Civil Liberties are singular rights shielded by law from crooked legislative or other obstruction. Civil Liberties in the 1970's are altogether different from common freedoms today. A great deal that was disapproved of in those days is the ordinary standard of today. Individuals' perspectives on things have changed drastically, for example, War, gay marriage, drug use and even women’s rights. It's just been 46 years, since 1970 which, when taking a look at the big picture, isn't long ago.
Let’s start off with the basics. How different is clothing now compared to then? Denim. Anything and everything wearable could be made out of denim in the Seventies. Pants, shirts, vests, even shoes. Bell bottom pants were an enormous thing in the Seventies
while standard jeans and yoga pants are the fashion statements of today. Recently fashion companies have made new clothing as a sort of “throwback” and released clothing lines that are similar to the Seventies look. Bell bottom pants, tie-dye T-shirts and big poofy hair were beginning to return in late 2014-2015. There were many groups fighting to expand Women’s social and political rights in the seventies. Feminists would begin to campaign until Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment ( ERA ) to the Constitution which reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” ( History 2016) Although 22 of 38 states recognized it right away, and the other 16 were close behind, conservative activists were alarmed that the ERA would erode traditional gender roles. Because of this in 1977 Indiana became the 35th-and-last-state to approve the ERA. This encouraged many women’s rights activists to build feminist communities and organizations of their own. They would end up building things such as art galleries, bookstores, consciousness-raising groups, day care and women’s health collectives, rape crisis center and abortion clinics. Feminists advocate women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, both which deal with civil rights, and the Civil Rights Act, which was made in 1866, have sparked considerable debate since their founding. As Kaczorowski states in his article, the federal government gained a considerable edge over local and state governments with its ability to legislate human rights. He writes that Historians have interpreted the laws in stark opposition. Depending on the political bent of the observer, the laws mandating equality can be
Civil liberties can be defined as the basic rights and freedoms of an individual granted to citizens in the United States and the entire world through the national common law or the statute law. The liberties include freedom of association, speech, movement, religious worship, and that from arbitrary arrest. The liberties get to form the roots of democracy in a society. In a dictatorial from of administration, the citizens are denied the rights and freedoms. However, liberties can be described as universal rights and freedoms. During the cold war in 1945 to 1953, the civil liberties got faced by many challenges as the citizens of the US faced and lived in a lot of terror.
All throughout history civil liberties have been established, fought for, and abused. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the civil liberties in the United States of America were tested. There were many events where the freedoms that our founding fathers had fought for Passive Voice (consider revising). Prejudice, fear, and racism all played a role during these events, during many of which they decided the outcome. Two events that demonstrate when the civil liberties in America were tested were during the trial of Sacco and Vanzettii and Schenek v. United States.
New fashions were surfacing in both men’s and women’s fashions. Men were wearing Bermuda pants, baggy pants that were cut off at the knee, while women were wearing capris, tight pants that cut off just below the knee. Men were wearing tailored jackets and making a slight move towards the casual dress of today’s workplace. Women were wearing natural shoulders as opposed to the heavily padded ones of the war years. Flat, neck-hugging collars replaced the mannish collars of the late 1940’s. Waists were tightly fitted and skirts were long (Melinkoff 46). The jeans of the time were often lined with plaid flanel and dungarees were worn to the most casual occasions. The sandals of the fifties were not much different than the sandals of today.
The 1970s was a tumultuous time in the United States. In some ways, the decade was a continuation of the 1960s. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays and lesbians and other marginalized people continued to fight for their freedom, while many other Americans joined in the demonstration against the ongoing war in Vietnam. Due to these movements, the 1970s saw changes in its national identity, including modifications in social values. These social changes showed up in the fashion industry as well, delivering new outlooks in the arenas of both men’s and women’s clothing.
The McCarthy era, which generally spanned from 1947 to 1957, brought to the forefront of American politics the question of civil rights. At issue were controversies about both First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due process and freedom from self-incrimination. Anti-Communist actions often involved restrictions on these rights, and heading the anti-Communist movement was the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). This committee, which consisted of government officials from Congress, was formed to investigate the threat of Communism in America. In doing so, the committee brought in witnesses, usually individuals thought to have, or to have had, Communist affiliations. The overzealous tendencies of HUAC, however, resulted in the use of bullying and smear tactics in its quest to expose a supposed Communist conspiracy. Coming to the defense of individuals under attack by anti-Communists was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU’s aim was to champion civil rights, regardless of the ideologies of the groups it defended. Its activities have ranged, for example, from defending the rights of Nazis to protest during the seventies to espousing the abolition of segregated schools in the South during the fifties. In the McCarthy era, the ACLU had its hands full dealing with threats to civil rights that stemmed from anti-Communism. The ACLU, however, was not without its own anti-Communistic sentiments. Indeed, within the ACLU was a cadre of anti-Communist members that made it difficult at times for the ACLU to take a strong stance for the civil liberties of suspected Communists.
Both Civil liberties and rights are not nor represent the same thing. Civil liberties are personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law or by judicial interpretation. Civil rights are the rights of individuals to receive equal treatment in a number of settings including education, employment, housing, and more. Many interests groups use these terms to support their own campains so that politicians might notice something being violated in the constitution.
Civil rights are the rights to personal liberty and are provided by the law. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights promises everybody civil rights. But many people, including lots of black people, have been denied their civil rights. Black people, and also some white people who help them, have struggled for these rights for a long time. Many people have helped and many kinds of groups have been formed to help win equal rights for everyone. Things are a lot better used to be, but the struggle is not over.
