Heaven Jarrett
Prof. B.Buckler
Fall Semester 2020
09-04-2020
Equal Rights
There have been many legislative efforts in United States history on the question of equal rights. Equal Rights legislation has been pursued in response to societal problems whereby some groups in the society have been treated in a discriminatory manner. Therefore, any successful Equal Rights laws have been a win for hitherto marginalized or discriminated groups. Blacks are arguably the group that has gained most from Equal Rights legislation. For example, the 1964 Civil Rights gave blacks equal voting rights (Jones-Eversley et al. 2017). Coming at the backdrop of the civil rights movement and agitation, it was the boldest and consequential legislation for blacks as it banned discrimination based on race and therefore put to an end racial segregation in schools, workplaces, and other public places (Jones-Eversley et al.,. 2017).
While Equal Rights legislation has affected blacks largely in a positive manner, it has also exposed the challenges that blacks continue to face. Laws cannot fix all societal problems of inequality, and this has been demonstrated by equal rights legislation. The continued agitation for better, humane, and equal treatment of blacks by the Black Lives Matter movement has gained traction because of the realization that despite the many pieces of legislation aimed at promoting equal rights, equal treatment remains elusive for many blacks. The BLM movement has helped to call to attention the nation and world to the unequal treatment of blacks typified by systemic discrimination of blacks, especially in the criminal justice system. Therefore, it appears to me like the gaps in the Equal Rights legislation have given the BLM movement valid reason to construct and amplify their message of discrimination of blacks in the US. In other words, the message of the BLM has gained legitimacy, wide acceptance, and support because it addresses pertinent issues exposed by the Equal Rights legislation. The BLM’s message has served to conscientize the American society that despite the best efforts and genuineness of the Equal Rights legislation, the legislation as currently framed is incapable of addressing the problems of the blacks. The Equal Rights legislation is more or less the moral poster and reference point for the BLM’s message and goals. Without the challenges in the Equal Rights legislation, either in its framing or implementation or lack thereof, the grievances and message of the BLM would be less appealing and seriously deflated.
The agenda on Equal Rights has found support in the judiciary, and the Supreme Court is one of the institutions that have shaped the conversation from the judgments on various issues touching on equality. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been at the forefront of the equality agenda. Justice Ginsburg has been an activist for women’s equality and justice within and outside the Supreme Court. Outside the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg continues to be a voice in support of women’s equality calling for legislation to insert this clause in the US constitution (ACLA, n.d). Ginsburg has been very vocal in calling for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ACLA, n.d). She is the most prolific feminist justice in the country’s history, and her views have led her to make judgments and issue rulings that have caused the society to think more urgently and seriously about justice and equal rights (ACLA, n.d). Her rulings have protected minority rights and delivered justice to the marginalized and down-trodden groups. Her ideas and rulings have challenged our assumptions about justice and equality and pricked national consciousness, and most importantly, prompted action. She has led the way and is a moral and thought leader on these issues. The movement for equality and justice is more enriched, focused, and reinvigorated because of her inspiration, activism, and leadership.
References
ACLA (n.d). TRIBUTE: THE LEGACY OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG AND WRP STAFF
Jones-Eversley, S., Adedoyin, A. C., Robinson, M. A., & Moore, S. E. (2017). Protesting Black inequality: A commentary on the civil rights movement and Black lives matter. Journal of Community Practice, 25(3-4), 309-324
Nadya Dunkley
September 6, 2020
BUS 311[1900]
Professor Buckler
Unit 1 Assignment [ Equal Opportunity & The Law ]
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Equal Rights legislation in the US have affected me personally. I was born a woman not only a woman but a black woman. What I’m trying to say is since my beginning the odds were already against me. When I watched the movie On The Basis of Sex about the honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The movie stirred up so many different emotions within me. When I watched her walk into the building among a population dominated with men with grace on her hips and tenacity on her face I was automatically inspired ! She was so relentless in owning her role and her purpose and fearlessly seizing the moment of every opportunity that was against her.
Ruth balanced life as a mother, wife, and Harvard Law student. In 1956 She included black women who was less fortunate at that time to obtain a Harvard Law school education in the conversation that concerned them much more than the other races of students that were presently at the table while she taught law at Rutgers school of law. After graduating law school and not being able to obtain her desired career. At that time even if they had a law degree law firms only hired women as secretaries. Even though Ruth was a woman, mother, and wife she owned her right to play her role by teaching law to more women including black women. She also practiced law by becoming a volunteer attorney.
Her area of expertise was civil procedure and is what she used as her strength to fight the broken system of inequality in America. Ruth helped to enact laws that allowed women to occupy spaces that was deemed to be filled by a man and vice versa. She presented her argument that not because a woman or a man is expected to play a specific role in society doesn’t mean that they should be limited to the roles that society had already set out for them gender and race does not define ones role in life. She told the court that precedent does not always apply and that too many times the courts make the wrong decisions because they are shackled to political theories. The same laws that they tried to confuse and fight her with she mastered and bought against them. Kind of like fighting fire with fire.
Ruth is a leading example of a woman who is not afraid to challenge a man while maintaining her dignity and securing her place as a woman with equal rights. She was very adamant in her beliefs that her fight wasn’t biased towards woman but that gender equality for women means fair and equal treatment for men. She also learned from everything and everyone around her she took suggestions from her mentors and other men and women that began the fight ahead of her and also allowed her daughter and students to hone in on their own skills and make suggestions towards her work and practice as well. She understood the position of a man even when she began law school when asked why she choose the practice of law she explained that it was due to her desire to learn about her husbands work so that she could be a more understanding wife. She did not deny her femininity and her role as a woman.
She urged the courts to extend certain laws and utilize their powers to provide amendments and executive orders that eliminated the barriers that held back certain people in America. She captured their attention when she argued that the law that was provided to be a privilege to the people of America was at the time nothing more than a cage. Most court cases are decided upon with precedent Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the trailblazer that decided to do the opposite.
In this day and time more than every women are working. We might still be the minority but there are plenty of us that attend Ivy League schools and Law programs. There are also plenty of men who are able to utilize services and receive benefits like paternity leave from work when their wives and spouse welcome a new child to their family. In times of the pass even though a woman would bear the burden of carrying a child for nine months and then giving birth she would also have to stay home afterwards and care not only for herself but also for her child and family. Now her husband has a great opportunity to share the role and help to properly take care of his family. Even though some institutions still don’t provide paid maternity leave today many of them do to both mother and father depending on the company, State, or country that one may live in.
One of the things that connected with me while watching the movie was that she had a black student in her class at Rutgers. Which was one of the minorities at the table but not just a black student but a black woman with the other minority being a man. Woman like Ruth gave me a seat a the table. Like Ruth did she did not wait for someone to give her a seat at their table she created her own table and changed the game. Today in America there are plenty of opportunities provided to women not only in obtaining careers but also in becoming entrepreneurs. We are able to obtain the same quality education as men and even though there are still a broken system in the are of equal pay for women and men there are laws being enacted to highlight and fight against the biases that are still prevalent in the American society and economy. Women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way !