. Civil Rights... Protections from arbitrary treatment.
 

Here's some words for ya'

Civil rights

Separate but equal doctrine

Literacy test

De facto segregation

De jure segregation

 

Civil Rights – The Next Generation:

Many people think the ‘60's was the era of great civil rights change and that some how today we have lost our way. Others think the ‘60's was the start of the civil rights movement . Both of these are fundamentally wrong.

The great changes in civil rights in the century did not start in the sixties nor have they ceased. The very concept of civil rights has changed in the last 100 years. 

As the discussion has become international , we struggle to understand and define what exactly are each individual's civil rights, human rights, basic rights… so many names, so little agreement.

Civil Rights stresses Group identification

Many people worry about the “groupism” that has come along with the great expansion of civil rights in the last century. The argument says that “minority” groups have been extended “extra” rights, or special treatment.

(Humans do like to express themselves in terms of “us” versus “them” and this is another example of that.)

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action is a wonderful example of the fault lines of this argument. Affirmative Action is a two decade long social experiment who's professed aim was to “level the playing field” in hiring, promotion, government contracts, education and a host of other social areas. 

Those who support Affirmative Action have ample evidence to show that the more opportunities that are given, the more diversity increases.

Who have been the biggest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action? Think hard – African-Americans? Chinese?… 

Actually, women have benefited far more than men (in all ethnic groups). White women have benefited more than any other group (specifically suburban, upper income, white women).

Has Affirmative Action worked? It depends upon who you ask. Is it worth continuing? Isn't that a great essay question? 

Maybe, if your interested, you should look into it more and make up your own mind. My opinion isn't nearly as interesting to you as your opinion, is it?

Literacy tests do not test literacy

Literacy tests are a great example of how things are more complicated than they first appear. If you ever get a chance to see the old literacy tests (which one had to pass in order to vote) you will see how truly stupid the questions are. 

They did not test literacy, they were a mechanism to preclude people from voting.

Based on a True Story:

An old professor of mine tells this story (present tense, ‘cause I hope he's still alive). He's a white guy from Baton Rouge, but he got his BA from some northern “Yankee University.” Then he fought in the Korean War. He returned and got his MA and Ph.D. from some other northern Yankee University. 

When he finally returned home to re-register to vote, the election official didn't recognize him and made him take the literacy test. My professor, now a new Ph.D. in political science, failed the test. When he explained to the election official who he was and where he was from (in his best southern accent), the official showed him the answers and let him pass.

Lawyers Love Latin

The two Latin terms for segregation (above) are fine examples of how lawyers love to use Ugly English (in this case Latin) to make themselves important to people who don't speak Latin. (By the way, I suffered through five years of Latin in high school and college. If you don't speak Latin, you're not missing much.)

“De Facto” means “in fact,” “de jure” means “by law.”

Sure we can pass laws to eliminate racist practices, but can we eliminate racism? Not really. What the law says and what actually occurs in the so-called real world are often times worlds apart.

We Should Pass a Law!

Many people think the answer to societies evils lies at the doorstep of government. 

But what problems can government (alone) solve? Just passing a law doesn't mean any real change will take place. 

Laws have to be funded by the Congress, implemented and enforced by the bureaucracy and most importantly re-enforced by the courts.