Political Science

Civil rights  definition
Civil rights refer to the privileges that ensure that the citizens of a particular state are subject to equal treatment without any form of discrimination. Interferences with these set of civil rights results to discriminations which may cause the injured ones to sue for justice. Civil rights are broad and some of them include the freedom of assembly, press, speech, voting rights and equality among others. Civil rights clearly state that people may not be discriminated upon in regard to their sex, race, originality, age, religion or disability. Going against peoples civil rights is unlawful and punishable according to the American laws. Civil rights are exercised in different institutions such as schools, places of work, residential places and other institutions. Civil rights are protected by the law which states them clearly for all (FindLaw, 2009).

Origin of civil rights
Civil rights originated from federal levels. In America, civil rights came from federal legislation. The 1964 civil rights act is an example and it was passed to primarily fight with the menace of racial discrimination. In 1992, another act labeled Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. This act came complete with laws that govern the rights of the physically challenged people in America. Court decisions also apply at the national levels and they seek to define civil rights. Federal court decisions provide remedies to cases of civil rights violations. These violations may include racial segregation, gender discrimination as well as sexual harassment among many others.  Each state has its own set of civil rights which may differ with their towns, cities or counties (FindLaw, 2009).

Civil rights violations in Early America
African Americans in early America suffered greatly due to civil rights violations. These violations included

Racial discrimination
Many blacks were discriminated against their places of origin or nationality. Racialism had taken root in America. These blacks lived in the Southern states in their majority. They were not allowed to get proper employment, education, housing, get to vote, get financial assistance and even access certain buildings. They were separated from the whites in all social aspects. The children were not spared as they could only attend schools that were under-funded. This greatly affected their overall performance in these shacks. When it came to transport, the whites traveled first class having to seat at the front as the blacks rode in the rear. The trains were not spared from this segregation and there were compartments for blacks and others for whites. When it came to addressing the blacks, their first names were used where as whites had to be addressed with courtesy titles such as Mr., Mrs. or Sir. The police were also known to exercise excessive force on these people due to their race (Fairclough, 2003).

Gender discrimination
African Americans were discriminated upon in regard to their sex. This treatment was directed to them when they sought employment, housing, education and even when they wanted to get credit from financial institutions. They were either turned away or given something substandard. For instance, they were given manual jobs and the pay was low regardless of their prowess in the job in question. Others who got better jobs were paid less than their colleagues in the same field due to their gender. Expectant women were turned away when they went job seeking and those employed were fired in regard to their condition (FindLaw, 2009).

Disability discrimination
People with disabilities faced unequal treatment as compared to the able bodied ones. Some of these disabilities include blindness, deafness, dumbness as well as any other physical disability. The discrimination they faced included not being hired by some employers or working in places that were not friendly for them. The accommodations may not have been reasonable for the employees condition. Some were turned away at schools, certain residential areas and even rejected by some public means of transport (FindLaw, 2009).

Enforcements
All these violations called for legal action and its a wonderful thing that federal courts have been set up to counter them. Anyone subjected to any kind of violation may sue the person who has violated them. This has reduced such cases of such violations since they come with a price. It is important for people to know their rights and freedoms by heart to ensure that they get the treatment they deserve (FindLaw, 2009).

Civil rights in America
Civil rights have been exercised in America since 1945. The major devil of the process of achieving total civil rights was segregation. This division of people in regard of their skin color was widespread all over America. Many activists were fighting to put an end to this dehumanizing trend. July, 1948 marked an end to racial segregation through the then president Harry Truman. Executive orders were issued by his government which sort to bring an end to employment discrimination while the other advocated for equal opportunities and equal treatment to people of all races, origin, color and religion. Those advocating for civil rights were thrilled by this arrangement and welcomed it with open arms. This move also ensured that all people in America would be able to get full citizenship which was only a far dream in the recent past (Fairclough, 2003).

Civil rights are exercised in America and the most pronounced expansion lies in two amendments. The thirteenth amendment was enacted and this saw the end of slavery which was pronounced. These limited human rights in a big way and reduced humans to commodities which could be sold and misused at will by fellow humans. The battle was not over yet as black codes was introduced by various states in America. These states used the black codes to continue humiliating the now free slaves. The Fourteenth amendment was passed in 1868 and this was in an effort to block the black codes. This amendment stated that no state had the right to interfere with the freedoms, immunities or even privileges of any American citizen. To enforce this, the congress was empowered to create laws which would punish those who infringed other peoples rights (FindLaw, 2009).