Most people have either read or heard of the book 1984 in some point in their high school career. Some may see it as just fictional literature that we learn in English class, but it could become seeing as to how our government is handling national security. In 1984, the author, George Orwell talks about a society in which one group of people runs society and everyone is under surveillance. This was something that people in the 1980s would not think possible, so how could Orwell have thought of this plot when writing the book during the 1940s? It could have been due to the progress in technology such as radio, film, television. The fear of government interference could have also been produced because World War II was present the time 1984 was created, from which Orwell twists in his book. What is even more interesting is that the Cold War is somehow described in 1984 and it pretty much became true. With the Cold War having taken place, U.S. citizens were worried that people among them could be a Communist; the enemy of the U.S. and capitalism. Because of their fear, people started to accuse one another of being communists, which led to them being imprisoned with little and what was, invalid evidence. This is now referred to as the ‘Red Scare’ where ‘Red’ symbolized Communism. After this so called war, there was a time of peace where the likelihood of there being another ‘Red Scare’ was very unlikely, until the unforgettable date, September 11, 2001, or often referred to as 9/11 where the government’s fear of terrorist presence begun.
Declared in the U.S. Constitution every American or should it be person, is guaranteed civil rights. Civil rights did not just consist of “freedom of speech and assembly,” but as well as “the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, and procedural guarantees in criminal and civil rights,” (Dawood). It was not until 1791, that the Bill of Rights was appended to the constitution, which helped clarify these rights to citizens. “Rights were eventually applied against actions of the state governments in a series of cases decide by the Supreme Court,” Dawood stated. In previous years (1790-1803), the Supreme Court had little say in decisions being made by government. As time went on the Supreme Court took on more responsibility and started making additional decisions, which in time helped minorities gain their civil rights. It took a couple of years, as a matter of fact till the 1900’s for the Supreme Court to get out of the “ideology of white supremacy and the practice of racism,” (Smith). Though the decisions of the Supreme Court were not all that appreciated in the beginning, following the 20th century the court really facilitated in the advancements of civil rights.
From the beginning, the United States Constitution has guaranteed the American people civil liberties. These liberties have given citizens rights to speak, believe, and act freely. The Constitution grants citizens the courage to express their mind about something they believe is immoral or unjust. The question is, how far are citizens willing to extend the meanings of these liberties? Some people believe that American citizens take advantage of their civil liberties, harming those around them. On the contrary, many other people feel that civil liberties are necessary tools to fight for their Constitutional rights.
Americans view of civil liberties and freedom changed a lot from 1865 to 1975. It started with white land owning males having freedom and everyone else having a restricted freedom in some form. Throughout that 90-year span, however it changed to a more modern view as it is today, where every man and woman is free to do as he/she pleases and achieve the American dream. This changed occurred in what I see as the three most important era’s. The first one being the era of reconstruction, which set the foundation for further changes to occur and is the first real point when people started dealing with the idea of equality and freedom for all. The second is WWII this era was important, because it changed people perception of freedom. Before this point freedom was an idea, however during this era freedom became tangible. It was something you could fight for. The final era to discuss is the Civil Rights Movements. This era is important, because it is when freedom finally became a reality for everyone. Its also still occurring at this very minute.
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of the Brown v. the Board of Education. This was a very historical moment because their ruling eliminated, the "separate but equal " doctrine. Their ruling called for school integration, although most school were very slow in complying if they complied at all. The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Color People, viewed this ruling as a success. The schools lack of the obedience toward this ruling, made it necessary for black activism to make the federal government implement the ruling, and possibly help close the racial gap that existed in places other than public schools. During one of the boycotts for equality, a leader emerged that would never be forgotten. Dr. Martin Luther King, who was leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, quickly became the spokesperson for racial equality. He believed that the civil rights movement would have more success if the black people would use non violent tactics. Some say he was adopting the style of Ghandi. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, was formed by King and other activist in 1957. They were a group of black ministers and activist who agreed to try and possibly help others see the effects of a non violent movement. Also following the strategies set by the SCLC, a group known as the SNCC or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, began a string of sit-in and campaigns as the black population continued it's fight for equality. It was the undying efforts of the two groups that paved the way for the march on Washington. This march which drew a crowd of at least 200,000, was the place that Dr. King, gave his famous "dream speech." Both the SNCC, and the SCLC were victims of lots of threats and attempted attacks, yet they continued to pursue freedom in a non violent fashion. However near the late 60's they had another problem on their hands. There was a group of activist known as the Black Panthers who were not so eager to adopt the non-violent rule. The believed that the civil rights movement pushed by Dr. King and is non-violent campaign, which was meant to give blacks the right to vote and eliminate segregation, was not solving problems faced in poor black communities. This Black Panther group, stabled the term "black power", which was used a sort of uplifting for the black self esteem.
How much should we care if people discriminate? In answering this question, maybe it's a good idea to say what we mean by discrimination. The most internally consistent definition is that discrimination is the act of choice. Thus, discrimination is a necessary fact of life - people do and must choose. When one selects a university to attend, he must non-select other universities - in a word, he must discriminate. When a mate is chosen, there is discrimination against other possible contenders. In the first instance, we call it university discrimination and in the second case mate discrimination. Thus, when the term discrimination is modified by words such as race, sex, or university and mate, one merely states the criterion upon which choice is being made.