The Concept of Civil Rights - Literature review Example

In attempting to understand the whole concept of civil rights, it is imperative to attempt to explain the meaning of the terms with regards to its historical connotations. According to Lovino (2008), “Civil rights are rights concerning equality guaranteed to citizens by amendments to the United States Constitution, specifically the 13th, 14th, and 15th.” As shall be highlighted below, civil rights encompass a lot of rights which were previously denied other races by superior races especially during the era of slavery. During this period, the majority of Afro Americans especially in America where slavery was rife were denied the right to equality and they suffered a heavy deal under oppressive systems that existed during those years. In a protracted struggle to fight slavery in America, various movements were established and among them was the “Civil Rights Movement” which referred to an extended period of American history in which African Americans struggled to become free of the tyranny of slavery where they also fought for equal opportunity and the protection of the civil rights guaranteed through the United States Constitution (Lovino 2008). Though the civil rights were guaranteed by the constitution, Afro Americans who were still under slavery unfortunately were still struggling to realise their rights. The movements for rights became rife around the late 1960s, a period which witnessed the passing of many laws supporting civil rights by the Congress and there was a shift in the ideology of Americans and racial politics in America (Boyer, 2001). Thus, according to the historical background of the fight for civil rights outlined above, a broad definition can be implied to sum up what civil rights are for the purpose of easier understanding. According to Cornel University Law School (2009), “a civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. There are quite a number of examples of civil rights and they include the following: freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to vote; freedom from involuntary servitude; and the right to equality in public places.” On the other hand, Bodenhamer J. D. & Ely J.W. (1993) posit to the effect that discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or infringed on the basis of racial inequality caused by class structures. It can be noted that various statutes have been enacted to prevent discrimination in different countries as well as promote other civil rights and these are in most cases based on the need to recognise a persons race, sex, religion, age, national origin and in some instances sexual orientation among others. Infringement of civil rights of individuals was not only rampant in America alone but also in several other less developed countries which were colonised by powerful nations. Colonialism also brought with it unfair treatment of the subjects which were under colonial rule and there was no equality where the colonialists enjoyed a lavish life style at the expense of the ruled people who were relegated to the lower echelons of the class structure where they were treated as peasants who were dependant on their rulers for everything in their life. Basically, several other countries also experienced unequal treatment of their citizens which led to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations on 10 December 1948. On top of the statutes promulgated in individual states, the UDHR is primarily concerned with the protection of individual rights. According to the UDHR, all human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms whereby the United Nations (UN) seeks to emphasise in clear and simple terms the rights which equally belong to everyone. The UN is the mother organisation to all nations which are member states in the whole world and is an equal representative of each state regardless of the level of development of that particular country. The charter on human rights does not select citizens of member states on the basis of creed or belief but they are treated as equal before the internationally recognised standards. According to the contents of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the recognition of equal and inalienable rights of members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the whole world the reason why it is emphatic on the need to respect these rights. Whilst other nations chose to disregard these rights in the past especially during the colonial era as well as the period during slavery, the result was disharmony among the members of the society who were oppressed. During the doom days, lives in the communities of the oppressed people were characterised by suffering of the masses as well as protests for their right to be recognised. In any society which disregards the civil rights of its members, it would be difficult to maintain a peaceful world which is easier to govern. It is against this backdrop that the UN sought to promote peace and tranquility in the world through safeguarding the rights of the people who were once oppressed by the colonial system. It would be quite difficult to govern a society that is characterised by inequality and disgruntlement by other members of the lower level in any community or country. It can be noted that some unscrupulous and powerful members of richer nations deliberately created oppressive regimes whereby they would yield more power over weaker nations to instill their domination over these nations. Contrary to the dictates of Article 1 of the UDHR which states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, members from poor countries ended up being at the receiving end of servitude that was deliberately put in place to undermine their freedoms and rights. Discrimination for instance is a result of blatant disregard of other people’s right to equality. By virtue of having knowledge that each individual in society is born free and equal, there would be nothing like discrimination as every member of the society would tend to be guided by the principles of equality which discourage people to undermine each other regardless of race colour. In some cases where the civil rights of the members of another group are undermined, those people being suppressed would have lost their dignity and respect to a greater extent as they would not be able to freely express themselves in their own communities as they would be subjected to persecution by those powerful rulers who would be in a position to impose strict rules and regulations. It is against this backdrop that the UDHR is concerned with primary rights of individuals with regards to the way they ought to conduct themselves in democratic systems which do not undermine these rights. Emphasis is put on the way all the human beings are ought to be treated with equality everywhere they go. Over and above, it can be noted that civil rights of any human being form the fundamental base of his or her dignity and freedom with regards to the way they conduct themselves in their daily lives. The civil rights of any human being entail that everyone is equal and has the right to be protected equally by the laws of the land in any country. It can as well be noted that the civil rights of individuals form the basis of the universal declaration of human rights which is an internationally acclaimed organisation that is primarily concerned with promoting the rights of the human beings as well as peace and tranquility among different member states. Reference Leigh Allison Lovino; Library Student Journal (2008), The rights movement in Mississippi: A Bibliometric Study in Scholarly Journals, Retrieved on 04 May 2009, From: http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/article/viewArticle/87/181 Cornel University Law School (2009), Civil rights: an Overview, Retrieved on 04 May 2009, from: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/Civil_rights Bodenhamer J. D. & Ely J.W. (1993), The Bill of Rights in Modern America, Indiana University Press, Retrieved on 04 May 2009, From: http://books.google.co.za/books?id=V6FIS1Ue8EgC&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=civil+rights-academic+definition&source=bl&ots=h9ir9POIDj&sig=2G7qFL5VQANu45KjMMnwe_oClKI&hl=en&ei=wPL-SefpOMGZjAfPh72aAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA170,M1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948 Read More