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Prospectus Bournej
Prospectus Bournej
Jamie P. Bourne
Mr. King
English 1 Honors
21 April, 2017
Civil rights have always been important to people as individuals, and are the solid
foundation of our country. Civil rights are what protect peoples natural rights so that the
government or other citizens cannot discriminate against anyone. These rights have helped
African Americans, women, and other minorities rise in social status and gain their natural rights.
Establishing these rights for all came with hard work and unity with all. From the MFDP,
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, to specific people like Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights
The MFDP case was a big stretch for equality in Southern African Americans with a lot
of different perspectives. Their goal was to make it possible for African Americans in the south
to have the right to vote. By doing this they hoped to show how the southern rules were
discriminatory and unconstitutional (Civil). The journey that these activists had was obviously
not easy both physically and mentally. For one, they came a long way from Mississippi to
propose their case to the House (Serwer). Mentally the MFDP activists received a lot of hate and
even death threats (Civil). Violence also pursued the group on multiple occasions, all because
they wanted equal representation in their country (Civil). These activists were offered two seats
in the house, but this is not what they wanted. They believed this was not a fair offer considering
they would still not be seen or represented as equals to others (Civil). This dilemma led to
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disagreement within a group fighting for the same movement, due to the fact some wanted the
The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wanted the
MFDP to accept the deal (Civil). They believed that this small advancement would set a
foundation for future equality over all. Lyndon Johnson, the 36th president of the United States,
also thought they should take the deal (Serwer). Lyndon Johnson helped these two groups a lot in
their fight to gain equality. He passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 as well as the Voting Rights
Act (Serwer). This man supported equality tremendously as he smashed Jim Crow laws as well
as the Ku Klux Klan (Serwer). Although he made a democracy out of America for the true first
time, he himself was a man of his era. He was known to use the n-word inappropriately a lot as
well as make racial comments frequently. It was even reported that he would put a snake in the
trunk of his car and try to trick black men to try and open the trunk, in an effort to scare them
(Serwer). He proved that it was natural to discriminate against African Americans at this time,
despite his efforts to end it. Later in time, once African Americans had just about equal rights,
In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, designed to promote gender
equality, ratified by the states (Aliprandini). Congress also passed Title IX of the Higher
Education Act. This made it illegal for federally funded schools to discriminate based on gender
(Aliprandini). These are just some of the events and examples in the fight for Civil Rights. It is
important that all groups, races, genders, and minorities have these rights. We all need to accept
each other as human beings and grant equality and rights to all. Without the Civil Rights
Works Cited
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Aliprandini, Michael, and Geraldine Wagner. "Title IX: An Overview." EBSCOhost Connection.
<http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/23366387/title-ix-overview>
"Civil Rights." Freedom Now: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi | Brown
<http://www.choices.edu/resources/detail.php?id=203>
Serwer, Adam. "Lyndon Johnson Was a Civil Rights Hero. But Also a Racist." MSNBC.
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism>