Civil Rights

7 Key excerpts on "Civil Rights"

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  American Political Thought

  • Paul Rego(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • University Press of Kansas

    (Publisher)

  1

  Political rights, on the other hand, included voting, running for office, and serving on juries. Thus, in 1866 , when critics charged that the Civil Right Act was intended to protect political rights, Trumbull responded that “the bill is applicable exclusively to Civil Rights. It does not propose to regulate the political rights of individuals: it has nothing to do with the right of suffrage, or any other political right; but is simply intended to carry out a constitutional provision, and guarant[ee] to every person of every color the same Civil Rights. That is all there is to it.”2 On another occasion, he, likewise, noted that the proposed legislation “has nothing to do with the political rights or status of parties. It is confined exclusively to their Civil Rights, such rights as should appertain to every free man.”3

  When asked to define “Civil Rights,” Trumbull explained that the term referred to the “fundamental rights belonging to every man as a free man.” These included (but were not limited to) the right to own property, to enter into contracts, to sue for violations of contracts, to testify in courts of law, and to enjoy the “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property.”4 Civil Rights were essential to liberty—“civil liberty,” to be more precise. Trumbull was careful to differentiate “civil liberty” from “natural liberty.” The latter was “the Power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, unless by the law of nature, being a right inherent in us by birth, and one of the gifts of God to man in his creation, when he imbued him with the faculty of will.” In other words, natural liberty referred to the total autonomy that human beings possessed in the state of nature. Individuals remained subject to moral law (“the law of nature”), but there was no government to enforce it. Civil liberty, on the other hand, constituted the portion of natural liberty that all individuals retained equally after the establishment of government. In order to empower government to protect the rights of all, individuals had to surrender—on an equal basis—a certain degree of their personal autonomy. For this reason, civil liberty (in contrast to natural liberty) was both circumscribed and regulated by government. Nevertheless, it was confirmed by the Declaration of Independence and, in constitutional terms, guaranteed by both the Thirteenth Amendment and the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV of the Constitution, which states that “the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.”5

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  American Government

  Political Development and Institutional Change

  • Cal Jillson(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Civil liberties restrict and control government power over individuals. Civil Rights promise that government power will be used to ensure that individuals are treated equally and fairly by government and other individuals. Before the Civil War, civil liberties and Civil Rights seemed to be roughly the same thing and for white men they were very similar. The distinction became clearer after minorities and women began to claim the same liberties and rights available to white men.

  Americans seldom stop to think that what made the struggle for minority and female rights so long and arduous was that the founding generation and many generations thereafter opposed them.2 Moreover, law and policy governing relations between the races and genders, on slavery and marriage for example, were state matters, not national matters. Hence, even once attitudes about race and gender began to change for some people and in some regions of the country, the American federal structure meant that battles for equal rights had to be fought state by state and often on the most unfavorable terrain.3

  Moreover, while most Americans now acknowledge the long history of race and gender discrimination in our country, there often is a note of triumphalism—we have come so far—that may not be entirely merited. As Yale political scientist David Mayhew recently reminded us, the American Civil Rights revolution “was part of a global process of overturning white supremacy and colonialism that occurred simultaneously throughout the world following World War II.”4 To our credit, we participated, but we did not lead and many resisted.

  In this chapter, we consider how the Civil War and its aftermath raised new issues of diversity, equality, and Civil Rights in America. First, we look at the stout resistance that white men put up even after the Civil War to claims by minorities and women for equal rights. Second, we explore the long struggle for minority and gender equality. Third, we follow the debate over whether attempts to redress historical disadvantages of minorities and women through “affirmative action” must inevitably involve “reverse discrimination” against white men. These are some of the most contentious issues in contemporary American politics. In both cases, broad social movements lasting centuries were required to break through existing privileges and bring fundamental change.

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  Introduction to American Government

  • Larry Elowitz(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Collins Reference

    (Publisher)

  CHAPTER 10

  Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

  T he Bill of Rights was added to the original Constitution as a collective guarantee that the liberties of citizens—including such basic freedoms as speech, press, and religion—could not be arbitrarily infringed upon by the ruling power of the federal government or the wishes of a tyrannical majority. The Fourteenth Amendment then established the due process clause as a further reaffirmation of these freedoms.

