Civil rights

INTRODUCTION

Civil rights are the freedoms and rights that a person may have as a member of a community, state, or nation. Civil rights include freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. Among others are the right to own property, and to receive fair and equal treatment from government, other persons, and private groups.

In democratic countries, civil rights are protected by law and custom. The constitutions of many democracies have bills of rights that describe basic liberties and rights. Courts of law decide whether a person's civil rights have been violated. The courts also determine the limits of civil rights, so that people do not use their freedoms in order to violate the rights of others.

In many nondemocratic countries, the government claims to respect and guarantee civil rights. But in most of these countries, such claims differ greatly from the actual conditions. In some Communist countries, for example, the people are denied such basic rights as freedom of speech and of the press. Yet their constitutions guarantee these rights.

Some people draw sharp distinctions between civil liberties and civil rights. They regard civil liberties as guarantees to a person against government interference. They think of civil rights as guarantees of equal treatment for all people. For example, civil liberties would include freedom from government interference with a person's right to free speech. Civil rights would include the right of all people to receive equal protection of the law. Civil rights often refer to the condition and treatment of minority groups. In this article, the term civil rights refer to both civil liberties and civil rights.

Limits of civil rights

All civil rights have limits, even in democratic countries. For example, a person may be denied freedom of speech in a democracy if it can be shown that his or her speech might lead to the overthrow of the government. A person may not use civil rights to justify actions that might seriously harm the health, welfare, safety, or morals of others.

A person may be denied a civil right if that right is used to violate other people's rights. Freedom of expression, for example, does not permit a person to tell lies that ruin another person's reputation. Property owners have the right to do what they choose with their property. However, this right may not allow a person legally to refuse to sell property to a person of a certain race or religion. This is because the property owner would be denying the other person equal freedom of choice.

Examples of civil rights

The basic civil rights recognized by most democratic countries are freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly. These rights are guaranteed under the constitutions of many countries.

Legislation may guarantee other rights concerned with the process of law. These include protection against arrest and detention without good reason, the right to jury trial, and protection against being tried twice for the same offence. In addition, people and property may not be wrongfully searched or seized and excessive or unusual punishments may not be inflicted.

Rights against discrimination protect minority groups and ensure equal rights and opportunities for all people regardless of race, sex, religion, age, or disability. Laws exist in many countries to give equal rights to all men and women regardless of their race or religion. But in some countries, discrimination on racial or religious grounds is part of government policy.

Rights to form trades unions are intended to protect workers from exploitation by their employers. In many countries, workers are still fighting for the right to organize and to campaign for better pay, improved working conditions, and the right to strike.

Campaigning for civil rights

Most civil rights campaigns consist of public meetings, marches, and other protests, such as people sitting down on a public highway. Such campaigns make other people aware of the issues and demonstrate popular support. They also include taking test cases to court and lobbying parliamentarians in an effort to change legislation.

One of the most bitter civil rights campaigns was that of black Americans in the United States, who campaigned for equal rights from the 1800's. This campaign continued through the 1900's, and led to a major protest movement during the 1950's and 1960's which resulted in important civil rights legislation to end discrimination against black Americans.

Since the 1970's, when ant discrimination laws were passed in many countries, civil rights campaigns have emphasized affirmative action to counteract past discrimination. Provisions may be made to encourage the employment of disadvantaged groups or to give them special help in education. But this raises a number of other civil rights issues. For instance, white men may complain that they are discriminated against because priority is given to black people and to women. Some religious groups may demand their own schools or single-sex education, whereas other people are working to encourage mixed education for children of all races and ...

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Development of civil rights

NATURAL LAW

The idea that people have certain rights that cannot be taken away probably began thousands of years ago with the theory of natural law. This theory states that a natural order exists in the universe because all things are created by nature, or God. Everything has its own qualities and is subject to the rules of nature to achieve its full potential. According to this theory, anything that detracts from a person's human qualities, or prevents their full achievement, violates the laws of nature.

The ancient Greek philosophers and the writers of the Old Testament stressed that there is a higher law than human law. In the first century B.C., the Roman philosopher Cicero insisted that this higher (natural) law is universal and can be discovered through human reason. This idea led to the belief that governmental power has limits, and that people and governments everywhere are bound by natural law.

Some of the most historic English legal documents are based on the principles of natural law. The earliest and most famous was Magna Carta, which the king approved against his will in 1215. The document placed the king himself under the law. In 1628, the English Parliament drew up a Petition of Right. The petition claimed that certain actions of the king, such as levying taxes without the consent of Parliament, were unconstitutional.

NATURAL RIGHTS

Natural law had always stressed the duties more than the rights of government and individuals. But during the late 1600's, the natural law tradition began to emphasize natural rights. The change was brought about largely by the writings of the English philosopher John Locke.

Locke argued that governmental authority depends on the people's consent. According to Locke, people originally lived in a state of nature with no restrictions on their freedom. Then they came to realize that confusion would result if each person enforced his or her own rights. People agreed to live under a common government, but not to surrender their "rights of nature" to the government. Instead, they expected the government to protect these rights, especially the rights of life, liberty, and property. Locke's ideas of limited government and natural rights became part of the English Bill of Rights (1689), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), and the U.S. Bill of Rights (1791).

