Agreement is a powerful word in the modern world. It involves either consent or sacrifice between parties. Inability to honor agreements is a behavior which the law limits by providing civil or in some instances criminal justice mechanisms to those who fail to honor agreements depending on the gravity of the breach. Human rights are implied agreements between citizens and citizens or between citizens and the state. It is inexcusable to compromise on human rights because they define human dignity. Human rights were most compromised during the global era. This is not with regard to the volume of rights which were trashed but the idea that the state or any person should infringe on people’s dignity in the age of free and open communication where almost every citizen was informed of their rights is inconceivable . The compromise of rights in the global age should not be accepted as a means to and end but should be seen as deliberate non-cooperation and is a serious offence.
The global era is the time when information spread fast. Television viewership had tripled during the mid-conservancy ascendancy era. It is estimated that by mid-90’s there were 250 million television viewers in the U.S The population was at around 300 million. This means that there was a television in almost every household. These statistics are the premise behind the hypotheses that citizens were well informed off their rights by the advent of the global era because of the spread of tools on media such as television.
The Rodney King incident of 1991 was an unfortunate occurrence. The U.S had undergone more than 50 years of civil rights activism hence the concept of fair treatment to individuals of all races was not a foreign concept. The assault of Rodney King a black motorist by four white officers, which was caught on tape was unconstitutional, it was barbaric and contravened all principles of justice and morality. He was not duly arrested, Mirandized and processed as required by law. He was not afforded the right to legal representation because in the first place, he was not taken to the police station to be charged for whatever crime the police thought he had committed. The four police officers were arraigned before a jury and were acquitted a year later.
The acquittal of the police officers sparked outrage and a riot broke out in South Central Los Angeles. Scores were killed and hundreds were injured.Another set of rights were compromised in this case because the protesters must have been aware of the concept of peaceful assembly and peaceful demonstrations but they contravened those stipulations and chose to air their grievances violently and in the process endangering the lives of hundreds. Every citizen has a right to own property and the right to enjoyment of their property. The destruction of property by the rioters in Los Angeles contravenes this law. The deliberate destruction was a grave matter indeed.
In 1994, the abortion debate was the focus of lawmakers and citizens who were concerned with the direction of ethical practices in the country. The debate inspires passions to rise among American citizens that abortion protests started. However, these protests turned violent and saw the deaths of several medical practitioners who were suspected of carrying out abortions under the hand of these protestors. In addition, many had their premises bombed or burnt. Every person has the right to life. It is a universal truth which was recognized at the time of the murders of medical practitioners. It is in excusable that some individuals deliberately contravened this provision of law and chose to do their own form of justice.
In conclusion compromise of agreements and standards in a period where a majority of citizens are likely to be aware of how to behave is weightier that breach of rights in times when citizens were not well emancipated (early cold war-conservancy ascendancy)
Works Cited
Faragher, Joe Mack, Daniel H Czitrom and Susan H Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011.
