinos have a high school diploma vs. 85% whites? Kids in poverty, regardless of race or ethnicity, tend to do poorer in school and on standardized tests. (http://www.nea.org/home/HispanicsEducation%20Issues.htm)
Next, let’s talk about women.
9. One of the first things that needs to be addressed is the pervasive rape culture in the United States. Women should feel safe, no matter what they do or how they dress. When society tends to blame the victim of rape (87% done by an acquaintance, not someone stalking them in the dark) for how much she drank or provocative clothing, the playing field tends to be skewed towards men and not the victim. Should 20% of American women having survived a rape be considered the norm, especially when an overwhelming majority of rapists never go to jail? We need to teach men and young men not to rape, not to tell women how to avoid being raped (as if that’s a normal thing). (http://time.com/40110/rape-culture-is-real/)
10. What about the pay gap between men and women for the same jobs? The arguments against paying women the same as men used to be that a woman’s income was secondary to her husband (assuming she’s married), so that money is just extra. Another argument against equal pay was that women get pregnant and their replacements needed to be trained, so the money comes out of the pregnant woman’s paycheck for loss of productivity. According to the AAUW, women in Michigan get paid about 74% what men get paid and are 45th out of 50 in a nationwide ranking. This chart shows what could be done with the extra money women would get if they were paid equally
. It’s in everyone’s best interest to have women paid as much as men. (http://billmoyers.com/content/facts-figures-women-and-pay-inequality/)
I Am Not A Slut by Leora Tanenbaum. http://www.amazon.com/Am-Not-Slut-Slut-Shaming-Internet/dp/006228259X
And what about the LGBTQ community?
12. Finally, marriage equality is the law of the land thanks to the Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Holmes, decided this summer. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was overturned two years ago, and you would have thought that most states would have followed through with it, but it took the courts to secure everyone’s rights. But this doesn’t mean everyone is accepting or willing to follow the law – see the county clerk in Kentucky for one prime example. Some anti-LGBTQ groups have pushed presidential candidates to seek to overturn Obergefell, or sign laws that allow for religious discrimination directed at those who want to get married.
13. And if the LGBTQ community is allowed to get married, what about the creation of families and adoption rights? Only 10 states and D.C. allow adoption by gay parents, and Florida is currently the only state that bans adoption by gay parents, but many other states put obstacles in the way of gay parents, including lots of misinformation like “A child is better off with one father and one mother“. (http://civilliberty.about.com/od/gendersexuality/ig/Lesbian-and-Gay-Rights-101/Gay-Adoption-Rights.htm)
This list is by no means comprehensive. That would take books on each of these issues (like The New Jim Crow, Bad Feminist, God Believes in Love, I Am Not a Slut, Between the World and Me, Harvest of Empire, Citizen, The Fire Next Time).
My question for you is this:
If you had to choose one group to join for a civil rights movement, which one would it be, why, and what would be your top priority? You can list other priorities that I have not mentioned, because though I have tried to familiarize myself with all of these groups, it is just a cursory / surface familiarity.
If you choose to disagree with the basic premise, that no new civil rights movement is needed, please explain why along with facts to back up your argument.
300 words minimum answer due Wednesday, Oct. 14 by class.
I think that in certain ways, America needs a Civil Rights Movement. The movement would not only be for African Americans, but for ethnic groups, different cultures, and many other minorities. During the 40s, 50s, and 60s African Americans protested for certain rights that were not given to them based on their skin color. Even though this was done peacefully [until black power] police men and other people who agreed with segregation brutally fought back and were unfair to the protesters who just wanted justice. This foreshadowed in present day USA with the campaign/slogan “Black Lives Matter.” “Black Lives Matter” was brought to light because of the unfair treatment of blacks throughout America. This was shown in forms of police brutality and unjust convictions of African Americans in the law. Another minority that the U.S. should shine light on are Native Americans. This is because Native Americans were the first people to control the land of the New World and now they make up less then 15% of the U.S. population alone. The American people and government kicked the Native Americans off of the land that was rightfully theirs. Now the Natives are left with close to nothing; most are in poverty, depressed, or even homeless. The only things that they have left are each other and small bits of land throughout the U.S. This is because that is all the government had given to them. The final Community that should have their own Civil Rights Movement are the people included in LGBTQ.This large group of people have been protesting ever since the 60s. Like the African Americans in the 20th century, The number one thing that they have been protesting has finally became legal in all 50 States. This law was about marriage equality and same sex marriage. Like African American Jim Crow Laws and segregation, The LGBTQ community have still been harassed because of the way the look, dress, act, and their sexual identity. They have also had injustices with the law and people treat this community differently based upon things that don’t make up their character. These are just a few instances of when a Civil Rights Movement should occur in America.
If I were to choose a group to join for a Civil Rights Movement, I would choose to support the African American race. I decided that I would want to join an African American Civil Rights Movement, if one were to occur, because, as a Jew I feel that over time we have been treated fairly similar to how blacks have been treated. Even if it is not as severe treatment, I am able to relate to what it feels like to being treated differently.
My top priority for this movement, would be to put an end to police brutality. As most people have seen, there have been countless numbers of scandals involving police that have gone viral on the Internet. As a police officer, your job is to serve and protect the people not to abuse your powers.
Whether it occurs in New York, California, Florida, Montana, or even Michigan, there shouldn’t even be any hesitation to suspend the officer unless there is substantial evidence proving that he/she was in harms way. In recent tragedies, that has not been the case. For example, in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown was shot multiple times by two white police officers. Some witnesses claimed that Brown had his hands up in surrender. Although there is no hard evidence supporting this claim, there is also none showing that he posed any threat to the two officers.
I believe that to fix the issue of police brutality in America, body cameras and dash cameras should be federally required to be on at all police responses. The cameras will definitely not be able to stop these beatings, as many, but no all, states have already made steps towards this idea. More extensive background checks on all Officer candidates before allowing enrollment in Police Academies.
I truly believe that this issue can possibly be the ignition to another Civil Rights Movement, and if that occurs, I will be supporting the cause.
If I had to join a civil rights movement, it would be for women’s rights. Women are faced with pay gaps from men in the workforce, they are attacked with a double standard from society regarding appearance in public and are way too often blamed for being the cause of sexual assault in society.
My priority of focus would be the pay gap between men and women. The age of the “common housewife” is long over. Most American families today have both men and women working for a living, and there is no reason why women should be paid less in the same career than that of men. Not to mention the fact that many families have households that are run by a single mother. Being paid lass doesn’t help the financial struggle that many of these middle and lower class families face. Many single women raising children have to work two or three jobs to be able to support their family. This puts families that suffer from a divorce at an even bigger disadvantage because over 80% of divorces in the U.S. (according to census.gov) end in the mother receiving custody for the children.
Among this major priority of focus, women are also attacked by a major double standard in society across many parts of the world, not just the U.S. This is the double standard of beauty. Women are highly pressured into having a “perfect body or figure” while society says it’s okay for men to be overweight, and never need to dress to impress like women do. This causes many young women to develop mental issues such as eating disorders and lack of self-esteem. Although this issue is far more idealistic than the pay gap of men and women and other issues that women face in America, it still is a major problem that really strikes many of us to wonder: why does this vision exist in our society?
If I were to choose a group to join in a civil rights movement, it would be the one focusing on women’s rights. I would choose women’s rights because I feel like it is an issue nowadays and I want this issue to come to light for when I grow to be an adult and have to deal with these issues myself. I think that if I had to choose a certain aspect of women’s rights to focus on, I would pick the large gap between the wages of men and women. I would definitely be behind equality with women’s wages because it is true that sometimes women aren’t payed as much as men. For example, in the sports world, professional female athletes in their respective sport aren’t payed nearly as much as the professional men playing that same sport. Now, this statistic may not be caused (in some cases) by unequal pay between men and women in the same position, but it can be caused by women not receiving equal opportunity at higher positions in their workplace. When a CEO of a company is chosen, the company is looking for an authoritative figure; a woman isn’t necessarily always the first choice. With this in mind, one can think of the repercussions of a woman in today’s world not getting paid well enough. Women in today’s society are taking on bigger roles in the society itself and in their own households. If women are taking on bigger roles in today’s society and are expected to work just as hard as men (I do think if women are given the opportunity they should make the most of it and work just as hard as everyone else), how can they survive financially if they don’t receive the same amount of money? Especially when the number of divorces has skyrocketed in recent years and the mothers are often given custody of the children, a single mother has a lot to manage all on her own. I believe that women should be given equal pay as long as they do their fair share of the workload in their job because women are becoming more independent and are taking on bigger roles in society and should be equally rewarded for their efforts.
I think America needs a new Civil Rights Movement, but this time recognizing Native Americans as in need of civil rights. This is the group I would join to fight for better conditions for our native people living on tribal lands (reservations). About 5.2 million Native Americans live in the United States, and about 22% of these people live on reservations. It is said that living on these reservations is as if you are in a Third World country due to the harsh conditions. There aren’t many jobs to get, and even if you have a job you probably are earning wages that are below the poverty level. It is estimated that on reservations, four to eight out of ten adults don’t have a job. Without jobs, many Native Americans fall under the poverty line, with 38% to 63% of natives on reservations below the poverty line (the percentage depends on the reservation). Housing is another issue, with 40% of the houses on reservations being inadequate homes. A lot of Native American houses are overcrowded due to families staying together to avoid paying for more homes. This overcrowding also occurs because there is usually a three year wait list to buy houses. Even if one gets past all these difficulties, their home probably won’t come with running water or electricity. These houses don’t provide a healthy environment in which to live in, but Native Americans don’t have a reliable health care service to help them out. Over half of the Native American population is on the Indian Health Service, but this medical care doesn’t meet all of one’s health needs; it only meets 60% of those needs. Local doctors outside of a hospital are hard to come by due to improper funding. Also, the health statistics show how unhealthy the reservations are to live on. For example, a Native American is 500% more likely to die from tuberculosis than a non-Native American living outside of a reservation.
These statistics about Native American reservations show that change is needed if Native Americans are to prosper. I would join a movement to help these people because it is not fair to let other people live so terribly without trying to help their situation. Also, the Native American people didn’t ask for this life or force it upon themselves. Instead, their life now is a result of our nation’s brutal treatment of them since its creation and before. We pushed them from their native lands and put them in underfunded reservations. We are the ones who turned a blind eye to their troubles. It is time for this to come to a stop. As a nation, I feel it is our duty to help those in need, especially those who have been so mistreated. This is why I would support a new Civil Rights Movement to help bring Native Americans out of the voids that are reservations.