Today, many scholars reject the natural law and natural rights theories. These scholars believe that all laws--including those guaranteeing civil rights--are simply devices that people find convenient or useful at a particular time. Nevertheless, nearly all civil rights laws have resulted from the theories of natural law and natural rights.

CIVIL RIGHTS TODAY

Civil rights have long been protected in the constitutional democracies of Western Europe. These nations include France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries. Personal liberties are also secure in such newer democracies as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Many new nations of Africa and Asia have adopted constitutions that guarantee basic civil rights. But in many of these countries, unstable governments and inexperience with self-rule have often led to political arrests, censorship, and other denials of civil rights.

Most nondemocratic governments claim to protect civil rights. But in practice, they grant civil rights only when they find it politically convenient to do so. The civil rights tradition is weak in many Latin-American countries. Most Communist nations have constitutions that guarantee the people basic rights and liberties, but the governments have seldom enforced these rights. China's Constitution, for example, guarantees the right to vote and assures freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly. But China's Communist Party completely controls the government, and the Chinese people may be punished if they publicly criticize the party. The Chinese government controls the newspapers and other forms of communication.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It states that all people are born free and are equal in dignity and rights. Many experts in international law believe that the declaration lacks legal authority, but most agree that it has high moral authority.

QUESTION 1

Source A show how white people are against blacks going to mixed schools after the law was passed in 1964 that segregation in schools was not allowed. The source is from a black girl’s point of view on her first day going to a mixed school. The girl’s name is Elizabeth Eckford. In this source it describes how she was stopped at the front of the school by an armed man who refused to let her in.

“When I got to the front of the school, I went up to the guard. He didn’t move. When I tried to squeeze past him he raised his bayonet”

This source shows the difficulty faced by blacks going to a mixed school. White people were determined to stop the blacks getting in to the schools.

“The crowd came towards me, calling me names”

This source shows that even though the laws had changed white people were still against mixing blacks and whites.

“Somebody shouted, “lynch her! lynch her”

This quotation shows that whites were still prepared to treat the blacks badly and were determined not to mix with them. The guards stopping the blacks from entering the schools were not sent by the government but by the Governor of Arkansas to show that they were not happy with the law and would not follow it.

QUESTION 2

Source B supports Source A because it shows how opposed whites were to blacks attending mixed schools.

Source B states:

“The crowd let out a roar of rage. Oh God, “said a woman, “the Negroes are in school.”

Source A shows the white people have the same attitudes towards the blacks as in

Source B.

Source A states:

“They came towards me calling me names …..Somebody shouted “lynch her! lynch her”

Source C also supports Source A because it shows the black girl Elizabeth Eckford on her way to her new school with a crowd of white people behind her shouting and spitting at her.

However Source B does not support Source A in the way that Source A states that Elizabeth Eckford was not able to enter the school because the guards would not let her past. Where as in Source B it states that the blacks entered the school.

Source B states:

“They’ve gone in, “a man shouted, “the Negroes are in our school, “they howled hysterically”

Source A states:

“When I got to the front of the school, I went up to the guard. He didn’t move. When I tried to squeeze past him he raised his bayonet”

Source C does not support Source A in the way that it does not show the guards stopping the black girl from entering the school.

The reason for Source B not supporting Source A is because B is taken from point of view of the white people around the school: whereas A is from the girl’s point of view. The whites wanted support in stopping the blacks from going to the same school as their white children so they over-reacted and made a scene to get sympathy and gain support from the other whites. Source C does not support Source A because although it shows the white crowd around the black girl shouting and spitting at her it does not actually show the guards physically stopping her from entering the school.

QUESTION 3

The aims of Martin Luther King (MLK) and Malcolm X (MX) were different in the way that MLK believed strongly in integration. He wanted to gain the respect of whites so blacks and whites can work together. I know this because Source D states

“When the Negro uses force in self-defence he does not lose support, he may even win it, by the courage and self respect it reflects”

MX aimed for equal rights for blacks as well as MLK but he didn’t want integration; he wanted separation between blacks and whites.

Source E states:

“It has always been the case with white people that even though we might be with them, we weren’t considered to be part of them…which I try to point out to these integration hungry Negroes about their “liberal white friends”

This source shows that MX was against MLK strongly. MX makes it clear in this quotation that he does not want to make friends with the whites his only aim is equality.

This quotation also shows that MX were against MLK “integration hungry Negroes” aimed at other civil rights leaders i.e. MLK. The methods of MLK and MX were also different in the way that MLK believed in slow gradual change and achieving this with non-violent protest.

Source E States:

“It is unfortunately true that however the Negro acts his struggle will not be free of violence begun by his enemies…But if he seeks it and organises it he cannot win”

MX believed in revolution, quick change, he believed in using violence to get this change.

Source F states:

“The Negroes revolt will merge into the worldwide black revolution…The so-called revolt will become a real black revolution. Revolutions over turn systems”

In this quote MX uses the term Revolution in a strong manner, which implies he is going to use violence to get the revolution.

