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Politics- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Civil Rights Events
The end of the civil war in America abolished slavery but racism still persisted in the country with segregation in education, public transport and housing being very prevalent. The civil rights movement in America has a long history and African-Americans have been fighting for equal rights since the beginning of the last century. Two events from the civil rights movement paved the way for stronger legislation and changes in how the African Americans were treated. On 17th May 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in schools denied the African American children equal protection under the law guaranteed under the Fourteenth amendment. It also ordered that when a state provides public education it should be equal to everyone regardless of their race and that ‘equal but separate’ was unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education, n.d). This ruling was the result of the protests by the civil rights activists and African American people over access to equality in education. In spite of the ruling, it took a few more years for the local governments in the southern states to abolish segregation in schools. The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott started when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person. The boycott lasted for over a year and as a result the Supreme Court ruled on the 23rd of November, 1956 that segregation in public transport was unconstitutional (Patterson, n.d). The city officials of Montgomery followed the ruling albeit a little reluctantly. This boycott however brought an end to the segregation in buses and African Americans no longer had to go to the back of the bus. This incident and the ruling eventually started a lot more protests until segregation in buses was ruled unconstitutional all over the country. The Supreme Court played an important role when it came to protecting the rights of the African Americans and ensuring their equality in the country. This was important as the local,state and national governments were a little late as well as apprehensive in granting equal rights to everyone for fear of alienating their support base. The federal government had to be careful of its support from the states before taking any strong actions.
Media Events
The coverage of a war, natural disaster or any disturbance by the media shows people what happens at the ground and how responsible their governments are for the event and the aftermath. Media in the US has covered many events bringing out the positives and the negatives of the government agencies in responding to a situation. For Example, FEMA- Federal Emergency Management Agency came under vicious attack by the national as well as international media due to its delayed and pathetic response to Hurricane Katrina. The media coverage of the event and protests by legislators led to the then president Bush declaring that an investigation would be launched into the delayed response as well as the future of FEMA (Shoup, 2005). In the case of the response to Hurricane Katrina, the local, state as well as the Federal government were all to blame for the shoddy response. Another movement or a series of events that has been covered by the media recently include the Black Lives Matter protest movements and the shooting of unarmed black men and women by the police force in the country. Extensive coverage by the media, including reports in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter has brought out how the police in most cases have used excessive force against african American men that have proved to be fatal. The media coverage has been successful in bringing the issue of police violence to the larger public and has brought to attention the fact that not everyone is treated equal by a government agency (the police force). The media coverage of the shootings as well as the force used against protestors show that the government agency has not been responsible in protecting the needs and the rights of the people in the country.
Differences between the Republican and Democratic parties that may have an ethical or moral impact on the people.
The republican and democratic parties differ over a lot of issues when it comes to governance and laws. Two issues that they differ on might have ethical as well as moral implications on the electorate. Their views on abortion and gun control have the potential to change laws as well as affect the lives of millions of people. In the case of abortion, a Pew Research study has found that the democrats are more in favor of abortion in all or most cases while a majority of the republicans consider abortion to be illegal in any case (Fingerhut, 2016). The democrats and republicans have already feuded over the funding of planned parenthood and other issues regarding a woman’s reproductive rights. A law making abortion illegal would have a huge effect on the people (mostly women) in the country. Women’s rights would be curbed and if anti-abortion laws are passed throughout the country, it would be an intrusion into the rights of the people as well as provide a moral as well as ethical dilemma in cases where abortions are necessary. Another issue between the republicans and the democrats is Gun control. The republican party and the republican congress members have long been thwarting the Democratic party’s efforts to have more gun control laws (Morgan & Cornwell,2016). In light of the recent mass shootings and the general increase in shootings and accidents involving legal as well as illegal guns, stricter gun control laws are needed for public interest. However the differences between the republican as well as the democratic party over this issue has serious implications as any meaningful gun control law would not be passed any time soon. The republican majority in both the houses would mean that strict laws over gun sales and ownership would not be passed anytime soon.
References
Brown v. Board of Education. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483
Morgan, David and Cornwell, Susan. (5 July, 2016). U.S. Republicans push back on Democratic gun-control efforts. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-idUSKCN0ZL2GC.
Patterson. T. James. (n.d). The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies. Retrieved from http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/civil-rights-movement/essays/civil-rights-movement-major-events-and-legacies
Shoup, Anna. (9 Sep, 2005). FEMA Faces Intense Scrutiny. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/government_programs-july-dec05-fema_09-09/.