  Civil liberties can create conflicts among competing interests in society. The accused may desire a fair, objective trial, but the press’s wish for maximum, even sensationalized coverage could bias that trial’s objectivity. Citizens in a community may wish to censor sexually explicit publications, but others will believe in freedom of speech. These and innumerable other disputes demand resolution.

  Civil liberties are not the same as Civil Rights. Civil liberties are the individual rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution, as exemplified in the Bill of Rights. They are the citizen’s legal and constitutional protections against the government; those practices that government may not implement. Civil Rights involve the protection of individuals and groups (women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays, and so on) against discrimination based upon race, national origin, religion, age, disability, or sexual orientation. The struggle for Civil Rights is ultimately to gain access to public facilities, better job opportunities, legal equality, or other societal services previously denied. Consequently, government is mandated by these rights to guarantee equality under the law for every American. Civil Rights are largely derived from federal or state statutes, and from the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

  The content, application, scope, and extension of civil liberties and Civil Rights have been interpreted by the judiciary, and, particularly, through innumerable rulings from the Supreme Court. This chapter is concerned with many of these decisions and their significance.

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  The Handy American Government Answer Book

  How Washington, Politics and Elections Work

  • Gina Misiroglu(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Visible Ink Press

    (Publisher)

  CIVIL LIBERTIES AND Civil Rights DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CIVIL LIBERTIES AND Civil Rights What are civil liberties?

  Civil liberties are those fundamental freedoms that together guarantee the rights of free people and protect the people from improper government actions against them. The specific rights that together make up the civil liberties of the people of the United States are written in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Examples of civil liberties include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the guarantee of a fair, unbiased trial.

  What are substantive liberties?

  Some of the restraints put on the government are substantive liberties, which limit what the government shall and shall not have the power to do, including establish a religion, quarter troops in private homes without consent, or seize private property without just compensation.

  How do civil liberties differ from Civil Rights?

  Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, scholars generally agree that civil liberties are those liberties that protect people from the government—those that guarantee the safety of people, their opinions, and their property from the government as listed in the Constitution. The term “Civil Rights,” on the other hand, is generally used to refer to acts of government that make constitutional guarantees real for all people, ensuring that they receive equal treatment under the law, as outlined by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Landmark Civil Rights legislation is found in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or sex.

  Does the Constitution grant Americans their Civil Rights and liberties?

  No. It doesn’t grant them, it only guarantees them. According to the Ninth Amendment, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The people of America had all their rights and liberties before they wrote the Constitution. The Constitution was formed, among other purposes, to secure the people’s liberties—not only against foreign attack but also against oppression by their own government. The First Amendment to the Constitution, for example, does not give

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  Political Power in America

  Class Conflict and the Subversion of Democracy

  • Anthony R. DiMaggio(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • SUNY Press

    (Publisher)

  3 But the “they take our jobs” position was too well entrenched on the American right, with xenophobia being a hallmark of the Trump campaign and administration’s rhetoric. The attacks on immigrants, documented and undocumented, meant the relegation of Mexican and Hispanic immigrants to a secondary, underclass status in American politics and society. This discrimination represented a significant rollback of the protections that had been gained by nearly a million “Dreamers” under Obama. The attacks on immigrants also represent a significant Civil Rights issue, as I discuss in this chapter.

  What are Civil Rights?

  Whereas civil liberties refer to citizen protections that government must not suppress, Civil Rights are protections created to benefit disadvantaged groups. Civil Rights include laws guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of skin color (the Voting Rights Act of 1965), freedom from discrimination (the Civil Rights Act of 1964), protections for the disabled (The American Disabilities Act of 1990), and the right to marriage regardless of sexual orientation (via Supreme Court ruling). Many groups, including women, black Americans, Hispanics, gays and lesbians, transgendered peoples, and the disabled, are covered under Civil Rights laws.