Native American Living Conditions on Reservations – Native American Aid.” Native American
Living Conditions on Reservations – Native American Aid. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
All of the groups which were presented arguably all need a civil rights movement. The one I can apply to my life and relate the most to, however, would have to be with the women. Specifically r-ape culture. I don’t even know where to start with this, as the idea of faulting the one’s outfit for provoking the actions of another doesn’t make sense to me. Young girls in high school especially hear “your bra strap is showing”, or “your skirt is too short” all the time. As a fifteen year old, the last thing I should have to be concerned about when in school is exposing my shoulders and causing a distraction. The dress code schools enforce now is teaching girls to choose their outfits with the thought of hiding their body in mind, while there is hardly anything that a boy would wear to school and be dress coded for. How I, or any other girl dresses does not have to do with anyone else. Unless the person verbally gives consent they are not asking for it. R-ape occurred back when women wore full length skirts and corsets. Women who wear burkas and hijabs also have their bodies violated today. I don’t see how exposed shoulders or knees make a difference. The worst part with the rules enforced by schools, however, is that they are teaching boys early on that it is the women to blame for provoking them. They are telling rapists that they are not rapists. R-ape cases are dismissed all the time because when one is reported the question is almost immediately asked; “what was she wearing?”. The conclusion of the r-ape is too often “well she asked for it”. Because guys can’t control themselves around short skirts, right? How dare she dress that way. How dare she not take the time to consider how her legs may distract another student when she got dressed. Some joke I heard a while ago regarding r-ape culture that really stuck with me was that saying she shouldn’t of worn that skirt to the party is like saying Archduke Franz Ferdinard shouldn’t have been going through Sarajevo in an open car, so he must have been asking to be murdered. While it’s intent may not be serious, I think more people should look at r-ape culture in a similar way. Teaching young women how to prevent being raped should not be necessary. No one is ever asking for it when it comes to what they wear. Teach young men not to violate women’s bodies should be the priority.
Callie
Paige Stearn
APUSH
Blog #78
I think that there should be another Civil Rights Movement. This is for many reasons. There are many issues of inequality and bad treatment in the world based on small characteristics such as skin color, race, religion, gender, and others. One, there are racial inequality problems that still exist today. For example, many African Americans are still discriminated against today. Segregation still exists in forms of bullying and harassment towards those of different races. People are refused equal jobs and pay that others of more common races are given. Second, there are many religious inequality issues as well. People are refused jobs and services for their religion at times. Wars are even started over religion. People of smaller religions tend to be harassed for their beliefs by people of larger religions. Third, gender inequality is a very large problem in today’s society. There is a huge wage gap between men and women. Women that get straight A’s in college are paid around the same amount as men that got C’s in college. This is very ridiculous considering how far we have come since the fifties. Also, sexual harassment is a giant issue for teenage girls and women in the USA. On average, one out of five women is sexually harassed at least once in their lifetime. This is a giant problem that must be solved. Finally, there should be another Civil Rights Movement because of police brutality. Police brutality may not seem like a huge issue in daily life, but it is. Many police officers are trying their best to keep the USA safe from crime, but many abuse their power. Most of the police brutality that goes on is the cause of racism, going back to one of my previous points. These police officers disobey the rights that all Americans have by abusing and arresting them for no apparent reason sometimes. Those are my views on a new CRM happening.
Truthfully, I think that if we needed a new Civil Rights Movement, I do not think it would be for African Americans, Women, or Immigrants. I think the group of people most in need of awareness and help is those in poverty. Poverty is a shade that falls over all ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and religious beliefs. I also think that although African Americans, women, homosexuals, and immigrants have been looked at with disgust, they still have had their own movements that have increased awareness about them. While women, homosexuals, and African Americans are a key aspect of our society now, I don’t necessarily think that all immigrants deserve a Civil Rights movement in our society. They tend to take American jobs, eat up welfare designed for American citizens, and make up most of those who experience poverty today. Homosexuals have had huge movements, and people have gained so much awareness that it is now legal in the U.S. for them to marry. Although there will always be the select few that will never accept those that are different, I personally think that as a society we generally accept African Americans, women, and homosexuals for who they are and their value to society. Various Civil Rights movements for women and African Americans in the late 1900s also greatly improved their status in society, and immigrants have been receiving more exposure in the present day, while those in poverty have always been neglected and have gotten the least results in their favor. Although Hispanics have a yearly median salary of about $13,000, and Blacks with about $11,000, they are not the only ones suffering from poverty. While it is claimed that whites have a yearly median salary of about $140,000, they too can suffer from poverty, which goes to show that poverty is a blanket that covers all people, not just a certain group. The fact that Hispanics and Blacks suffer much more severely and widely from poverty can, in part, be attributed to racism because of the century-deep beliefs of white supremacy that most of our ancestors falsely wove into our minds and characters. I think this racism has now gained so much more publicity and awareness that it’s been getting better since slavery was abolished so long ago, that people have realized that it’s not just Blacks that were suffering from racism, but other immigrants as well. I think today, as a society, we need to raise more awareness of poverty as a whole. Many whites that are well off live in a sheltered society where they are never exposed to how other people live, and I think that how others live should be a subject more widely known and studied by everyone. I think that even though various presidents try to have tax cuts, and things like that, but it may take a nation-wide civil rights movement to truly expose to everyone the true meaning of poverty and what effects it has on those who don’t live in modern suburbia, go to the best schools, and live the lush life of those who have no need to worry about paying for food and other “basic” living expenses. Those of us who live these lush, luxurious, lives should be front and foremost in the fight against poverty, and if a new Civil Rights Movement is what it takes, then why are we still sitting here?
Connor B
If I were to join a NEW Civil Rights movement, I would pick two; The Marriage Equality Movement, and to help Continue the movement against police brutality.
I still remember the 5-hour layover I had at the Houston airport in Texas, with my church youth group on the way back from a mission trip in Belize, eating at Bubba’s Bar & Grill in D Terminal when the news came on, officially announcing That the Supreme Court of The United States passed the new marriage equality law, allowing Same-Sex marriage. I remember my friends and I posting to Facebook and Twitter like crazy with #Lovewins. Despite all of the angry rednecks around us, we were happy that our Government was now on board with our argument and were pretty obnoxious about it- some of you, assuming you are reading my post, might be thinking things like “What is a Christian youth group doing, celebrating marriage equality? Haven’t Christian views persecuted the LGBTQ community for Centuries?” Alas, that indeed is true. The main reason gay marriage has been kept out of the country until now was mostly because of religious bias, following the Old Testament of the Bible, book of Leviticus. Our group, however, is Presbyterian- at the Presbyterian General Assembly in 2014 (hosted in Detroit, MI, at COBO), the G.A. decided that Gay Marriage should be accepted, following many teachings of the Gospel book John, the eleventh commandment (Love thy neighbor as thou doth love thyself) , and many other New Testament teachings that glorify Love, Understanding, Coexistence, Agape, and Equality.
To say that the Christian community dominates the persecution of Gays is an Obtuse statement, but I see where that can be gathered- but I personally agree that the Persecution is dominantly biased by Monotheistic Religion overall. I stand with the Gays with all of this because not only do I believe in equality religious and nonreligious, but I also believe in the Enlightenment Philosophy of “Separation of Church and State,” by French Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire, meaning that the Religious community cannot interfere with the Government, as long as the government does not blatantly interfere with the doctrines of religious communities.
For example, a county clerk in a given state cannot deny a marriage license to a gay couple if the Supreme Court already passed the bill allowing gay marriage just because it conflicts with the religion of the clerk- the marriage has to do with law, not religion.
Yes, Kim Davis, I am roasting you.
When the world understands how little marriage equality affects us, they will all know that even if gay marriage is interpreted as a middle finger toward religion, they can go for coexistence.
That’s why I support the LGBTQ’s, and I will keep supporting them until the end.
The other day, I watched a horrifying, sickening, video of a black teenager being beaten by three white cops just for jaywalking. It made me sick my stomach that our police force has not much evolved from the Police beatings in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama. The combined havoc from Baltimore, Ferguson, and many other cities came from police brutality towards minorities. I’m not saying all cops have this kind of xenophobia, in fact, most cops do their job just splendidly- but when police see a Black Teen and accuse him of theft, and shoot him multiple times, (Michael Brown, Ferguson, MO), and yet carry a xenophobic gunman that killed 9 innocent people IN A CHURCH, as gently as can be, (Dylan Roof, Charleston, SC) that makes me want to vomit. When the racist corruption that many white people have gets carried over to the justice system, It becomes clear that America has not evolved much further than where it was in the 1960’s.
I am against racist brutality of law enforcement, and the violence that gets aimed directly toward minorities in general, police or not. I believe the good cops left in America should take initiative and perform better leadership around their partners in the justice system, and the racial Bias and Corruption within our authorities and general population needs to come to a complete halt.
I think there should be another civil rights movement. If there ever was another civil rights movement I would chose the pay gap between men and women for the same jobs. Because as it was mentioned in the question usually a women’s payment would just be extra because men usually would make more than women which is not equal. I have an example and that wopuld be my parents my dad got his job because he could speak german and my mom can also speak German this year my mom is finally able to work at the same place as my dad. The only difference is that she gats paid a lot less than my dad. My mom never really worked so we would always get used to only my dad’s payment and we were able to live with it and now that my mom works and she gets paid not a lot we just considered it as extra like for example to buy new silverware. But my mom works really hard she should get paid the same as my dad and her income should maybe be used to go on trips because my parents love to travel. We’ve been to a lot of places.
Another issue I think we should be able to take about is the fact that immigrants don’t have as many rights as Americans. I understand why but I still think I should be able to get a drivers license or be able to work at a job without have to wait for the government to give me the right to do that. Since I am French I’m not American and I don’t have a social security number so I can’t get a job or get a drivers license. I had to go to the state security place to ask them to get a paper that would explain why I don’t have a social security number. I personally don’t think that should have to happen, I have a visa which means I should be able to do things in America because what happens if I stay here forever because I don’t have a green card we haven’t been given that right yet and I don’t know why. But if I could be able to do things Americans do I would be able to be happier.
If I had to choose a Civil Rights Movement group to join I probably would join the group that supported the African Americans. I would support the African American Civil Rights Movement group because I fell that blacks have been treated horribly through American History for no apparent reason. There is not and should not be a reason to treat someone or a group of people with such disrespect and disgust no matter what race gender of ethnicity they are. People are people and should all be treated the same way. If I were to join this civil rights group my main priority would be to stop Police Brutality. The job of a police officer is to protect people from any harm and stop criminals for doing crimes. Not to attack or beat an black citizen because how they look. They should not be able to get away with the statement of I attacked/ killed this person in self defense; I thought they were going to kill me. That is completely unfair especially when there is physical proof showing that the black citizen appeared harmless towards the cop, but he beat him anyway. I believe that police officers that tend to such extreme acts of violence based on race should be taken off the force and put into jail depending on what they have done. My secondary priority would be to help African Americans get into better school and better/ higher paying jobs based of them deserving of it. No African American should not be allowed to go the school they deserve to go to if they have the proper grades for it. If someone is worthy of the school they should get accepted no matter what race, gender or ethnic group. Some income rate between blacks and whites are completely different, which is unfair. If someone puts in the time and effort and works hard for a job he/ she would not be prohibited to work there because he/she is black or Latino. If there ever were a Civil Rights Movement I would definitely support both of these groups.
4. If I were to join a civil rights movement, I would join the movement against police brutality and violence against African Americans. As a Jew I can kind of relate to the struggles African Americans have had over the years. Thousands of years ago, the Jews were slaves in Egypt and were in need of freedom. More recently in the past 500 years, Africans were brought over to the Americas and used as work slaves receiving no pay, rights, or respect. During the Civil Rights Movement, innocent African Americans took a peaceful, nonviolent resort to getting there rights but were attacked and killed. During the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis murdered six million plus innocent defenseless Jews. Both share a history of being persecuted and abused. These are some of the reasons I would be compelled to join this movement. On a normal February day in 2012 in Miami Gardens, Florida, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a policeman. Martin was coming home from a store carrying skittles and ice tea while wearing a hoodie. He had been walking through his neighborhood when Zimmerman called him in for suspicious behavior. Zimmerman shot Martin fatally in the chest killing the innocent black boy. After the case was investigated, Zimmerman said that there had been robbery’s in the neighborhood previously in the year. Martin was being targeted as a criminal because of the color of his skin. Throughout the nation through the next three years, countless videos, pictures, and reports of the brutality the police give to the blacks have been a central piece of the media. The evidence shown in the media shows how police officers abuse their powers. They have too much strength and flexibility when serving arrests or warrants and these rights given to officers are giving them too much power. If I was in this movement, I would make it a priority to limit police powers and actions. Then if power is abused and caught on video or picture they would have a legit violation of their powers. If things progressively get worse for black abuse by police officers then this movement will be necessary.
