Civil liberties and rights are both enshrined in the United States’ Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The two notions have been used interchangeably on a number of occasions. However, they refer to different kinds of guaranteed protections. Civil liberties apply to the protections against government actions. For example, under the Bill of Rights, all citizens have the right to practice a religion of their choice. The government then cannot interfere with citizen’s individual freedom of worship. Civil rights refer to the actions employed by the government to create equal conditions for all American citizens. Civil rights are mostly used for protection of minority groups such as women, African-Americans, Latinos and Hispanics from discrimination.
American civil rights and liberties have a long history of revolution. Even after the Declaration of In
...dependence in 1776, the young nation permitted the continuation practice of slavery for people of African heritage. Slavery continued until the end of the American civil war in the 1860s. The abolishment of the slave trade was a great milestone in the revolution of American civil rights and liberties. A lot still remained to be done to ensure equal freedoms and privileges to all American citizens. After the end of the civil war, the United States become more diverse and adopted immigration policies that allowed immigrants from around the globe. However, the problems of racial discrimination endured for the minority groups. (Vidmar p.54)
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the freeing of all slaves held in the fighting states. At the end of the civil war, the thirteenth amendment, which was passed in 1865, led to the abolishment of slavery in the United States. In
1868, the fourteenth amendment was passed, making all former slaves, and any other person born in the United States and naturalized, a citizen. It also provided that all citizens be granted equal rights, liberties, and protection of the law. The fifteenth amendment adopted in 1879, granted all citizens the rights to vote despite their race or color. (Nahmod vol.1)
However, despite the promises by these new laws, racial and ethnic minorities, former slaves and their descendants continued to face discrimination and didn’t receive equal treatment under the law. Things got worse in 1896 when the United States’ Supreme Court made a ruling allowing state governments to separate people according to different races but ensure equal separate facilities. African Americans were denied their civil right to vote. They were required to pay poll taxes and go through voting texts before voting. In 1954, the Supreme Court overruled its previous ‘separate but equal’ rule and outlawed the poll taxes and voting tests in 1965.
The civil rights movement which began in the 1950s, with the African Americans demands equal protection under the law. Their demonstrations and protest set platform for other minority groups to begin agitating for new laws as well. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other human rights activists spearheaded the voting rights and fair housing acts among other acts. Through their efforts of persuasion, the Congress enacted voting rights laws which took small steps towards increasing voting participation for the minorities. 1966, Dr. Martin Luther led rallies and protests in Chicago on civil rights issues. There was racial segregation on the housing where African Americans in Chicago were squeezed into small areas of the city and
denied access to housing outside those areas. The civil rights activists fought to foresee the enacting of the fair housing act for the minorities in 1988 and other laws that marked the historical milestones in the revolution of American civil rights and liberties. (Fairclough et al., p.23)
Current Status of American Civil Rights and Liberties.
Civil liberties protect the American citizens from the government power. They are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. They limit the powers of the federal government. The government doesn’t have the authority to take away the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights, and any action by the federal government that encroaches on these liberties is illegal. The Constitution guarantees numerous civil liberties, including the rights of the accused, freedom of speech and press, freedom of religion among others, Americans have expanded their civil liberties to incorporate the right to privacy. Civil rights guarantee equal opportunities and protection under the law to all citizens. They include rights to vote, the right to government services and public facilities, right to a fair trial and right to public education. They are very essential components of democracy. (Kalrman et al., p.34)
The United States has come a long way in the revolution of civil liberties and rights. The most recent top civil right issues are access to education and healthcare and rights to same-sex marriage. A majority of Americans feel that gay or lesbian couples should have the same rights and liberties as straight couples. Under the leadership of President Obama, same sex marriage was legalized.
However, since the terrorist attack of September eleventh, United States has passed laws that infringe on the civil rights of non-citizens.
The USA Patriot Act of 2001 severely limited the privacy and due process rights of immigrants. As a result, Arab Americans suffered from heightened levels of discrimination. They were forced to comply with the government policies that restricted their liberties. It is for this reason that the United States must persistently seek new solutions to make the nation safer without diminishing peoples’ fundamental freedoms, whether citizens or non-citizens. The United States' efforts to protect its national security is best served by laws that also protect the fundamental human rights of people living in America. The people of United States need to stand up for their values of liberty, democracy and lastly, justice for all.
America has made tremendous steps towards achieving the constitutional goals for civil rights and liberties. Freedom of speech, assembly, press and religion are most observed in the United States more than any other country. The government of the United States holds public opinion in high regard. In some countries, public opinion is not considered necessary in the institutional decision-making processes. The legalization of same-sex marriage was a remarkable milestone in the revolution of civil rights and liberties in America. It made the United States the first nation to initiate such a law. The American people proved to the world of their determination to fight for equal protection of all American citizens under the law regardless of their race, sex and religion when they elected Barrack Obama, an African-American as the President of United States. Although the revolution of American civil rights and liberties is unfinished, America still spearheads the protection of human rights and liberties globally.
Work cited
- Klarman, Michael J. "Rethinking the
civil rights and civil liberties revolutions." Virginia Law Review (1996): 1-67.