  Despite much progress in establishing and protecting Civil Rights for the disadvantaged, massive inequality remains between more and less affluent socioeconomic groups, and it is growing. In the neoliberal political era, inequality manifests itself across many dimensions, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and economics. In other words, class divisions are not only about incomes or wealth, but also about how Americans are treated differently based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and ethnicity. This chapter is devoted to exploring how inequality has manifested itself in different ways, with individuals and societal institutions discriminating against a variety of historically marginalized groups.

  Immigration Reform

  Immigration reform is a contentious issue in American politics. Conservatives and Republicans have followed Trump’s lead, supporting a wall between the U.S. and Mexico—based on calls to “get tough” on illegal immigration. “Xenophobia” refers to intense feelings of distrust, fear, or hatred against “foreigners,” and Trump’s blanket attacks on Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and “drug dealers” clearly fit this description. Such rhetoric fits within a broader history of discrimination against Latino/a immigrants, which has contributed to the marginalization and relegation of many to a lower-class status. Democrats have been somewhat less conservative, although hardly liberal, on immigration policy. Former President Barack Obama called for a “path to citizenship” for unauthorized immigrants, but he was also responsible for even more deportations than occurred under President George W. Bush.4

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  Social Work and Human Rights

  A Foundation for Policy and Practice

  • Elisabeth Reichert(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Columbia University Press

    (Publisher)

  In 1976, a sufficient number of member countries of the United Nations had ratified (or approved) the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights to put the covenants into force within the approving countries. A UN covenant takes effect only after a specified number of member countries of the United Nations have approved it. Countries approving the covenant are then legally bound to enforce its provisions. Only by signing and then formally approving a covenant does a country indicate its intent to be bound by it. Even then, unless a covenant states that it is “self-executing,” a country that has approved it must pass laws to enforce it. Neither the covenant on civil and political rights nor the covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights contains self-executing provisions. Although the United States has ratified the covenant on civil and political rights, the government has not enacted specific legislation to enforce it. Although many provisions in the covenant are similar to already existing laws in the United States, some of the provisions are new. Yet because the covenant is not self-executing, its provisions are not legally binding in the United States and thus makes reliance on the document a tenuous proposition. The remainder of this chapter addresses the provisions of the covenant on civil and political rights.

      The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights  

  Historically, the United States has paid much more attention to the human rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights than those in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Indeed, this focus on political and Civil Rights has often led the United States to take a one-sided view of human rights, without adequately recognizing that human rights go beyond the political sphere. For U.S. social workers, this focus on political human rights may have led to a reluctance to study and integrate human rights into the social work profession. Yet, as will be evident in an analysis of the covenant, political and civil human rights also have a close connection to the profession’s interventions and principles.

     

  Introduction to the Covenant

   

  The preamble or introduction to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights expressly lists civil and political rights that “derive from the inherent dignity of the human person” (see appendix B

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  Political Development

  • Damien Kingsbury(Author)
  • 2007(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  As noted at the outset of this chapter, the link between civil and political rights and political development is a basic one. One could even argue that they are but differing interpretations of or orientation of focus towards the same basic quality. That is, it is not so much that political development cannot be achieved without due regard for civil and political rights, but as a central component of political development, the presence of civil and political rights is a key marker of the extent to which political development exists.

  There are various interpretations of what constitutes civil and political rights, but the UN Declaration of Human Rights is the most broadly supported and widely adopted version, with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights having been signed by most countries, if in many cases with specific qualifications that usually pertain to constitutional or legal issues (UNTC 2002). There are a total of 30 articles outlining people’s human rights, but the central and arguably most important principles are the right to life, liberty, property and security of person(s), freedom from torture or cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of expression and opinion and assembly.

  The rights to life, liberty, property and security of person are at the most basic end of the scale of rights and, at first glance, say little more than each person who is alive retains the right to stay that way and to own property. This then also goes to the issue of personal security. The question of property, however, becomes more problematic, not so much at the point where it refers to simple ownership of a home or the goods for a home, or tools or other means of making a living, but where the right to property for one impinges on the right to property of others. This potential caveat applies particularly to the individual or corporate accumulation of very large quantities of property. Hence, given the capacity for competing interests, the claim to property is left intentionally ambiguous.

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