Key figures in the civil rights war in America
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther king was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. He attended a theology institution and became a clergyman under the Baptist Church. His father was also a minister under the same denomination. His mother was a teacher.  Martin was a name he was given later as he was earlier referred to as Michael. He is remembered for the role he played in the famed Montgomery bus boycott which took place in 1955. This was after a black woman by the name Rosa Parks refused to give a white man her seat after he got into an already full bus. Martin Luther King presented a strong case that led to the bus company changing its policies thus ending the segregation.  After this success, Martin Luther King went ahead to take his fight against abuse of civil rights to other fronts. These include the Washington march of 1963 where he gave a speech titled I have a dream which is still considered legendary to date. His fight for equality in America was felt all over the word and in 1964, he was awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. He also saw to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which saw huge numbers of blacks register to vote. He earned many enemies as he earned friends and on a visit to Tennessee, the legendary King was assassinated (Fairclough, 2003).

Mohandas(Mahatma) Gandhi
Popularly known as Mahatma which means, great soul, was born in October, 1869 in Gujarat. He was the most influential figure in Americas fight for equality. Martin Luther King is known to have copied his non-violent approach to these vice just like he did in India when the country was under the British rule. This approach won India freedom in 1945. Martin Luther believed it and taught it to the African Americans who embraced. Unfortunately, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu fanatic (Fairclough, 2003).

Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey was a nationalist who lived between 1887 and 1940. He was the brain behind the united states movement Back to Africa. He was very vocal in his quest to redeem the African Americans from their slavery. He called them to be proud and his idea was to turn them back to their ancestral home, Africa. He had many supporters though his ideas were not very successful. He however inspired many nationalists who succeeded him and the battle for civil rights in America continued (Fairclough, 2003).

John F. Kennedy
John F.Kennedy was United States 35th president. He lived between 1917 and 1963. He was a graduate of the Harvard University and got into the United States politics in 1946. At 43 years of age, Kennedy became the president in 1960 on a Democrat Party ticket. He fought hard to expand the African Americans civil rights. However, his subsequent assassination by a lone gunman halted this worthy cause which was left in the hands of his successor, Lyndon Johnson (Fairclough, 2003).

Important events that characterized the American civil rights era
Montgomery bus boycott
A southern society existed in America whereby racialism was the order of the day. This society was characterized by restaurant and buses for whites only. Buses came with two sets of seats which were specifically reserved for whites or blacks depending on their location in the bus. African Americans were disregarded and always came second. The Montgomery bus boycott took place in the month of December, 1955. This happened in a situation whereby a black woman, Ms Rosa Parks was arrested after refusal to give up her seat to a white man. This led the African Americans to stage a massive boycott of these buses which really hurt the transport business as it was highly successful. Martin Luther King was named the head of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) which was formed by the protesters. To ensure that African Americans got to work, the MIA came up with a taxi plan that facilitated the blacks transport to work and back. This almost kicked the buses out of work as a majority of their passengers were the African Americans. This led to the bombing of Martin Luthers home and a subsequent arrest.  The Montgomery buses were not used until 1956. Martin Luther was working hard to enforce the civil rights and this led to his appointment as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Historylearningsite, 2000-2010).

Little rock high school
Education was regarded highly in America and all people regardless of race or color were supposed to get a decent education. This was hard in this era as segregation and discrimination were very prevalent. Civil rights were again tested in the little rock high school issue whereby students were segregated in regard to their skin color. There had been efforts to ensure that both white and black students studied together in harmony but the then governor was not for this idea. Orville Faubus who governed the state of Arkansas sent guards to the white Central High School under the pretence of keeping order. His main agenda was to ensure that no black American students got enrolled in the school. These students were nine in number and even after several attempts by authorities, the guards could not let them into the all white school. The hostility that was shown to these students was unimaginable. It was captured on camera and the footing was really shocking. The pictures showed the little rock fraternity made up of adults and white students insulting the black students. The African American students were finally allowed into the school but this brought bigger problems. African Americans and the media were attacked by the enraged whites. The students had to be evacuated from the school to ensure their safety and the white house had to be called for reinforcements for this escalating lawlessness. After a grim struggle, the African American students were reinstated and continued with their studies though small instances of racialism were not absent. The little rock community was not ready for desegregation and that is why the then mayor Faubus ordered the closure of all the schools. Desegregation later caught on but rather slowly and only a small percentage of African American students attended school (Historylearningsite, 2000-2010).

