Journal 30

Civil rights are the rights that people are given from birth and have as citizens of a certain country. An example of this is freedom of speech given to the citizens of the United States from birth. Yet, at one time not all people received the civil rights that they deserved. For many years in the United States of America, African Americans were denied some of their civil rights. In many places of the United States, African Americans were discouraged from voting due to racism. This is terrible because under the amendments of the Constitution everyone over the age of eighteen has the right to vote. African Americans were also segregated from white people in public institutions. Everything from buses to water fountains were separate for the races under the doctrine "separate but equal". I cannot even imagine a society that would do this. It seems awful and very degrading, and I am glad that there were people like Martin Luther King Jr. to take a stand against "separate but equal". Without him and people like him, society could still be segregated. They fought for a society in which everyone would have the same rights and the same opportunity. I find this to be very admirable because they helped make society what it is today. Today people of every race have the same civil rights and are not segregated but integrated. Civil rights are very important because they give everyone equal rights and opportunity. In my opinion a society that has civil rights is much better than a society that does not. Despite the fact that civil rights have been achieved in the United States, we cannot rest. We must continue the  tough fight that people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks started because people may try to take away our civil rights at any time. We must be careful and alert of those that seek to limit the civil rights of anyone, and make sure that our society continues to grant civil rights to all.