I do believe that America is in need of another Civil Rights Movement. This time instead of a movement towards African American rights as a whole it should be for police brutality against African Americans. Lately there have been many cases of the killing of innocent citizens by police just because they are black. Look at the incident in Ferguson, Missouri with Michael Brown. Officer Wilson saw two African American men walking in the middle of the street and told them to move to the side walk. He then notices that one of them, Michael Brown, fit the description of a suspect of store theft. The officer pulls his car father up as to block the road. From there what we know is there was some kind of confrontation between them that caused Officer Wilson to shoot Michael several times. In this incident we see a black man that should have been arrested for theft, but instead was shot because he was black. Now yes you can go ahead and say that there might have been a reason for this as we do not know what the confrontation between them involved. That is why that if there was another CRM for this I believe that one of the main things that would need to be changed is the fact that there is not always footage of these incidents. A good way to fix this might be by making it so that police have cameras clipped on to their uniforms in some way that would be recording when they come across something like this. All officers should also have dash cams in their cars. This way there would be two different views of what is happening. This would also ensure that there is always a video of what has happened. If something happens to one of the cameras then there is always a back up or if one angle doesn’t show what is needed than the other will. This would be a great step in helping to fix police brutality. If a new Civil Rights Movement were to start up over police brutality there is no doubt that I will be supporting it.
If I had to choose one of the groups mentioned, I would join the LGBTQ civil rights movement. Although I would want to participate in the others as well. The reason that I would join this civil rights group is because that even though the Supreme Court just passed the law that gays can get married, there is still so much hate towards them. Even though our generation is more accepting, there are still many people who don’t accept LGBTQ equal rights.
People in the LGBTQ community are treated differently because of the way they live their life. Some people believe that LGBTQ choose the way they live. I know that isn’t true. People don’t choose their sexual orientation, who they are born to, the siblings that they might or might not have, or who they like. If everyone in the world was the same, the world would be quite boring. Also, some people don’t accept people in the LGBTQ community because of religion beliefs. They believe that God has created people so that only a man and a woman should be together, I disagree. My argument is, if you believe in a creator, that creator had purposefully created people that are different.
I also believe that people that are gay or lesbian should be allowed to adopt children. Sure, the child or children won’t have a mother or father, but they would have a home and loving parents. I think that having a home with loving parents is better than not or being somewhere that you aren’t accepted. In addition, even though a gay couple are two people in a relationship that are the same gender, they act a parental unit just like the more traditional family.
The top priority for me in this civil rights movement is that people in the LGBTQ community would have a good life with equal rights an opportunities. I remain baffled when people are treated differently because the way they feel and /or the way they were born. Another top priority that I have is for them to have children, if they’d like. Nothing should stand in their way of achieving what they want.
If I were to join a new civil rights movement, I would join one that focuses on women’s rights. In this movement the main issues stated would be the pay gap between men and women, women and young girls being blamed for sexual crimes and obviously, the double standard for beauty. I would like to specifically focus on the issue of the pay gap. Growing up when we learned about jobs we would have in the future, and everyone always had their dream job. Some choose doctors, singers, baseball players, or scientists, it was simply what you wanted to do. But as we grew up our futures start curving more towards what will make the most money and not what your actual interests are. We learn about Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, even Donald Trump. These self-made billionaires that now have tons of money and wealth. So now people dream of being rich CEOs and business men. Well, these examples are all men, as most of the wealthy people are. When girls dream of having lots of money our only examples are Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Beyonce. You don’t hear about female business moguls taking the world by storm. In business foundations, we have not watched one video about a company headed by a woman, not one. The only successful women that are being shown in the media are actresses and singers, etc. This eventually all comes down to the fact that women don’t make as much as men for doing the same job. Specifically, women make 77 cents for the men’s $1. Disgraceful. We start at a disadvantage and are forced to climb an uphill battle to be successful. This needs to be changed not only so women so we can be a an equal playing field in the job front and have as many opportunities as men to make money. We should be valued just as much as men for putting in the same amount of hard work, if not more. When young girls are being taught about the people that essentially run our world, they should not all be men. According to Business Insider, the wealthiest woman in tech is worth $1.3 billion, the wealthiest man is worth $79.2 billion. Women are only 11% of the world’s billionaires list made by Forbes. Maybe, if the pay gap was non existed this gap would be much smaller. In the future, young girls should be learning about powerful women just as much as we learn about powerful men. So first, women need to be given an equal chance to make difference and be just as powerful and influential in the world as men are, by erasing the pay gap.
In my opinion, the school-to-prison pipeline is the most appalling of these issues. I believe this trend started with “No Child Left Behind” which turned the focus of schooling from learning to passing tests, in many cases. This pressure to get students to pass has largely overshadowed specialized support, and because of it many “delinquents” just didn’t get help when they needed it. Another vital part of the pipeline, however, is the concept of draconian zero-tolerance policies. With no wiggle room or argument, students can be kicked out of school, which is not exactly conducive to creating an upstanding citizen who respects authority. However, this is not entirely the fault of the schools, as for-profit prisons and our high incarceration rate can attest to. For-profit prisons are in part a cause of our incarceration rate, as they provide a monetary incentive to put people in jail. In fact, it is my opinion that anyone who supports zero-tolerance systems is supporting the school-to-prison pipeline. This entire system is morally despicable, as it ruins people’s lives solely for profit, especially the poor, who are less able to dispute charges. Furthermore, the poor often have to deal with underfunded schools, which breed apathetic staff members. Not everyone is as fortunate as we are to live in an excellent school district, and uncaring staff are less likely to want to help students, instead kicking them out via zero-tolerance rules. The school-to-prison pipeline is a complicated process, but one that is universally unfair. The sad thing about our society today is the focus on money, even to the detriment of others.
I would choose to join a civil rights movement for African Americans made victims of police brutality and violence because I feel it is unacceptable and ridiculous for this many black people to be killed by police officers. My main priority would be to educate police officers on when is and isn’t a appropriate time to use a gun, because besides some people still being hateful towards African Americans, this seems to be the problem. Many harmless and unarmed black children and adults have been murdered on sight for no reason within the last 3 years and their oppressor has been able to walk away with clean hands. Cases like Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy from Cleveland murdered at a recreational center for playing with a fake gun; Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American boy from Florida shot by a neighborhood watchmen multiple times for walking outside from a local 7/11. A couple things both of these cases have in common both consist of senseless crimes and white oppressors who were not indicted, which brings me to my next priority to stop racial injustice to black from the judicial courts. Of all the cases we know about 99% of the time the police officer is not charged with the crime, and they always conveniently find some excuse as to why they killed another human being. But let the shoe be on the other foot, and it was a black man who killed an innocent white child he would have been charged no question about it. Unfortunately, the American courts have a racial double standard. So as part of the civil rights movement I would present a system called the “Don’t Shoot Rule” to eliminate the gray lines between non-probable and probable cause. The system would consist of a sense of “do and don’t” rules that every police officer or any law enforcement would have to go by. For an example, “if the suspect is under 12 don’t shoot because most likely they are not dangerous” or “don’t use a gun as the first ‘go-to’ weapon to control a situation”. Therefore, with rules and guidelines as stated, if there was another situation where a precious black life or any life was taken and their reasoning falls under the “don’t shoot” column and their still not convicted, everyone will have reasonable doubt to believe that there was racial or even sexual bias with their hearing from the judge and or the jury.
I believe that America does need another Civil Rights Movement and I would fully support a new one for African Americans. It horrifies me that so many people are still racist today. This is not the 1800s, blacks are people too and they deserve the same rights as whites! We are living in 2015; racism and police brutality should not be a problem for blacks. African Americans are not treated as equals to white people in America all the time. For a CVM to be effective it needs to be used 100% of the time, not just 75% of the time. Blacks and whites should be offered the same jobs if they have had the same education. They should both be able to get the job; a company should not pick a white person over a black because of race. I understand that making racism illegal won’t exactly help the problem; if someone is racist then that is his or her way of thinking. We need to teach kids how to not be racist and I understand that we are doing that today by teaching them about the past and having assignments like this one. Also police brutality is one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard of. I get that a police officer is protecting America but do not shoot someone because you THINK they MIGHT do something. I’m sorry but that is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while. You can put someone in handcuffs if you THINK they MIGHT do something, but do not shoot them unless completely necessary and that goes for blacks and whites. If a person shows aggression toward a police officer or is actually doing something illegal then it is ok to put force on them but only the kind allowed. Police Brutality is never ok, no matter the race of the victim. Blacks need to be able to live and feel as safe as I do here at home. If I were to be involved in a new Civil Rights Movement I would fight for no more racism and no more police brutality. I would fight for the Justice of The African Americans.
If I were to join a group for a civil rights movement, it would without a doubt be to fight for the LGBTQ+ community. People may think that now that marriage equality exists, the war has won, but it was just a battle won. There are still many things that are worth working towards in the community. There is, as mentioned, the adoption process to allow gay couples to adopt a child together, transgender rights, proper teaching of sexuality and gender in schools, and more. Transgender rights, as well as rights for others outside the gender binary, is something I find very important, such as allowing people to use the bathroom they are comfortable using and being able to transition/avoid dysphoria, to do what they need to do in getting to that. One of the biggest problems within the fight for the LGBT+ community, in my mind, is the lack of understanding. People do not understand who is in this community, what sexuality and gender really are, or how to handle it when they do find out. Part of this is a lack of willingness to learn, many people are taught one way at a young age and choose to never decide on their own. This could be blamed on schools. Though in the past, LGBTQ hasn’t been a focus in our nation by any means, it is a big part of our society now. It would be beneficial to all if schools took time to teach their students about the many sexualities, the many different ways a person can identify gender wise, and to treat them with respect. If there was more understanding, it could do wonders for the nation as a whole, there may even be less hate crimes towards LGBTQ people. Though there are not as many hate crimes against them as other minorities, it is just as much of a problem, and it shouldn’t have to get to the point where it is as big of a deal as other hate crimes towards other races, considering it should never have to.
