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HowfarHaveOurCivilRightsProgressed
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HowFarHaveOurCivilRightsProgressed
JamesP.Lessner
HonorsEnglish11,Mrs.Kwiatkowski,2

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HowFarHaveOurCivilRightsProgressed
CivilrightshavecomealongsincethefirstslavesweresoldtoVirginiasettlersin1619as
indenturedservantsslaveryhasbeenabolishedandminoritieshavereceivedmanyrightsthatthey
didnthavebeforesuchastherighttovoteandfreespeech.Althoughmanythingshavechanged
manythingshavestayedthesameintheheartsofman,suchasworkplacediscriminationandhow
manyminoritiesaregeneralized.Civilrightsstillhavealongwaytogobeforethereiscomplete
equalityinournation,becauseofbadeducation,poorhousing,andverbaldiscrimination.
WhatAreCivilRights?
Therewasatimewhenmanyracesdidnotreceivethetreatmentthattheydeserved.For
blacksitwasalongfourhundredyearstilltheyreceivedtherightsthattheydeservedandevennow
somesaythatthereisstillalongwaytogobeforecompleteequalityisachieved.TheU.S.
ConstitutionsaysthatWeholdthesetruthstobeselfevident,thatallmenarecreatedequal,that
theyareendowedbytheirCreatorwithcertainunalienableRights,thatamongtheseareLife,
LibertyandthepursuitofHappiness,butitwasnttillahundredyearafterwardsthatslaverywas
abolished.Thenanotherhundredyearsbeforewomencouldvote,andanother30yearsbefore
segregationwasmadetobeillegal.CivilrightsaccordingtotheU.S.DepartmentofHealth&
HumanServices(2012)aredefinedas,personalrightsguaranteedandprotectedbytheU.S.
ConstitutionandfederallawsenactedbyCongress.Thispagealsogoesontosaythatcivilrights
areguaranteedtoallhumansregardlessofrace,color,nationalorigin,disability,age,sex,and,in
somecases,religion.ItalsosaysthatunderthelawstotheU.S.allpeoplehavetherighttohealth
careandhumanservicesinanondiscriminatorymanner.
WhatistheHistoryofCivilRights

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Civilrightshavecomealongwaysince1619whenthefirstblacksweresoldasindentured
servantstosettlersinVirginia,butithasbeenalongandgruesomeroadformanyinvolvingbloody
battlesandpeacefulprotests.WhentheConstitutionwasadoptedin1789slaves,whichincluded
predominatelyblackpeopleatthetime,wereonlycountedasthreefifthsofapersonnotbecause
manypeoplethoughtslaverywaswrong,butbecausethesouthernstateswouldhavealmostnopoll
inCongressbecauseoftheirsmallruralpopulation.Around1850therewasaconventionheldin
NewYorkthatsuggestedanamendmenttogivewomentherighttovote.In1857aslavesuedfor
hisrighttofreedom,butwasdeniedbecause,slaveswerenotrecognizedaspeopleandtherefore
didnothavetherighttosue.In1863thingsstartedtogetbetterforslaveswhenAbrahamLincoln
signedtheEmancipationProclamation,whichfreedallslavesinthesouthernstates.Thingskept
goingupwhenthethirteenthamendmentwassignedandbannedslaveryandinvoluntaryservitude
intheUnitedStates.In1870therighttovotewasmadetobeavailablebythefifteenthamendment,
whichwasabigwinforblacks.In1920womenaregiventherighttovotebythenineteenth
amendment.In1948PresidentTrumandesegregatedthearmedforcesIn1954segregationin
schoolsisdeclaredillegalbytheSupremeCourt.In1956theAlabamabussegregationlawsare
terminatedbytheSupremeCourt.TheCivilRightsActof1957aimedtoincreaseblackturnoutat
pollsbymakingitacrimetoobstructvoterregistration.Bytheyear1961allmeansof
transportationaredesegregated.TheCivilRightsBillof1964bannedsegregationintheworkplace
andpublicaccommodations.Despiteallofthesechanges,therearestillmanyinstancesofinjustice
inourcommunitytodaythatgounpunished.
HowHasDailyLifeGottenBetter?
Thesuccessofthedesegregationofschoolscanbeseeninthenumberprovidedbyapollby
theU.S.DepartmentofEducation(2009)thatshow's8,166,353blackchildrenattendingpublic

