Cultural Impacts of the Civil Rights Act Essay

Until the eighteenth century Civil Rights and Liberty’s were taken advantage of as a American. Observation in our judicial system cited within the paper suggest that our civil rights in America has improved and continue to evolve to this day. Cultural Impacts of American Civil Rights laws In recent years, a great deal has gone into fair treatment of all. As history serves, there was a great civil rights activist that fought for fair treatment of all, one man in particular goes by the name of Martin Luther king jr. The implications of our culturally induced melting pot of a nation proceeded with immense struggles that carry on today. Are we (Americans) culturally desensitized or are we culturally aware? United States of America is one of the most culturally injected nations that stand for freedom and democracy. Our civil rights is the key to or success as a great nation. Find Law defined our civil right by giving rights of individuals to receive equal treatment (and to be free from unfair treatment or â€Å"discrimination†) in a number of settings — including education, employment, housing, and more — and based on certain legally-protected characteristics(â€Å"FindLaw†, 2009). According to Find Law, Civil Rights could also be described as the advancement of equality for all people regardless of race, sex, age, disability, national origin, religion, or certain other characteristics(â€Å"FindLaw,2009). President Abraham Lincoln is one of the first to create a civil right document called the Emancipation Proclamation, this document freed the first slaves that were in the states that were fighting in the civil war, eventually the thirteens amendment freed all slaves. Other example are (CNN, 2007): 1868 The 14th Amendment, which requires equal protection under the law to all persons, is ratified. 1870 The 15th Amendment, which bans racial discrimination in voting, is ratified 1948 President Truman issues an executive order outlawing segregation in the U.S. military Civil rights seemed to be focused on race discrimination but that is not he case. It also covers sex, religion, and pregnancy discrimination, just to name a few. Racial discrimination is defined as unfair treatment of a person because of the color of there skin or race. In one case according to Jet, a 37-year-old black woman sued Life Care Service Corp. Anita Holt filed the suit because the executives at LCSC would not review her application for promotion because â€Å"Placing a black in a administrative position would be considered to great of a business risk†. The company settled out of court with Anita Holt. They payed her $415,000 and they wrote a letter to it’s employees about how they made a error in judgement and in practice, along with overhauling there employment and promotion practices. Sex (gender) discrimination included in Title VII, is when a act of discrimination occurs when a person is treated unfairly or different because of there gender. This type of situation could occur in: Education- Excluding people from programs based on gender. Sports- Salary, scholastic, athletic discrimination. Military- Women banned from special operations, infantry, armor and artillery. Home- Boys cut the grass and girl cook and wash dishes. One of the main reasons why we have sex discrimination is because of our cultural outlook that is instilled in us from generation to generation and from birth to death. This has also has spread to our media; we see men on Tv playing the rough and tough rolls and women playing to clean and adorable roll. Religious discrimination involves â€Å"treating a person unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs†,(EEOC,2010) this also violates Title VII of the civil rights act which was amended and added 1972. This type of discrimination happens quite often in the workplace. All employers are required to try to accommodate there workers religious practices. In the Navy, when going through basic training, they give one day a week for individuals that want to practice there religious right. This doesn’t always happen in all cases as it should. In march 2006 a Queens Midtown Tunnel employee by the name of Gregory fisherman filed a compliant against his boss. He complained because his boss denied him of promotion and penalized him for taking sick days because he is Jewish(Lawsuit financial corp,2009). He proved his case by hearing his supervisor use a curse word before they called him a jew which was his basis for claim. By getting that 51% of the jury to believe Mr. Fisherman, he was awarded $735,000. In another case, a restaurant called Sorrano’s Mexican Restaurant was sued in 2002 by Terra Neave(manager)for not accommodating to religious belief. She led a bible study after work and two of her subordinates attended. According to company policy manager are not suppose to socialize with subordinates,to prevent sexual harassment. The company offered to transfer her to another location, she refused and continued to lead bible study with her subordinates. With this type of substantial evidence she lost the case. In these two cases our rights were upheld and justice was served according to our civil rights laws(Luci Scott, Jan 2009). Pregnancy discrimination according to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is â€Å"discrimination involves treating a woman unfavorably because she is pregnant,child birth, or medical condition related to pregnancy or child birth†. In 2009 there were 6,196 cases filed for pregnancy discrimination and 5,594 had resolutions according to EEOC & FEPAs. In 2009 the International House of Pancake lost a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit. Jennifer Beck a former IHOP employee was terminated because she was pregnant and they also failed to meet there legal obligation to answer her complaint. According to (Chain Leader 2009): IHOP had to pay her â€Å"$28,478 in back pay plus six percent annum from the date of her termination. Reinstate her to the next available position and pay her $437 a week until she accepts or reject any offer or one year passes Reimburse her $20 for travel expenses This is a very high price to pay in a recession, not only because of the money but there representation to the world as a restaurant chain. As we can see, as a nation we will continue to fight and legislate for our rights and civil liberties as our forefathers did. Starting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1776 in which he declared in the Declaration of Independence, that â€Å"We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal†. That statement paved to way for Jennifer Beck, Anita Holt, and countless others can enjoy what America has to offer. References Withy Law. A Short History of American Civil Right Law. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.withylaw.com/history.htm InfoPlease, Civil Rights Time Line. Milestones in Modern Civil Rights Movements. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html Public Find Law, Civil Rights:Law and History, Gender(Sex) Discrimination Basics, Retrieved April 11, 2010, from http://public.findlaw.com/civil-rights/civil-rights-basics/civil-rights-history.html,http://public.findlaw.com/civil-rights/gender-discrimination/gender-discrimination-basics.html U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Race and Color Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Religious Discrimination, Retrieved April 13, 2010 from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/religion.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/race_color.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/pregnancy.cfm Iris:A Journal about Women(September 2002). AccessMyLibrary, Women and the Military, Retrieved April 13, 2010 from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-95612707/women-and-military-sex.html Bello, M. Lawsuit financial corp. $735,00 Verdict Awrded in Religious Discrimination Case-Law Suit Finance Candidate. Retrieved Apri 14, 2010 from http://www.lawsuitfinanceblog.com/2008/08/735000_verdict_awarded_in_reli_1.html Scott, L.(2009) Serrano’s wins in religious discrimination case. Retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2009/01/21/20090121cr-serrano0121.html Chain Leader(2009) IHOP Franchisee Loses Pregnancy Discrimination Case. Retrieved from