In today’s America there are so many things to be thankful for. We are, overall, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We take pride in calling ourselves the “land of the free” and since we live in ‘Murica we often feel impenetrable. However. There are underlying issues that we distract ourselves away from; that we avoid with our self-congratulatory pats on the back for being so diverse and welcoming, that we blind ourselves to the stone cold truth. We make ourselves out to be a color-blind society, a home for all, but when you take a look at the founding block of our lives you see something very different. The so called “founding block” I refer to is Education: a seemingly basic, but necessary, principle in producing future generations of prosperous Americans. In today’s America education is supposedly available to each and every citizen, but is that actually the truth? When we look at the facts, we see that the dropout rate for African Americans in particular hasn’t wavered all that significantly since 1990. Other minority groups such as Hispanics and Native Americans may show a slight decrease in the number of students dropping out of high school and falling into lower breeches of society, but they are significantly higher on the chart of total percent of dropouts per year than white students the same age. When students drop out of school, they may be doing so to work a job to get their family a steady income or to take care of little ones, but this shouldn’t be the job of a highschooler. A teenager is still budding into themselves as a person, and even though it may seem like they have matured and made some poor decisions with a wholeness of mind and understanding of what they were doing – they weren’t. In today’s America schools have what is called a zero tolerance policy. Once someone has broken an outstanding rule, they face serious consequences. If they are black, then the consequences tend to be even more severe. According to naacp.org “Studies demonstrate that racial and ethnic minority youth are treated more harshly than their Caucasian counterparts at every stage of the juvenile criminal justice system. This is true from initial contact with law enforcement authorities through the disposition, trial and sentencing phases.” The article goes on to explain that even though only 16% of youth in the United States are African Americans, 37% of kids ages 11 ad 18 arrested are African American. Also, if you are black then you are nine times more likely to than a white teen the same age to receive an adult prison sentence. The article explains that these depressing statistics are a result of a disproportionate amount of school related arrests. Currently, African American and Hispanic youth represent more than 70% of those arrested or referred to law enforcement from school. Because of this knowledge, I would definitely choose to join the civil rights movement to end the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Prison is something most people can never come back from; it was designed that way. Jail was made as a place for those deemed unfit for society by some outside observer. I’m not saying prison is a bad thing, I think it’s necessary to have a man-made-hell for murderers and rapists and other sinners, but I do not believe it is a place to stick misguided teenagers. A person can’t develop or grow in jail, they undergo colossal educational disruptions, from which no one can return from, reduced future employment opportunities, and increased likelihood of arrest as an adult. Sticking a child in prison won’t get them to change their ways, it takes away any opportunity that person may have had to rebuild their life into something promising. The education system as a whole with the Juvenile and Criminal Justice programs need to work together to re-imagine a plan to give students of minority groups another option besides jail to live a new life. Then and only then will we find success in a better America.
If I had to choose one civil rights movement to support, it would be double standard for beauty, specifically with women. Women face this constant struggle every day, of not feeling pretty enough, of not feeling worthy enough. Women always compare themselves to unrealistic beauty standards, most of which are photo shopped, and touched up by professionals. In society today, we are so used to seeing false images of perfection. Women feel like they have to live up to this standard, and when they cannot, it makes them feel like crap. Women all around the world suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts all because they are trying to be unrealistically beautiful. They are trying to be skinny, trying to wear too much makeup, and just trying too hard in general. Men do not have this problem at all. They just wake up in the morning and throw on the same shirt they already wore twice this week. They can gain 20 pounds, and no one will even notice, much less even care. Some of my top priorities while supporting this movement would be, showing young girls that no one looks like that skinny model on the front of the magazine. Showing them the reality of what people look like without makeup on, and showing them that they are beautiful, inside and out without putting pounds of makeup on or not eating for a week. I would also like to tell and show other people in the world that normal people are not supposed to look like Victoria Secret models, and to stop having such high expectations from girls, to try to look like that all the time. Specifically we need to teach boys that no one is like this, they see models on TV, or in magazines and they expect girls to look the same way. We need to show the world the reality of women, and teach young people to not idolize all of these edited models on the front of a magazine.
All of the groups that were presented could use a civil rights movement. I personally agree with most of them, but I feel the closest to the beauty standards of women vs. men. Women are treated differently than men and people need to realize that. There is always a double standard between the two genders from sports, to clothes, to jobs. Women also are judged regarding their personal appearance. Women are expected to wear more elegant clothing such as to events like Homecoming. Every female at the Homecoming dance was in some dress up attire most likely a dress. There were some men there who showed up in jeans and a t-shirt, yet they do not get in trouble for not abiding by the dress code. Women are expected to always be in top physical condition to make sure that they have that “bikini body” while men can be overweight and it does not seem to be as large of an issue. I sometimes feel that women dress the way they do for the other sex. Many women wear clothing to impress men rather than have respect for themselves. Men never seem to dress up for women by wearing over-sexualized clothes or revealing clothing options. Men do have pressure to look super masculine, but it is not as highlighted as the pressure women have to look a certain way. A majority of females wear makeup on a daily basis for the soul reason of covering up what they believe to be blemishes. Men never apply concealer to acne or acne scars because those on a man are accepted. Women on the other hand, are expected to look flawless all of the time. Looks do matter no matter how many times people argue they don’t. Men do not have to put all the time and effort that women are expected to put in to look like the “perfect” person. Celebrities have it even worse. Female celebrities are the ones the paparazzi’s want to see while on the red carpet. They want to see their dresses, not the suits. Anyone over the size four in Hollywood is considered overweight, but a man that is considered to be in the overweight category, does not even make the papers. Instead of prioritizing how women should look, there should be a drive in trying to make people feel good about themselves no matter how their appearance is.
If I had to choose a civil rights movement to be a part of, and have as a number one priority it would be the inequality of payment of types of jobs in society. Not only for the women vs. the men, or the African Americans vs. the Caucasians, though for the rich vs. poor, and immigrants vs. citizens. All these inequalities make me wonder, has morale of the United States really changed in the past century? Though improvements have been made, when trying to find a job in the United States, the employers still favor, Caucasian males over every other minority. It’s unfair that a woman, who went to school longer than the male counter part is still refused the job because she’s a mother, or had been sexually harassed before, etc. In the United States, we still see the father of the household as the breadwinner, though for many families this fact is true, in other families, it is false. In the movie ‘The Intern’ with Anne Hathaway, her character is a CEO of a company, and struggles throughout the movie with her investors wanting another person to take her position because her company was so successful, with the harsh judgments of the parents at her child’s school, because she went to work everyday instead of being a stay-at-home-mother. Being an immigrant, It annoys me that being an immigrant affects the kinds of jobs you can have, for example people who worked very hard to come over to the United states, like many of our ancestors had done many years ago, cannot find jobs because of their color of their skin, beliefs or how they speak. The inequality of the payment of the African Americans and the Caucasians also is a matter to stress about, for the fact that many racists employers judge applicants by their color of their skins instead of their skills shown on their resumes. How can somebody know that one person would be better for a job, when the two applicants have the same resume and the only difference is their race?
If I had to join a civil rights group, I would join the marriage equality group. The struggle to earn gay rights has been going on since the 1920s when the Society for Human Rights in Chicago recognized that’s gays aren’t treated fairly. In the 1900s many people didn’t believe in gays and thought if they didn’t believe then they didn’t exist, they are very wrong because there are more gay and lesbian people in the world now then you think. In 1955 the first Lesbian Rights group was formed in San Francisco. The in 1966 the first transgender organization was also founded in San Francisco. Three years later the Stonewell riots turned gay rights from a small issue into a world protest for equal rights and protection. It took the US until 2000 to just have one state, Vermont allow civil unions to gay couples. Civil Unions were not called marriages but at least it’s a start. From 2005 thru 2007, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey legalize civil unions between gay couples. Still not marriage but they take what they can get. And then finally in the summer of 2015 same sex marriage is legalized, it’s about time. I never understood why some people were so against gay marriage or gay people because to me they are just people. My top priority in this group would be to get it legalized that a gay couple could adapt a child. I think this is very important because I think that if the couple wants a baby and is prepared to give it a good life and good home then they should be able to have it. And it’s just rude for the adaption center to say no just because the couple is gay or lesbian. So many children in third world countries need a home because the conditions that they were born into aren’t livable but then a gay couple wants to adapt it and is turned down. This, in my opinion, is ridiculous. I know that some people say that it’s better to grow up with one mother and one father in the house but now adults get divorced, which used to be illegal, and the child ends up being raised by one parent rather than two. I could go on about gay rights for days because it is a topic that I have strong feelings on because I have gay friends and I feel that it is their right to be married if they want to and to be able to go out and not feel judged by other people.
Yes, I do believe that we are in need of another civil rights movement for the African American community. The bigger idea is even with a civil rights movement it might not change many people’s hearts and minds about how they feel like African American people. Even with a black president the full American Dream is not always possible to achieve. I mean it’s kind of interesting even if you were born in America you aren’t fully just American unless you’re white, all the other races have something before them such as Native Americans, Asian Americans and African Americans. The civil rights movement would be used to try and get the income gap between white and black people to close, because regardless of my skin color if I have the same credentials as a white person and we both get the same job there is no reason I should get paid less. Also the systematic racism in this country would be put to question with the civil rights movement. Why is it that black people tend to lose their jobs more often than white people? Why is it that black people tend to be victims of foreclosure more than white people? It seems like they are all just a cause and effect cycle that keeps going, get a job to pay for the house and then lose the job and can’t pay for the house now so you lose that too and then the cycle starts all the way over. Too many young black Americans are getting killed or being brutalized by the police. This violence is happening all over the United States. There is never a reason for a twelve year old boy to be gunned down by the police just because he was playing with a toy gun not being a threat to anyone, and the ending result most of the time is that someone ends up losing their child and there is no justice for it. The biggest one for me is respectability policies. Respectability policies are a need to try and be something you are not to make someone else comfortable. Black women have to do this a lot with their hair because they are afraid to wear their hair natural to a job interview because of the possibility of not getting a job. People all the time are disproved by society because they won’t conform to respectability policies to meet the standard of white beauty. These are the reasons why I would choose a civil rights movement for African Americans.
I feel very strongly about the perspective regarding a civil rights movement for citizens within the LGBTQ+ community. Being a member of this community, I have been incredibly lucky to have a mother who loves and accepts me, friends who support me, and a school that defends me. However, this is NOT nearly the case for lots of people within the community. Most who know about the community have knowledge about homosexuality and the concept of transforming. What most do not know, or have very limited knowledge about, are the other members of the community that haven’t been recognized and supported at a large scale. Just naming a few, genderfluid people, nonbianary people, demi-gendered people (people who have a slight connection to a specific gender, but also feel nonbianary), and any others who identify as a gender other than normal “male” or “female, have been treated unequally in our community and nothing on a scale at all has pushed for rights regarding people with unknown genders. When going to a restaurant, for example, there are two restroom options: men and women. What happens if you don’t fall under a category? Bathrooms should not be separated by sex – they should be separated by gender, which are two very different things. Those who identify as nonbianary (having no gender/feeling genrderless) may not be comfortable using a bathroom facility with men or with women. Genderfluid people (people who go from one gender to another based of what they feel hat particular day/moment/time) may feel as a female gender, but be forced to use the men’s room because they also feel masculine sometimes and wish to keep their birth sex. This alone is such a discrimination to people who have overcome the challenges of discovering who you truly are. But this hasn’t even scratched the surface. Cross-dressers, feminine males, masculine women, people who look like their gender isn’t distinguishable – all of these people have been ridiculed publically for decades. As far back as I remember, my father would always tell me not to interact with strangers, but he would emphasize and stress the fact to CHANGE STREET SIDES when a male dressed as a women would walk by. Looking back on this, my dad thought this person was a danger to me, when in reality that person could’ve been such a strong individual for truly expressing who they are. People are beaten savagely, bullied so intensely, and emotionally abused because of the fact their gender isn’t the standard boy or girl, and this type of attitude in or society needs to be suppressed. If a civil rights movement were to campaign for rights as small as having genderless bathrooms, getting to write in your own gender instead of picking between male and female (when using most websites that require such information), and education children about thee beauty of diversity and the endless gender possibilities, so much of the nations prosecution towards the hidden members of the LGBTQ+ community could be prevented. These acts are so small, such a great start t lead into other movements that can, and should, take place, such as unlimited gender options to be put on birth certificates, separate from the sex of a person, gender neutral clothing sections, gender neutral businesses/jobs; the sheer possibilities are endless. Of course, I myself am only mentioning a small fraction of the measures needed to be advocated in an LGBTQ+ civil rights movement – there are so many aspects that have been neglected, it is impossible to name all that needs to be changed within one blog. This population of the world deserves equal representation given to them, as is given to all other members of the population. It simply is not fair or just in any way to exclude rights to members of the world based on the way they feel about themselves and it must be acted upon.