Era of Martin Luther King Junior
Civil rights have a tight association with Martin Luther King. He is a strong figure as he fought tirelessly to ensure that equal rights were exercised all over America. To him, racism was a devil that had to be killed completely. He took an active part in the civil rights wars until his untimely death as he was murdered in April, 1968. He was more convinced than ever that they would work perfectly in the observance of civil rights by all. He taught the African Americans non violence and this was explained by how they took all the assaults and abuses calmly. He worked hard to sensitize people about the importance of civil rights and this he did through very motivating speeches all over the country. A national march was held in 1963 and the community was fighting for their freedom and more job opportunities. This march was a huge success, thanks to Martin Luther Kings tireless efforts. Luther made history with his moving speech, I have a dream which was legendary. This powerful speech which majored on civil rights was broadcast all over the world. The congress softened and J.F. Kennedys bill on civil rights was accepted. Kennedy was later assassinated but the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlived him. Many referred to it as a tribute to him for he also played a big role in realization of civil rights. Many African Americans were not allowed to vote and Luther fought for their voting rights. In 1965, a voting rights act was passed. His constant fights to redeem the black community earned him many enemies and they sought to destroy him. This led to countless defamations and his eventual murder by an assassin in April, 1968 (Historylearningsite, 2010).

Black power
In the 1960s, the phrase black power was used by Willie Ricks and Stokeley Carmichael. These two took the lead and continued in the fight for civil rights. This phrase became more prominent in a march against fear that was called by Carmichael. The crowds were wowed by his usage of the phrase which electrified them. This was the answer the audience gave with intensity every time they were asked what they wanted, a resounding black power. This was a huge call for the restoration of black pride which could see the African American community getting better treatment, better jobs and respect. The phrase black power was rather controversial though as many translated it to mean black supremacy where the blacks would dominate America. Martin Luther King himself was against its use as all what he was advocating for was equal rights for all (Historylearningsite, 2010).

The civil rights act of 1964
In 1960, John F Kennedy was elected president. He had not been very keen on the fight posed by the African Americans seeking equal rights. As the president, he had to take political responsibility and this led to the birth of the civil rights act. This took place in 1964, 4 years after his election. After a careful analyzing of the civil rights, it was clear that what they were fighting for held a lot of water. For instance, the report showed that many of the African American rights were infringed. These included racial segregation, lack of decent housing, a low life expectancy due to various social factors and a high rate of infant mortality among others (Historylearningsites, 2000-2010). President Kennedy read this report publicly and something urgent had to be done. His passion to implement the civil rights was however cut short as he was assassinated soon after. Lyndon Johnson who was his vice president took over the presidency. Lyndon worked hard to finish what his predecessor had started. He felt that he owed it to him and that he had a duty to perform. A military approach towards the gaining of civil rights was seen as the only option by Malcolm X. Lyndon was under pressure to enact the bill and he did not want to risk disappointing the general public and the slain president Kennedy. He did not want to risk being seen as unpatriotic. With all this in mind, President Lyndon Johnson did not have much of a choice but to sign the 1964 civil rights act (Historylearningsites, 2000-2010). The 1964 civil rights act was looking at
Ending the racial segregation which was prevalent in the southern side of America
Availing public places to all people regardless of race or color
Equal employment rights among all Americans
Ending racial segregation in schools

The act further went to pass that any institution that did not conform would be denied state recognition and funding. This was supposed to bring rest among the African American community but ironically they took to the streets fighting. They felt that the 1964 civil rights act had not done much to save them from their misery. They wanted to be given seats in the Democratic Party which was in power at that time. These demands were pressed on by the all blacks Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. President Johnson was disheartened by this reaction from the black community but he stood firm as he saw this as the only way forward to achieving a unified American society (Historylearningsites, 2000-2010).

Civil rights violations
In America, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has the duty of investigating civil rights related violations. This body works tirelessly to ensure that all Americans get to enjoy their privileges and freedoms without anyone infringing them. The FBI have a working ethic that states that loss of ones rights leads to the loss of all the other peoples freedoms. Among the FBIs duties is the prevention of human trafficking, racialism and hate crimes among other human rights violations (FBI, 2010).

Role of the American government in the enforcement of civil rights
The American government ensures that all its citizens live peacefully without their civil rights being infringed upon. The government has given its people the right to file law suits whenever they feel that they have been treated unfairly. This happens at either the state or federal level. This case is taken upon by a government agency that follows the stipulated steps that include investigations to ascertain that the infringement really took place. If the investigations give enough evidence into the case, the government then will have to take action against the accused. The kind of action settled upon depends on the extent of the infringement. This may culminate to a jail term, a fine or a mediation between the parties involved. Different types of violations follow different courses. There are those that require involving the government in the filing of a complaint and those that will take you directly to a private lawyer (FindLaw, 2009).