What are some civil rights issues that we're facing today?

Question

What are some civil rights issues that we're facing today?

Answer 1

that some retail employers refuse to give their employees lunch breaks or take restroom breaks when they need to.

Answer 2

In this day of aging baby boomers, I feel the U.S. needs to mandate laws to insure affordable long-term health care for the seniors.

Answer 3

I'd say with all the programs, protests, marches & law suits, about the only group that has really been discriminated against in the last 30 years is the white male.

Answer 4

If you are referring to the United States, then that would be a lack of enforcement for existing Civil Rights Law. And the country has no meaningful dialog, no sustained and constructive pattern of communication.  Civil Rights in this country has been neutered by the Bush Administration's quiet removal of habeus corpus. Supposedly, terror suspects do not have the rights of citizens in this country.  You or I can be deemed a terror suspect because of our name, race, culture or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  If the Federal Government fingers you, right or wrong you have no rights. The most blatant example is Guantanamo.  Some prisoners are American citizens who have their rights stripped from them because of their appearance, or some inexact and clumsy suspicion that the government has on them that takes away their rights and freedoms, indefinitely.  What made the American colonies a different experiment from the British Monarchy was the Constitutional right as a citizen to have the right to defend one's self and innocent until proven guilty.  I am speaking strictly about U.S. citizenship. Thus the United States became an immigrant nation.

Secondly, racially the United States lives in a world which is multi-cultural in it's governments.  For more than 200 years every American President has given their acceptance speech after they have sworn to uphold and enforce the American Constitution; in the litany of speeches America has been described as the Beacon of Hope and Freedom; but somehow in the last 2 centuries it has been white male Presidents, House Majority Leaders, Supreme Court Justice's, except for 2 most notably Marshall and Thomas. Who have had the rank privilege and honor to serve in the highest reaches of our Government.  Thus, racially we have had one point of view and one way of doing things. "Because he said so."  The late Benhazzir Bhutto, was President of Pakistan, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of England, Nelson Mandela was President of Africa, after having been jailed for exercising his Civil Rights, Indira Ghandi was the Prime Minister of India, Corazine Aquino was President of the Phillipines. Even, during colonial times Queen Elizabeth ruled with an iron fist for 50 years alongside the Church of England now known as the Anglican Church.  This was in the mid to late 1700's.  In 2008, this country is looking at the possibility of having someone in America other than a White Man.  For the first time he may have a 50/50 chance of winning the Presidency. Those are not bad odds, yet it is the highest odds ever for a minority, female, or both to take residence in the White House.  I think these facts are worthy for discussion around just what the Framers of the Constitution meant.  Likewise the Declaration of Independence and any of the Charter documents that moved America forward needs to have landmark discussions to inform people how our system interprets Constitutional Law today.  You know why?  Because the time they were written Slaves and women were not included as 'We the people."   We did not have rights and could not vote, could not own property because we were deemed as property.  This is why it is tough for most Americans to wave the Conservative banner.  We now have a President and some vocal Conservatives who want to have "Strict Constructionists"  Judges appointed to the Bench with this same view.  Well that way of thinking does not include the majority of America, women and minorities who were not accounted for at the time due to race and gender; as the intentions, debates and lofty goals were tendered and signed on Charter documents. Today, it is not clear that the current President and his selection of Judges will abide by the Constitutional Amendments, but is crystal that they will listen and fight for the strictest interpretation of our beloved Constitution.  Yes. We are past due to have a discussion. on these core Civil Rights issues.