I do believe that we need another Civil Rights Movement, but not for African American rights all around it would be how some people act towards them. With brutality and such. There has been a lot of anger towards them focusing around white police officers. Like the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, with Michael Brown. Officer Wilson saw two African American men walking in the middle of the street and told them to move to the side walk. He then notices that one of them, Michael Brown, fit the description of a suspect of store theft. The officer pulls his car father up as to block the road. From there what we know is there was some kind of confrontation between them that caused Officer Wilson to shoot Michael several times. In this incident we see a black man that should have been arrested for theft, but instead was shot because he was black. Maybe there was a logical reason, but is it really ok to shoot a young man because he’s black? I don’t think so. But I guess opinions are opinions. But some people even joined the protest “Black Lives Matter” which is a non-violent protest to show people that, well, black lives matter too. There have been some other examples of police brutality, for example in Inkster, Michigan, Floyd Dent was pulled from his car and beaten in the head by then police officer William Melendez and tasered by other police officers at the scene. Dent was hospitalized. Originally, Dent, who was unarmed, was charged with assault, resisting arrest and possession of cocaine. After reviewing the police video at the scene, all charges were dismissed, because turns out none of these charges were actually true… This is why I believe if we are to have another civil rights movement they should zero in on police brutality towards blacks.
If I had to pick one the groups mentioned in the blog post to back in a civil rights movement, it would definitely be the LGBTQ movement. Its excellent that marriage equality is nation wide now but its, frankly, a little sad that it took this long. And, as mentioned in the post, there is still a long way to go in terms of their rights. Many people who are opposed to the marriage equality bill are trying to use “religious liberties” as a means to further discriminate LGBTQ people. Homosexuals are still fighting for some basic rights like the right to adopt a child. They still face harassment in the work place and some places go as far as to deign service to them altogether. These injustices are just the beginning because its more than just “cool, gays can get married now”, its about how straight people view the LGBTQ community. Why is it that the only question republicans candidates were asked about on the matter of LGBTQ rights is ‘would you attend a gay wedding’? Why is it that trans people are only considered such after they have had the operation? Bisexuals are just ignored all together, and pansexuals may as well not even exists. Theres a very big lack of awareness in the “everyman”. For evidence, look no further than movies and media. Hollywood hasn’t changed the “gay best friend” stereotype since the 70s. Its embarrassing. Why is it that straight girls long of a “gay best friend” but then turn their backs on their lesbian classmates? Even in schools, teachers pretend that the marriage equality thing is just a fun discussion topic, like they don’t have gay kids in their classes. An Education report by LGBT Youth Scotland found that “education is the location where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people feel they face the most discrimination, with schools rated as the worst experience of all institutions.” (newsshaft.com) The LGBTQ is visible now for better or worse but societies perception on them is far from accurate. Now, to address the question: do we need a civil rights movement to fix these problems? When it comes to adoption rights and these bigots using religion to justify their homophobia then I think they definitely need some type of change, and its needs to come from a judicial level. However, the American people also need to come together and change their view of the LGBTQ community by themselves. There isn’t a law in the world that can change how people think of others behind closed doors. The change needs to come from the citizens of america. To quote JFK “ Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” We need to take it a step further than just tolerance. Because its not over yet.
I strongly believe that our nation needs to undergo another civil rights movement. Our nation has many problems that need to be solved, but if I had to choose a cause, I would fight for marriage rights and the elimination of systematic racism. Both of these topics have the ability to damage people’s lives forever, and make them suffer through their lives. These issues have been around for centuries, and I believe that it is time for something to be done.
First, I am going to talk about why I think that our nation needs to spark a civil rights movement for marriage rights. I know that recently a bill was passed to make gay marriage legal, but that does not come close to taming some peoples views on this topic. Many people make fun and harass these people on a daily basis. They do not understand that it shouldn’t matter if they are gay, they should be able to do whatever makes them happy and guides them to a better life. I think that this subject could benefit from a smaller scale civil rights movement, one that uses no violence, but conveys a powerful message. It is not as simple as creating a new law that will change people’s opinions, we will have to try and persuade people to understand why they should be allowed to do what makes them happy.
Another topic that I believe that our nation needs to revisit is the problem of racism. Earlier in history we had our own civil rights movement to abolish segregation, but many still believe that they are better than African Americans. I think that this is not acceptable in our modern day, and is an embarrassment to our country. If you ask most African Americans, they will admit to at some point in their lives to being treated unfairly due to their race. I think that a civil rights movement could try to shame, and even somewhat threaten, the people who still feel this way. They should not be able to get away with something so evil. I believe that marriage equality and systematic racism are two topics that our nation needs to revisit in the form of a civil rights movement.
I think a new Civil Rights Movement is needed. If I had to choose a group to join for a civil rights movement I would choose to be a part of the women’s rights movement and I would also be against police brutality. I would choose these because they stood out to me, being a girl and seeing how police brutality has become more prominent. I don’t think many people think about the unequal pay of men and women for the same job. In the research, they saw that for every dollar a man made, a woman would make only $0.87. This isn’t fair because women aren’t given the chance to make as much as men. Financially, men and women should be able to provide for their families equally. If a single mother, which there are many of, gets paid less than a single father would, that would affect her family more because she isn’t getting the equal pay she deserves for working just as hard. But what I would mostly focus on is r-ape culture. Why should a woman be blamed for provoking someone’s actions because of what she was wearing? No matter what, that doesn’t make it okay and this is a serious issue. R-ape cases shouldn’t be dismissed because the question “what was she wearing?” was asked and people should stop justifying it for that. The victim shouldn’t be blamed for her assault because it shouldn’t matter what she was wearing. One in five women surviving r-ape or attempted r-ape just isn’t right.
Police brutality against African Americans is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. There have been many incidents lately that have been shown regarding this. Police officers shouldn’t abuse their power like this, and I’m not saying that all police officers do, but some have and it has been seen. This is unequal enforcement and it isn’t fair that someone should be treated with violence because of their race or any other difference.
“Women should barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.” This phrase has been used around the world for as long as anyone can remember. Dating back to the 1800s, women were considered to be inferior to men. Why is this true? The norm back then was that while the men went to work and make money for their family, the wives’ jobs consisted of cooking, cleaning, bearing children, and taking care of them. This indeed is a lot to handle. However, women are capable of working the same jobs that men do on a daily basis. While today as a society we now recognize that, it is still true that women make only 74% of what men make on their paychecks. (http://billmoyers.com/content/facts-figures-women-and-pay-inequality/) This is absolutely outrageous. The unfair treatment of women throughout years passed must be stopped through a new Civil Rights Movement.
Another frustrating way a woman has been considered less than a man comes from expectations. A woman is expected to always look flawless, meaning to have perfect hair, skin, and makeup, and must look perfectly thin. This is a leading cause of many mental illnesses, such as anorexia, bulimia, and many others. “For some, dieting, bingeing and purging may begin as a way to cope with painful emotions and to feel in control of one’s life. Ultimately, though, these behaviors will damage a person’s physical and emotional health, self-esteem and sense of competence and control,” says NEDA, while discussing the causes of eating disorders. (https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/factors-may-contribute-eating-disorders) People everywhere, especially girls, feel pressured into looking “just right”—whatever that means—no matter what it takes to get there. I find it so sad that women feel bad about themselves all the time even though everyone is beautiful and everyone is special in their own way. I believe that this is a message that every woman should know.
Through all of this pressure and unfairness of women, still we somehow manage to get by, which shows how truly strong women are. In addition, women are considered to be more mature than men. This is why in Judaism a girl has the option to have her Bat Mitzvah when she is twelve, while a boy must wait until he is thirteen.
To conclude, one of my favorite quotes of all time comes from a woman named Ginger Rogers. She says, “There’s nothing a man can do, that I can’t do better and in high heels.” I believe that a Civil Rights Movement should happen specifically for women because we deserve to be treated the same as men, because anything a man can do, can be done just as well if not better by a woman.
This blog may have come at the perfect time for me because I just finished reading an article about Native American oppression (Link here http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/opinion/native-lives-matter-too.html). The thing about the civil rights movements mentioned in the blog post, is that these civil rights movements are already underway. Although they are not in the media as much as they should be, the movements are in fact getting more and more media attention. Unfortunately, there is virtually no civil rights movement for the native population. On many issues facing the Native American population, the public remains unfortunately ignorant. We all can look back to the time of European explorers and talk about how horrible the native population was treated back then, but when it comes to issues now, they are often pushed away. Colonialism was the first systemic racism that emerged in the United States, dating back to Columbian times. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, Native Americans are more likely than any other ethnic group to be victims of police brutality. When you take the time to look up police brutality against the native population, it doesn’t take long to find stories like that of John T. Williams. Williams was a homeless wood worker belonging to the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe. He was shot after “refusing” to drop the knife he had been using to wood work. Williams was mentally ill and partially deaf. Perhaps more outrageous was the story of RedBird Goodblanket. 911 was dialed about a small domestic misunderstanding. Upon entering the home, his father begged the police, as if he knew his own son’s fate, “please don’t shoot my son”. He was shot seven times. These were not isolated incidents. The article sites many more examples and the article doesn’t even scratch the surface. Police brutality is not the only challenge facing the Native Americans. They have the highest youth suicide rate of any ethnic group, a high drug and alcohol, an extraordinary poverty rate, and government discrimination. The Declaration of Independence itself refers to them as “merciless Indian savages”. Until we change this problem of colonialism in america via a civil rights movement, the problems of oppression as a whole are unlikely to change. This is not to say we should abandon all other civil rights movements and focus just on this one. Rather, it is important to challenge all forms of racism and oppression as an American flaw. We have done unimaginable things to Natives in the United States since before they were the United States, it is time we allow the issues they face to take the stage of the American minds, hearts, and media.
I think that America does need another civil rights movement: one for feminism. Moreover, a top priority should be eliminating r-ape culture. R-ape culture is real, and it’s serious. R-ape jokes aren’t funny. Nothing involving r-ape is funny. Women everywhere wake up, look at their clothes, and wonder: “Do I look provocative in this? What would people say?” Girls today are taught how not to get r-aped: don’t go out wearing something too revealing, because boys will be boys and men just can’t help themselves. R-ape is r-ape, and there’s no excuse for it. Women everywhere, whether they’re wearing burkas or veils or a mini skirt, get r-aped annually. Instead of teaching girls how not to get r-aped, to be passive, we need to teach boys basic human rights and the rules of consent: anything without consent is r-ape. Even knowing that r-ape culture is real, and wanting to oppose it, it’s hard to let it go because it’s been so deeply ingrained in us. It’s become a subconscious thing, so that every time we see a bra strap we immediately tell the person so they can hide it. But what does it matter? Whether you can see it or not doesn’t matter, the fact is, that bra is still there and you know it is thanks to object permanence. A short skirt or bra strap does not, and will never, insinuate that we asked for it. No one ever asks for r-ape. The first question to pop into your head shouldn’t be “What was she wearing?” but it is, because of r-ape culture. That’s no excuse, though. Keep it to yourself and change your attitude knowingly, and ask the right questions of when and where and how you can help. Today’s generation needs to actively try and adjust their perspectives, and to try and dislodge the ingrained r-ape culture that’s been taught to us for so long.
