Rights (Carlton)

Today there are a lot of rights that we have now that a lot of people in the past didn’t have or were denied of. Back in the past women didn’t have any rights because they weren’t treated the same as men. They couldn’t vote, get a decent education, or work because people back then thought only men were suppose to do these things. Many people believe that women were incapable of making huge important decisions that men usually made. All they could do was cook, clean and watch children. African Americans were also treated unequally. After they were free from slavery they still weren’t given or denied some of the rights that other people had. Like women they couldn’t get a good decent education, get good job opportunities, or vote. All that change when they started to fight for their rights. In 1920 the 19^th US Constitutional Amendment was pass giving women the right to vote. After World War II the Civil Rights Act of 1964 help both women and African Americans gain the rights that they didn’t used to have or they were denied of. This law banned discrimination in school, public places, jobs and many other fields. If it weren’t for the people in the past we wouldn’t have some of the rights that we have today.

What kind of equal rights do we have right now that we didn’t have in the past? How does that affect us today? (Ana)

In the past women did not have rights. They could not vote they could not work they could just basically stay at home go to the store or gossip. Back then women were thought little of and were not given a chance to show men what they could do that is until World War II. After that women were given a chance to work and do things that normally men would do.

Another right was that colored people were not allowed to do anything with white people. They were drinking fountains, bathrooms, stores, and other places ad things that only colored people could use. There were also things and places white people could go and use. Nowadays it doesn’t matter what color you are. Although some people still live like they use to back in the day, most of the country doesn’t really worry about the color of people.

There were also slaves that were colored people. That was before the segregation against them started. Now a day you see any color out in the field, but back then you only saw dark skin people out working in the field. Not only just dark skin people were taken against but also light skin colored people. Although they were given different jobs inside they were still worked hard.

Our rights nowadays are given equally to every citizen. Everyone is treated the same and they have to work for what they have and not just have it given to them.

What freedoms do we take for granted in the United States? Do you think we have too much freedom? What freedoms cause problems?

First of all we take freedom of speech for granted. For example; in the U.S.  we are able to say what is on our minds and well depending on the outtakes of things not have to go to jail or anything. In other parts of the world some people are not even allowed to say anything negative about an important person in their government. They cannot also give their opinion on laws or how the government runs things.

Although it is good that we can speak our minds it can also get us in trouble with the law sometimes. Or our way of thinking can also start a riot and have people against people so then some people would have the need to use violence. Which then would have the government get involved.

Another freedom we have is the freedom to vote for a president. In some countries the “people” do not have a right to choose who will run their country. Unlike us who choose who we want to run our country depending on the campaign they run or the promises they make us. We also have a system which does not let the president make all the decisions by himself but with first it going thru a system of people who would then vote on it and decide if it stays or it goes. Some countries though have to just deal with the decisions their government, or more likely the dictator, makes.

"...You didn't have any rights." - Yesenia Villarreal

 “Think about a time when you felt you didn’t have any rights. Does it compare to what the animals are going through?” (Carlton Sauls)

To answer this question, there has been many times in my life where I felt like I didn’t have any rights. At one point I felt like I had no rights in playing Basketball back in my middle school years. The reason as to why that is, is ‘cause when I played the sport during Physical Education, some boys in the class would be disrespectful to call me names and say ‘You can’t play Basketball ‘cause you’re a girl!’ This type of issue makes me feel like not everyone is equal almost as if, some humans were ranked higher than other or are labeled. Sexist, is one of these problems that can make anyone feel like they do not own any rights. Another time where I felt like I had no rights was because of my age. I was discriminated ‘cause of my age. I believe everyone is today. You have to be a certain age to get your Driver’s Permit. You have to be a certain age to get into some clubs. You have to be a certain age to buy alcohol or smoke and buy tobacco or cigarettes. Everyone is discriminated and I’m not sure if many people realize this. I have experienced this when trying to get into a club. I was supposedly not old enough to enter but I had been before and if it wasn’t ‘cause of my age then it was something else. All these plots doesn’t really compare to what the animals are going through because I’d actually say that they might have it worse than us humans. We have a somewhat more say than they animals do and can easily see the logic issues to give the reasons.