Civil Rights - Equality Amongst Citizens

By Simon Waker Haughtone
The rights of a person or an individual by the virtue of being a citizen, to take part in political as well as civil life of the state without any sort of prejudice or subjugation is known as Civil Rights. It also protects the citizen from any unjustifiable action taken by the government or any other private organization.

Civil rights exist in any state that provides its citizens with constitutional as well as legal guarantees. Nevertheless constitutions sometimes also mention the rights that a citizen, under any circumstances should not enforce their civil rights against the state.

Civil rights vary in each nation because of the difference in democracy; yet it is possible to point out few of the civil rights that mostly remain common. Some of the universally known civil rights of a person are freedom of speech, thought and expression, religion as well as fair and impartial trials and taxation.

Let us now take a look at some of the events in the History of Civil Rights which played a crucial role in reducing the discrimination of minorities in the U.S:

• In 1964, United States declared the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It is considered to be one of the strongest civil rights laws in the history of United States. This act banned the discrimination of a person on the basis of their color, race or nationality. It was primarily aimed at protecting the rights of minorities like the African American community.

• In 1965, the then-President Johnson ensured an affirmative action, towards the minority communities in the aspect of employment, by the government contractors.

• In the year 1991, after a long debate and vetoes of two years, the then-President Bush signs the 1991 Civil Rights Act that strengthened the existing laws. It provided damages in case of intentional discrimination in employment.

• In 2008, the Civil Rights Act of 2008 was introduced. Among the proposed provisions, some of them included ensuring that the federal fund would not be used for subsidizing discrimination on the basis of employer's age.

When equal protection of rights and laws of the citizens is not assured, civil unrest develops among the people. Between 1950 and 1980, the worldwide civil rights movement took place. The reason for this movement was to get equality for the people before the law. So, to maintain social rest and equality in a state or a nation, it is necessary to provide proper civil rights to the citizens.