I believe that America in general should have a civil rights movement. Not only one group needs change, its multiple, and one should not have to wait longer than another for that change to happen. Different ethnicities may be oppressed in different ways, but they are all equally treated unfairly. Pay for example, is a factor in the civil rights movement for all of the minorities in America. African Americans have it worse making about 13 times less than the average white American man. Hispanics typically make 10 times less than the average American white man. Even white woman make significantly less than the average white man. Women make about $0.81 for every dollar a man earns.
Studies show that African Americans tend to lose their job sooner than a white man with the same abilities due to white supremacy. They’re also set up on a wrong path, since many are in areas with schools that lack proper funding for them to learn skills for the legitimate working world. African Americans civil rights movement has recently taken a big step up with the #blacklivesmatter movement. This movement calls out all the police brutality and violence that many African Americans experience and it goes unnoticed.
Illegal Latinos have been deported more by Barak Obama than many past presidents. I believe that many of the illegal immigrants here are here do to living conditions they were experiencing in Mexico, or because they weren’t making enough money. Sending them back would not make any situation better. When undocumented workers are found, they should be given an opportunity to get a social security number with a small punishment.
People of the LGBT community, who are now legally able to get married, are still not experiencing equality to straight couples. They are being denied adoption rights, even though they are legally married.
Im not exactly sure what factor I would zero in on, because I believe that these are all inequalities that need to be addresses. The biggest widespread problem seems to be unfair pay which is experienced by most minorities as I said in my first paragraph. I would probably work on making all people have the same, fair pay as the next.
I do believe that the United States needs a new civil rights movement. Although I don’t believe that the African American community needs it as much as the Latino American community, and Muslim community does. Many people such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson have essentially waged war against both of these communities, with Ben Carson saying that he would not support an Islamic President, to The Donald saying that the “Mexicans are rapists of America”. The Muslim people are also being thought of as terrorists no matter what sect they belong to, they are considered as a whole to be terrorists due to our irrational fears. In truth the Qur’an teaches peace, but a very small percentage of the Islamic world have taken some obscure lines and have used it to terrorize the world and demonize their own religion. This demonization has been put in the center stage by people such as Ben Carson, saying that because someone is of this faith as a whole has been blamed for terrorist attacks. People need to get their head around the fact that Islam, and the 2 billion people that follow it should be accepted for their religion. The Latino American community also needs a civil rights movement. These poor people are only looking for a better life for them and their families, and sometimes the only way they can do it is if they jump the border and enter illegally. Sometimes it isn’t even an issue with that it is the only option, sometimes they just cannot pass the immigration test. This should not be a very difficult test, but it is extremely difficult, there are questions on there that I don’t even know and I have lived in the U.S for a decade. It shouldn’t be that hard to get into the country, if an American student cannot pass the test what makes you think that a Mexican that has no time to study because he is working for his family can. Not only does the Latino community need a civil rights movement but there needs to be drastic changes in the immigration policy of the U.S. If this happens than the Latino civil rights movement will come by itself.
If I could only choose to join one civil rights movement, it would be a civil rights group for Native Americans. Native Americans are ignored and forgotten in today’s world, their problems receive little press and attention. My top priority would be to establish better education systems in reservations to result in more students graduating from high school. In 2010 only 51% percent of Native America students graduated from high school. On reservations across America there are even schools that are considered structurally dangerous. Even though I would focus on education as my main priority there are many problems plaguing Native American communities including extreme poverty. About 27% of Native Americans live in poverty and some reservations, like Standing Rock, have a poverty rate of 47% and a 60% unemployment rate. Housing on reservations is inadequate, although “funded” by the Department of Housing and Urban Development about one third of the homes are over-crowded and about 75% of people lack inside plumbing for their houses. There is also a severe case of mass incarceration of Native Americans. In South Dakota Native Americans make up 9 percent of the total population, but 29 percent of the prison population. In Alaska, Native people account for 15 percent of the total population and 38 percent of the prison population. And Native Hawaiians are only 10 percent of the state’s population, but 39 percent of the incarcerated population. One of the most disturbing crisis facing Native Americans, in my opinion, is the extreme teen suicide rates within the community. Most tribes’ suicide rates are approximately 3 times the national average teen suicide rate while some tribes report 10 times the national average teen suicide rate. Historically, Native Americans have been treated without respect and are viewed as inferior people. They have been denied government support for adequate education, housing, health care and other necessary aid in order to improve their lives. Native Americans have historically been subjected to horrible injustices, they deserve the support required to raise their lives to the threshold that should be experienced by every American citizen.
First off, I would like to say that I am on the fence about another civil rights movement. I fully acknowledge that there are many issues circulating around this country dealing with race, gender, sexual orientation, and economics. There are copious amounts of things that can be done to help aid these problems, but in the long run, I am not sure if another CRM would be completely beneficial. Take, for example, the discrimination of blacks. The Civil Rights Movement of 1964 ended segregation and promised more justice for blacks. As we can see today, blacks are still mistreated. That civil rights movement gained them basic civil rights, but not enough that they feel like they are treated with equity towards other races. Blacks received what seemed like a permanent fix to their problems in 1964, but it seemingly turned out to be temporary with all of the issues they face today. The point I am trying to make is that even if we do something about the social injustice in this country, I do not think it will be a permanent fix. Someone will always be oppressed no matter what. If gays are aided in a new CRM, a new group will pop up and complain about being miserable; a utopian society is not practical.
I don’t fully disagree with a Civil Rights Movement, however, I just believe that people would partake in one before they think about the long-term effects. If I were to join a Civil Rights Movement, I would surely be an advocate for women’s rights. It is ridiculous to me how the standards for men and women are so incredibly different. I am not mad or angry about the difference in the expectations, but I am in fact baffled on how society perceives men so differently than women that they can get away with so much more. The average woman could gain 10 pounds and be called a “pig” and told she needs to “watch her figure”, but the average man could gain 10 pounds and no one would say anything. That being just one example of many. My top priority in women’s rights would be fighting for equal pay amongst men and women in the work force. I do not understand why women do not get the same pay as men doing the same job. I think it is funny, actually, how no one can provide a logical reasoning behind this, too. This needs to change! Women should always receive the same pay as men for doing the same job.
Jackie Sullivan
Although another civil rights and other movements are need, the one I feel so strongly about is women’s rights. I feel so strongly about it because I know discrimination against people of color and ones who are LBGTQ occurs, but I don’t see or hear discriminating comments about them as much as I do about women. My top priorities in my Women’s Rights group would to get equal gender pay and to destroy sexist stereotypes.
Equal gender pay in America is one of my priories because it really shows how unfair workingwomen are being treated in the office. According to the AAUW, women in Michigan get paid about 74% what men get paid and are 45th out of 50 in a nationwide ranking as of 2012. The gender pay gap has slowly risen 19% from 1972 until 2012. People blame women for the gender pay gap say that “the gender pay gap as due to women’s occupational and lifestyle choices.” “Sometimes the jobs dominated by women in a company are not valued in the same way that men’s jobs are. Studies have shown that the more women and people of color fill an occupation, the less it pays. Using a point factor job evaluation system, the state of Minnesota found that the “women’s jobs” paid 20 percent less on average than male-dominated jobs, even when their jobs scored equally on the job evaluation system.” “Part of the problem is that wage data are largely kept secret in America, so women and minorities can be underpaid without knowing it.” (http://www.pay-equity.org/info-top10.html) According to change.gov, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. These quotes show how unfair women are getting paid. The fact that men are being paid higher than women would be if she did the same job is terrible. Neither gender is superior to another. According to change.gov, “Throughout their careers, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have championed the right of women to receive equal pay for equal work. Obama will continue to promote paycheck equity and close the wage gap between men and women.” Obama claims to be fixing the gender pay gap in America but until men and women are equally paid for the same job, we will not stop fighting.
The next issue my Women Rights group will be protesting sexist stereotypes. This is a priority because growing up in school as a young girl I’ve always heard teachers say, “Can I get a boy to carry this box for me?” If a girl volunteered they would say, “Oh no let John carry it, its pretty heavy!” These sexist comments are unrespetful and can ruin a women’s confidence. Other stereotypes say that boys are stronger, faster, smarter, and are more successful than women. Stereotypes tell women to stay home, take care of the kids, and clean the house because they are too emotional or smart enough to have a job. Even though women’s rights have gotten better over the years, we won’t stop until women can feel like they are equal to men once and for all.
One civil rights movement out of a lot, in my opinion, that should be made, is a push for women’s rights such as the pay gap between men and women. As a student I have worked with countless individuals on anything from projects to homework and extracurricular activities in many clubs and committees. Some of the brightest people I have come across with have been young women. My co president for my sophomore class is a young woman and she is one of the most successful people I have met. I have seen tremendous work ethic and motivation from girls growing up and another really good example of this would be my mother. She works long hours everyday and always goes above expectations. In her business of stocks and finances, you don’t see air of ladies at the top of the ladder or in charge. I’m proud to say she has and continues to be very successful in what she does and has made a name for herself. We have moved twice from landing to Ohio and then from Ohio to Birmingham for promotions she has gotten. I think a lot of people in charge are scared to give a woman power because the people in charge are men and they want to give power to people alike. I agree that it would make sense, as an individual to trust the person who is more like you. When it comes down to it, in the real world and in business I think the pay grade and career should be a representation of the ability to do a task and now how they look or are. Only 4.6% of Fortune 500 company CEOs are women per Americanprogress.org. A lot of that I believe is because women already are a step behind when applying for a job because of the way they are. Being a women shouldn’t be a punishment or an advantage. The opportunities of men and women should be equal and in America, as of today they aren’t. This calls for a change and a new civil rights movement.
Being African American, I do have a soft spot for LGBT’s, I do. Maybe its because of the benefits of growing up with history as my daily bread; knowing the events that changed my life even before I was born. Knowing that so many people did so much for me. And, getting older, realizing that a nation that has changed so much was still corrupt. Realizing, that even though my rights had been takin care of (on paper) there were still people that were being discriminated against because of what they had no choice of being. Although the majority of my family is strictly homophobic, the idea of a group of people still facing inequality always lingered. My past has really shaped my ideas on marriage equality, because of it I, I feel that there should be civil rights for ALL, regardless of anything. I know that many of my African American peers would oppose my idea of focusing of civil rights for LGBT’s, versus civil rights for African Americans. To that I say this; before we start digging below the surface, we have finish what we started.
Just as there were multiply law set in place for African American rights, there can be no one single law to change the way LGBT’s discriminated against in todays society. Recently however, it the out come of the case , people apart of LGBT are now allowed to marry. This success for the group did not give them the rights to live there life as any other group of Americans. Some states do not inforce the law; in addition to that many states do not allow same-sex couples to adopt children and many have processes in place in which same-sex couples can not adopt children (sound familiar, right?). My suggestion is that that our federal government should inforce the laws for same-sex marriage and create a law (using the same or close-to concepts used in the Voting Rights Act) that forbids states from using the fact that a couple is same-sex for declining child adoption.