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schooland430,972studentsenrolledinaprivateschoolduringthe20092010schoolyear.As
wellastheincreasednumbersinpublicschoolblackdropoutratehasdecreasedgreatlysincethe
1970swhenthedropoutratewas21.4%ofallblackstudents.Thisnumbergreatlydeclinedto
13.2%ofallblackstudentsintheyear2000,andhascontinuedtodroptoitscurrentrateof8%.
Althoughtheymayhavealowgraduationrateofaround63.6%onecanseethatmanyaretaking
morethanfouryearstograduatehighschoolinsteadofdroppingout,andmanyareseekinghigher
educationafterwards.AfricanAmericanHighSchoolSeniorshaveagreaterambitionthantheydid
in1990withmanyseekingacollegedegreeinsteadofatechnicalcertification.Thenumberof
blackseniorswithdefiniteplanstoattendcollegehasincreasedfrom30%in1990to60%inthe
year2013.Althoughthereisanincreasingeducationrateforyoungblackstherestillremainsan
economicgapbetweenwhitesandblack.Onaverageawhitefamilymade$65,880,buttheaverage
blackfamilymadeonlyameager$40,497in2012.Althoughthepovertyratehasdecreasedgreatly
fromitsnear42%in1967to27%in2012itisstilldoublethatofthewhitepovertyrateof12.7%.
InasurveytakenbytheCensusBureau(2013)manyblackAmericansfeltasifracialproblems
betweenblacksandwhitewouldalwaysexist.
Conclusion
Asonecantellfromthedataprovidedwehaveprogressedalongwayfromthedaysof
slavery,butthereisstillmuchtochangebeginningwitheducation.Startingwithgradeschool,we
needbetterthelivesofallchildren,notjustthoseinghettosorslums,bychangingtheschool
systemfromaworkerbeebasededucationinamorefreeinventiveenvironment.Thenasthey
moveintothehighschoollevel,weneedtomakecollegepreparationamandatorythingbecauseas
thetimeshavechangedandinordertoevengetastartingpositionyouneedacollegedegree.Also
ineducation,weneedtobringuptherateofblackandhispanicgraduationratesbecausetheystill

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lagbehindgreatlycomparedtowhitesandasians.Hopefullywiththehighergraduationratethe
averageincomeofthesefamilieswillalsorise.Thehardthingstochange,thougharetheheartsof
man.Theheartofamansetinhiswaysissternasconcreteandwillnotbudgetoanynewideas,but
whatcanbechangedistheheartandmindofhischild.Childrenmustnotbeexposedtotheseracist
ideasthatmanypeopleimposeupontheirchildrenastheygrow.Theymustberemovedfromthis
environmentandintroducedtotheideasofracialequality.

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References
CivilRightsChronology.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary19,2016,from
http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/chronology.html
U.S.HHS(2012,March14).CivilRightsFAQs.RetrievedJanuary19,2016,from
http://www.hhs.gov/civilrights/forindividuals/faqs/index.html
DeShay,A.(2012).Elementary&HighSchoolEducation.RetrievedJanuary19,2016,from
http://blackdemographics.com/education2/elementaryhighschooleducation/
Heinz,K.(2016,January6).CivilrightsdiscussionattheStatehouse.RetrievedJanuary19,2016,
from
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/localnews/civilrightsdiscussionatthestatehouse
Wolf,R.(2014,April01).EqualityStillElusive50YearsAfterCivilRightsAct.RetrievedJan19,
2016,from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/19/civilrightsactprogress/4641967/