QUESTION 4

Source G shows how public opinion changed between 1961 to 1964. In 1961 and 1962 Source G shows us that the most important problem according to the public were prices, inflation and war. However, in 1963 and 1964 the biggest problems were racial problems and integration. One of the reasons for the public’s opinion changing was because in 1963 and 1964 the public were being shown pictures in newspapers of how badly black protesters were being treated. This is shown in Source H. The news was showing graphic pictures of the non-violent protesters being beaten and set on by dogs and water cannons.

Source I states:

“The protesters came into conflict with the police…men broke up demonstrators with water cannons, dogs and baton charges. They made 500 arrests…These events were fully reported on by national press”

The public’s opinion also changed because they were greatly exposed to the civil rights movements such as the march on Washington1963. The public was exposed to civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King (MLK) and Malcolm X (MX), which meant they were able to get their views across and influence whites people to follow them. They were able to show how blacks were really being treated. JFK strongly supported the civil rights movement, which influenced whites to follow him. In 1963 JFK was assassinated which showed people really how bad racism was and people began to take more notice of his ideas.

QUESTION 5

Source H and I tells us that the methods used by Martin Luther King (MLK) in Source D were successful and he was supported by many black leaders. It also shows that MLK didn’t use violence in his method. Source H shows non-violent protesters being broken up by the police using water cannons. Source I is a report describing Source H. Source H and I show that the methods used by MLK were successful in the way that the non-violent protest was reported on by the national press and the reporters filmed the police using water cannons, dogs and baton charges. This is a successful way of showing the world how badly blacks were being treated.

Source I states:

“The protesters came in conflict with the police…men broke up demonstrators with water cannons, dogs and baton charges. These events were fully reported by the national press and television…Many whites were sickened by the brutality”

However all the other civil rights leaders like Malcolm X (MX) and his supporters did not support MLK. MLK was not supported by other black activists because of his non-violent methods and his aims for integration. The other black activists i.e. MX aimed for separation. MX believed in fighting for his rights and quick change. MLK got laws changed but people’s attitudes didn’t.

QUESTION 6

By the late 1960’s the civil rights movement had been successful in the way that

Segregation on buses was made illegal
Civil rights act was passed which states that there is to be no discrimination on busses, in jobs, schools, hotels etc
Equal employment
Voting rights act
Mixed race marriages were made legal
No discrimination

Source K also shows that the registers were increasing. The number of blacks voting had gone up in the southern states. 1964 to 1968 voting numbers did improve.

Source K states:

Source J shows that still not many black people were successful however, Source J shows that there is still a large number of blacks living below the poverty line:

Source J show that although the laws were being passed, people’s attitudes were not changing. Blacks were still treated badly. Using my own knowledge I know that there were many failures:

In the northern cities many blacks were still living in Ghettos with poor health care and high unemployment
Whites still had a better income
There was high infant mortality in black families
The police force was still predominantly white

Overall there were many successes in the civil rights movement in the way that many laws were passed but there was still a lot of racism among the majority of whites towards blacks. This still presents problems for blacks in the way that they were still getting treated badly. This shows overall there were not really many successes for blacks.

QUESTION 7

Television played an important role in end of segregation. Before the 1960’s civil rights movements such as speeches and marches, were not shown on television or in newspapers. This meant that most people were unaware of the brutality blacks faced every day by white people and the authorities. Television was important in the way that the nation was being exposed to the way that blacks were being treated. This changed people’s views about blacks and many whites become sickened by how the non-violent protesters were being treated.

Source I states:

“Many whites previously in differed to the campaign were now sickened by this brutality”

By the 1960’s 90% of Americans had televisions, which meant the majority of people were exposed to the way blacks were treated. I agree with Source L in the way that television played a big part in the ending of segregation.

Source L states:

“Before television the public in the USA had no idea of the abuses blacks suffered in the South”

However I do thing the author of source L is a bit biased in way that he states:

“We made it impossible for congress not to act”

This statement is being biased to the television station he works for and he is trying to promote it. There are also other factors that contributed to the ending of segregation such as:

newspapers were fully reporting on the civil rights movements. A lot of people buy newspapers so a lot of people were being exposed to the movements through the news.

Source B is taken from an article from New York Times, September 1957, describing the reaction in Little Rock High School to the arrival of the students:

“The crowd let out a roar or rage, “they’ve gone in” a man shouted…”the Negroes are in our school”

Martin Luther King (MLK) and other black power groups such as Malcolm X (MX) were shown on television and in newspapers all over the world. This meant people were being exposed to their views, which influenced many people. Speeches were shown on television given by the civil rights leaders such as MLK and MX, which thousands of people black and white attended. This meant the leaders were able to express their views clearly. The civil rights leaders published books which meant they could tell the nation in a lot more detail how hard thing were for blacks.

Towards the last years of JFK’s life he strongly supported and followed the civil rights movements, which influenced the nation to follow him. When JFK was assassinated by a white youth (part of a group against blacks) it showed the nation how serious the racism was and how badly something needed to be done about it.

Overall I agree that television played a major part in the ending of segregation but I do think that civil rights leaders and JFK played a major part in the ending of segregation as well.