I have to be honest; at heart I don’t see LGBT rights as important as the rights for African Americans. It could be because of the lack of representation of the unjust acts or because I am not subject to that group. Still, NO ONE deserves to be victim inequality. I believe that our nation should recognize the past, the present, and then act on it. We should take the same procedures as we did to end inequality against any group in American history. People need to see how much there history impacted there lives, only then will they come to the realization the civil rights are not obligated to anyone.
After witnessing our American society undergo so much positive change within the past few decades, it seems as though most people would agree that with so much great change going on, why not keep the streak going? However, from the positive results from previous civil rights movements providing more general equality for all, I would disagree that we need another civil rights movement for any particular belief or group, considering how much progress we have already made. America started the African American civil rights movement as certain individuals who all followed an obsurd rule making people think that they are sinful for associating with and believing that African Americans are harmful people for some reason, and ended with a community of people working together and being allowed to believe what they want, along with that they should not segregate a person based on their skin color. Isn’t that already a lot to say? Yes, there are still people out there who could be holding up signs in a protest disagreeing with gay marriage, or the equal payment of women or African Americans, but putting a label on those people and saying that we need another civil rights movement because there are people out there who are disagreeing with the change, is no better than us calling them bad people. Yes, there is always the fear that after these seemingly resolved problems, there is always the potential that we go back to them, but I am confident in our onward moving community of equality, that there should be no further of a push in civil rights unless it is seriously sparked. Imagine our class petitioning for a shorter class period of only an hour of time for each period. The petition receives plenty of signatures, causing the school to lower the class time to an hour long. Our class then realizes since we lowered the class time once we should be able to get it down to about 40-50 minute class periods. The whole world could sign that petition, but to me that is pushing the limit, and in context to a civil rights movement, that is like saying, “Believe this or die.” People fought for their rights in the 60’s in a nonviolent way under the influence of Dr. King, for without him we would have not undergone one of the greatest advances towards equality in American history, although anyone would have to agree it was an extremely chaotic era. Why not attempt an era of peace to accomplish what we believe in? With all this being said, it is crucial that as our society advances, as certain groups should continue to be able to receive better treatment like the rest of the population, but maybe a civil rights movement is not the answer, for at least right now. Think about it.
The question of who we should have a Civil Rights Movement becomes a question of whose oppression we can relate too, whose oppression we see as a good starting point to help solving the oppression of other groups of people. I believe that we need a new Civil Rights Movement focused on feminism and the LGBTQ+ community, but with focus on the black body within these two. I do not deny that the oppression of other oppressed groups people matter, but think that starting with the black body in these groups is a good starting point.
Let’s first start with feminism. The general problems that people address with feminism include the wage earning gaps between men and womyn, the r-ape culture that is put upon womyn, and the standards that they are faced with society. There is a common misconception that feminist movements were made to include all of those that identify as a womyn, but this is FALSE. If you go back to the beginning of feminism, fighting for the right to be involved in governmental things like voting, didn’t and haven’t included womyn of color. You can also look at the standards that womyn face daily. The black womyn is faced with the standard of matching up to the perception of the perfect white female… often the black female is praised more often for their light eyes, mixed hair, or their “good colored skin” (the “white/European qualities in them) rather than their natural hair or darker skin or darker eyes. They experience respectability politics, feeling that they aren’t able to have their hair in their natural state, or that they have to talk or act or dress a certain way in order to even be accepted into jobs, in order to be accepted as beautiful by society, thus creating the phrase and concept, “Black is Beautiful.” They are also considered lower physically than a Caucasian female, with the common phrase of “you’re pretty for a black girl.” These sort of phrases and remarks can be interrogated with a black feminist civil rights movement.
Some of the major problems faced within the LGBTQ+ community also include surveillance and limited regards to ones identity in the prison industrial complex, issues with marriage equality, and adoption rights in only 10 states and D.C. Even in all of these problems with rights, activism towards LGBTQ+ rights, similar to feminist movements haven’t included people of color. Because of blacks exclusion, the identity of quare was developed because of this exclusion. The common misinformation that you need one mother and one father to parent well will be in addition to the thought that blacks are bad parents because they don’t try to get a job or because they come from a bad past and are trying to make themselves better is also included in the oppression of these individuals. You also see these issues within the prison industrial complex. Those who are in transition have to go into the prison based off of their genitalia, not based off of how they identify themselves. There is nothing available for those who are nonbinary (who don’t identify) or who don’t fit under the simple category of men or womyn. Not only are blacks in the LGBTQ+ community mistreated in their “placement” in the prison, but they also are more subjective to being placed in the prison because of the school-to-prison pipeline system, which just feeds into the multiple issues with the prison industrial complex. Interrogating blacks and the issues they face in the LGBTQ+ community helps to interrogate both of these issues.
Starting for the blackness in the LGBTQ+ and feminist groups allows us to access equal feminist and LGBTQ community rights for other minority within these groups, as starting with blacks eliminates any gap that happens if you were to JUST solve for feminism, or JUST solve for opression of those in the LGBTQ+ community, because then there won’t be any discrimination of, “oh, there is a BLACK person that does not identify,” or “there is a LATINA womyn applying for this job.” These sort of notions will get taken away, and we are able to start in the right direction for solving issues of oppression and discrimination towards both blacks and womyn and those who identify in the LGBTQ+ community at the same time by interrogating these subsets. Top priorities would be legally giving these individuals the rights, but also through our movement (which I am unable to decide the framework on, i.e. violent or nonviolent or with just kids or just adults) to eliminate the negative stereotypes and feelings of unsafety or dumbness towards these groups. I would hope that with the interrogation of one group, we would be able to interrogate Latina, Muslim, Native American feminists and those in the LGBTQ+ community with the black body as the starting point, as the dream is for there to be no oppression, stereotypes, prejudice, or hate crimes towards enemy, and I believe starting with blackness within other groups is a good starting point.
If I had to choose which civil rights movement to follow, I would have to follow one towards the end of police brutality in America. Recently, reports of innocent young African-Americans being brutally attacked and killed by police have been all over social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, making it difficult to ignore this stream of consistent violence. However, little has been done to protect the lives of these innocent teens, and the officers who kill them are able to continue living their lives without a care in the world. It’s sickening to think that somewhere in the U.S., a family is mourning the loss of their loved one at the hands of a police officer who is “doing his job” by killing innocent African-American teens. Even more so, these teens are displayed in the media as no-good thugs, while further looks into the lives of these young members of society showed that they were well-rounded students on the road to success, only to be cut short by this repeated trend of police brutality. Racial injustice can easily be found today, especially in the media. Recently, shootings have become more frequent across the country, and while some are the fault of blacks and whites, the white man always has a better image to the public. These white criminals are sometimes portrayed as mentally challenged, making them not fully sane to be tried for murder, while a black man who committed a similar crime would be ruled guilty ad seen as a no-good thug by the public. A civil rights movement against police brutality and racial injustice is a must, and we as a country need to ask ourselves: why must we kill innocent people to feel safe in our own country? What danger does an innocent teenager impose on a trained, armed police worker, and when will the racial injustice in America finally come to an end?
I think that we do need another civil rights movement because the income for the average household between whites and blacks are greatly unbalanced. In 2011, the average white household brought in $110,000 while an average black family brought in $6,314 which is around seventeen times less than the average whit family. Now this is a problem especially bad if this s based off same jobs and proper education.
The household is the most important in the family and shows ownership in the place that you live. This ownership of the house is usually past down from generation to generation but within the average white community it’s 28% higher than in black communities. Now this must show either the black kids are just interested in their own houses or the houses that they’ve lived wasn’t that important to them.
Now to go more into recent times: police brutality. Now police has been going on for many years but most commonly it has to do with a person being black as the victim. I do not agree with how certain police officers handle the “problem” or whatever the kid or adult has done but when you show aggressiveness and/or pulling out your gun and pull the trigger on someone who is unarmed and defending themselves…well it makes you look bad because there isn’t just 1-5 witnesses now; there’s the whole world being the witness thanks to social media. I’m not saying that just because of white cops to black victims but to all cops and victims that everything is being taped and could possibly be put on social media.
Now enough about the inequalities between whites and blacks because there’s problems across America that are screwed up. Let’s face it some people in the business world can’t accept gay people, women period still get less perks in the work place are treated unfairly in many situations and as people of America, we need to fix these problems.
America has had a long-standing problem with civil rights. We as a nation brag about our freedom and proudly state that “all men are created equal”, but that is by no means accurate. America certainly needs another Civil Rights Movement, then another one after that, the probably another one after that. But is another CRM likely? I’d argue that while we desperately need one, it most likely won’t happen for another generation. While America needs a new civil rights movement, it is unlikely to occur in the near future because the majorities in question don’t want to give up their advantages, many people outside of the targeted minority don’t feel strongly about it, and that the arguments against civil rights have not been addressed.
First, the majorities in question don’t want to give up their advantages. If one group is less likely to get hired, then that means the others are more likely to receive those jobs. One chief example of this is politics. While we may have an African American president, politics is still mostly dominated by wealthy white men. While many politicians certainly want to improve society, they do give up some of their own advantages by making social reforms. Even if the politician’s intents are pure, because of our democracy, that politician needs to get approval from the general public. One reason why women only get paid 74 cents to the dollar is because that extra change goes to a man, and only one of those two people involved see a problem with that. Considering that the male in that situation is making an extra 25% of his salary, it’s no wonder that he wouldn’t want to change anything. Despite the fact that 56% of voters are female, only 31 female politicians have ever been elected into congress, 20 of which are serving right now. It is unlikely that there will be any kind of civil rights movement anytime soon because that would mean that people in power would have to willingly give it up.
Next, people of all ages, races and backgrounds need to rally together behind a common cause in order to enact change. We can see that in history, things change when everyone works together. The Freedom Riders were able to enact change in the 1960s, possibly because there were men and women, blacks and whites, young and old people. In that same decade, we can see another movement that wasn’t as successful in the long run: Black Power. Black Power turned away all support from whites, and while it certainly was effective and can be credited with the traction of the Civil Rights Movement, it could have done even more if it accepted support from other groups. These days we, as a society, are gaining traction in this area. We have seen many cases of a white policeman killing an unarmed black man, and the general public is starting to notice the inequality, but it’s still not quite enough. Not a single republican candidate for president has even suggested that these actions are even crimes, much less race based (**as far as I have read, sorry if I missed it**). However, there are still excuses provided for the general citizens, ranging from “well, he’s a criminal” to “most police aren’t racist”, and to be fair, both of those statements are true. Right now in America to the untrained eye, the country seems fine. Not perfect, but it’s not terrible, which is good enough for the average American. A new civil rights movement is unlikely to happen in the near future because not enough Americans care deeply about the subject.
Finally, the arguments against civil rights need to be addressed. Many different items have been used to allow discrimination, ranging from religion to physical appearance. Many conservatives use religious texts to prove their point, the bible even says that slaves should obey their masters (Ephesians 6:5). Now, conservatives use their religious texts to try to influence society. One obvious example is gay marriage. Gay marriage does not directly form a threat to society, though it may go against an individual’s religion. I’m not going to say that these religious texts are inaccurate, as religion does many great things for society, but I feel that we, as a country, should ask whether texts over 2,000 years old should be taken word-for-word on the matters of harming others. I’m not trying to say that we need to change anything, but we definitely need to have a conversation about it. A new civil rights movement is unlikely because it will be shot down by conservatives holding up religion, so nothing will change until we change it.
America is in desperate need for a new civil rights movement, but it is unlikely that a movement will occur in the near future because majorities don’t want to give up anything, not enough Americans care enough, and we need to have a discussion about the use of religious texts.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m sorry for my incredible bias, and I feel that my paragraphs slowly deteriorate in quality as the essay progresses, terribly sorry about that. I’m trying to multitask and get everything done and I have other homework, etc.
One group that I think needs their civil rights movement is the females. The female vs male contrast is an argument for every race, and culture. Female is one of the general aspects you can have, but being female comes with a burden no man even knows about. Unequal pay is seen by all men and women, and the men aren’t going to change it. It is up to women and only women to make their change and they are strong enough. By 1994 women took the lead on graduating college rates. Unfortunately a good degree for women doesn’t last. “men and women with professional degrees begin with similar salaries, but within the first five years of employment, men’s wages surpass women’s wages” (http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/10/31/women-more-likely-to-graduate-college-but-still-earn-less-than-men) Their only excuse for this gap is paid maternity leave and need for flexible work schedules. A women should not have to have the burden of making a child and the burden of keeping he job. Women are evolving and their first natural purpose shouldn’t give men the chance to hold us back from the best of our ability. There are plenty of causes in this county that need want change. The vast public opinions of America are biased and strong. Every action of another American has an opinion. African Americans have had all eyes on them since 1865 and in the 1st Civil Rights Movement they got what they fought for. For the LGBTQ their bits of justice are just starting. Illegal Immigrants fill our country but what are we to do? Kick them out completely. Or let them join our country legally. Even though all of these groups deserve their rights, I believe women have the chance. Women have worked for their jobs, their votes, and now they need to work for their pay. Women are like the others it may not be fair but that just shows how strong everyone is because they can stage a movement for the better change.
Erinn Costello
If I joined a group trying to cause a new Civil Rights movement, I would join a group for marriage equality. Marriage Equality should be a basic human right. The American Declaration of Independence claims, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” If this is still true, that all men are created equal, then why is it illegal for an American citizen to marry whom ever they desire. Why can a man not marry a man, or a woman not marry a woman. In this country, where “all men are created equal”, we should treat them in this way, and not discriminate based on sexuality, or race, or any other means of discrimination. We as Americans should be allowed to love whomever we chose, and should not be persecuted for choosing to love someone of the same gender.
Instead of chastising a person for loving someone of the same gender, we should congratulate him or her for finding a person whom they love and care for. We should not discriminate due to a person’s sexual orientation, we should accept them for being the person that they truly are, and not trying to conform and be like everyone else. As part of this new Civil Rights Movement, one of the top priorities would be to get people to accept others for who they are and not hate on them just because they are different. Everyone has the right and to obligation to be them selves, not conform to try to fit in with the social norms. Just because a man loves a man, or a woman loves a woman, it does not make them a terrorist, or communist, or anything other than a human being. If the Declaration of Independence is still right, that “all men are created equal”, they whey doesn’t it seem like it? Why aren’t all Americans treated equally?
While there are numerous issues in today’s society that could experience reform, one of the main dilemmas that I personally would focus on is the advancement for the LGBT community. For the longest of times, the mere concept of homosexuality was forbidden. Until the mid-1980’s, homosexuality was considered to be a disease. In fact, in many African and Arabian countries such as Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Mauritania, and other countries, homosexuality can be punishable by death. This year fortunately, more countries have sided with the legalization of marriage equality including the U.S. and Ireland. However, the LGBT community still faces discrimination throughout our country.
First of all, many GLBT people have experienced abuse and assault. For example, on November 28th, 1978, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay council member from California, was assassinated with motives linked to his sexuality. Today, we still see violence against GLBT members. Many GLBT youth have reported being verbally or physically harassed by their peers because of their sexuality (approximately 51% of GLBT youth have experienced this, according to a poll conducted by the Human Resources Campaign). In a study conducted by a PhD professor of youth psychology, Stephen T. Russell, found that:
“Studies of gay and lesbian youths indicate that between 48% and 76% have thought of suicide, while between 29%3 and 42% have attempted suicide. The samples used in these studies were not random, however; the gay and lesbian youths represented in these research studies may have been at higher initial risk for suicide. Certainly these rates are much higher than those for the general adolescent population; recent studies report that between 19% and 29% of the adolescent population have a lifetime history of suicidal ideation.” (Russell, Stephen T., and Kara Joyner. “Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk: Evidence From a National Study.” American Journal of Public Health. © American Journal of Public Health 2001, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.)
No one should have the unfortunate experience(s) of depression, much worse ideas or attempts of suicide. Furthermore, no one should have to suffer to this extremity because they’re not accepted by their peers.
GLBT adults also experience forms of discrimination as well. Even after the legalization of marriage equality, people still refuse to accept this altercation in societal law. This summer, our nation witnessed the defying of this new law by the Kentucky County Clerk, Kim Davis. Standing behind her excuse of religion, she believed she had the prerogative from God to deny gay couples marriage licenses. Many of the anti-gay Christians might stand behind several teachings from the bible, such as Leviticus 18:22. Shane Dawson, a famous YouTube star who came out as bisexual this summer, counters this attitudinal inherency with his own view. Born and raised in a strict Catholic family himself, he still holds true to his faith, yet argues,
“Love who you want to love. Nobody is going to hate you for it. God isn’t going to hate you for it. And if you don’t believe in him, even better. But if you’re people like me, and you’re scared and don’t want to piss him off, or go to hell, you just have to remember, that God made you for who you are for a reason.”
Dawson himself seeks for a change in the way that the Christian community views the GLBT population with the argument that God has ways and agendas for everyone and their creation exist for a reason.
In addition of Davis’s controversy, our constitution was built off of freedom of religion and this should be respected, yet as stated in the first amendment, there is the distinct separation of church and state. There shouldn’t be the advocating of this fundamental constitutional principle. Yet, we still have figures who support Davis’s crusade, such as Mike Huckabee: the George C. Wallace of marriage equality. Much like governor Wallace of Alabama who was adamant to stand against integration and the Civil Rights movement, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee congratulated and commended Davis for her actions when she was released from release prison. Scott Walker, the presidential candidate and governor of Wisconsin, commented after the decision of Obergefell v. Holmes that,
“As a result of this decision, the only alternative left for the American people is to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage.”
Like many other people of this country, Walker too preaches behind a 10th amendment-like “solution” and supports the inequality of a generous population of our country.
Lastly, one of the main harms that revolve around the inequality of the GLBT community is the right for gay couples (or gay individuals) to adopt a child. Many of the main arguments that oppose this proposition are statements like “a child should grow up in a healthy family: with one mother and one father”. One of the main issues that many people have with gay couples is it challenges the idea of gender roles. The traditional idea that the women belong in the kitchen and taking care of the house and children while the man provides. With two dads (or two mothers) which partner fills in for the traditional role of the opposite sex? For some reason, this question still remains unfathomable to certain people. Also, people worry that the child may become gay if they’re raised by gay parents. However, there is little to no evidence to support this theory. In fact, from recent studies, the idea of a “gay gene” has become a more probable theory. According to Alan Sanders of the NorthShore Research Institute in Evanston, Illinois, he found new evidence in this investigation concluding in his experiment that,
“Over the past five years, Sanders has collected blood and saliva samples from 409 pairs of gay brothers, including non-identical twins, from 384 families. This compares, for example, with 40 pairs of brothers recruited for Hamer’s study. The team combed through the samples, looking at the locations of genetic markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – differences of a single letter in the genetic code – and measuring the extent to which each of the SNPs were shared by the men in the study. The only trait unequivocally shared by all 818 men was being gay. All other traits, such as hair color, height and intelligence, varied by different degrees between each brothers in a pair and between all sets of brothers. Therefore, any SNPs consistently found in the same genetic locations across the group would most likely be associated with sexual orientation. Only five SNPs stood out and of these, the ones most commonly shared were from the Xq28 and 8q12 regions on the X chromosome and chromosome 8 respectively. But this doesn’t mean the study found two “gay genes”. Both regions contain many genes, and the next step will be to home in on which ones might be contributing to sexual orientation.” (“Largest Study of Gay Brothers Homes in on ‘gay Genes’.” New Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.”)
What this evidence concludes is that the popular claim that “being gay is a choice” may be slowly eroded. In this case, it’s not the parenting style that determines the child’s sexuality, but the child’s genetic composition. Meaning, there’s no reason that gay couples shouldn’t be able to adopt based on these claims since their lifestyle wouldn’t likely effect the child’s orientation. Even if the child were gay, why would this be an issue? So long as the parents are stable, loving, and clear all the standard regulations/ background checks for the adoption process, there shouldn’t be a law obstructing their right to relieve a child from the sometimes cruel system of foster/ adoption homes.
In conclusion, while the GLBT community has made astounding leaps and bounds of progress towards their goal of total equality, there are still moral dilemmas within the country that must be resolved that accept this abused population in order to improve the overall status, system, ideas, and image of the American way and the American Dream.
I believe that modern America could use another Civil Rights Movement to help support African Americans. Even in today’s society, blacks are still being discriminated against. In the 1960’s there was the massive CRM with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and other groups, and it helped blacks gain basic rights such as voting and using the same public facilities as whites. However, it is now evident that blacks are still being discriminated against severely. With the advent of the internet and smartphones, people are now much more aware of the violence and hate crimes going on across America. I want to propose that we start making body cams and dash cams mandatory for all police officers across America, because the best proven way to fix Civil rights problems is to bring it to the public. Transparency is the best way to end police brutality. Police brutality especially is a huge problem in America today. Cases such as Michael Brown in Ferguson are popping up all over America. Police are much more prone to using violence against blacks. Many people, and especially police, are much more likely to target someone just because of the color of their skin. Treyvon Martin is another example of blacks being targeted because of their race. I think that we will not have full racial equality until a black person does not have to live in fear of police any more than white people do. I support movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and would support any other CRM’s that came up. Not only are blacks racially discriminated against from the police, they are also much less likely to get jobs and more likely to get fired. Even though it’s been illegal for employers to discriminate wages based on race for decades, the racial wage gap still hasn’t flattened out. Blacks overwhelmingly have much lower paying, blue-collar jobs than whites. Studies show that whites earn as much as 19% more wages than blacks for the same amount of jobs. As of 2000, a white person was also 50% more likely to be in a sort of management position than a black person. I believe we need to end these inequalities and am fully supportive of another Civil Rights Movement.
If I were to choose a group to join for the Civil Rights movement I would choose the African American movement for several reasons. First, a big problem with today’s races and economy is that there is a huge income different between Whites and everyone else. Each person is doing the same amount of work they just look different and come from different backgrounds. Many people in other situations judge people and grade them differently because of their heritage, which is not acceptable. There is no reason why they are treated with such disrespect while everyone one is the exact same way. My top priority in this group would be to change the way society views African Americans. The most common example is in any situation with violence between and African American and a White person. The public and even sometimes surprisingly the government assume that it was the African American because of their race. In some cases judges don’t care what happens to the Black man or Women and blow over the case concluding that the white person is telling the truth. In todays modern society I don’t think these assumptions should be made even with proof of whose fault it was. The phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover” applies here in these situations. For example, Barack Obama is one of the most powerful men in the world because he is the President of the U.S and has done great things for our country. Everyone said their will never be an African American President, but now there is and look at all of the great things that he has done. Obama has made history even in the Civil Rights Movement today. He proved that an African American mad could persuade more that half of the country that he could become president and he did. Therefore, we still need a Civil Rights movement to finally abolish all of the bad things people associate with African Americans.