In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which forbade employers from discriminating against people with regard to sex or race when hiring, promoting, and firing. The actual final legislation made it unlawful for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or to otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges, or employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act has had many provisional changes and has been amended since its first installation of the act, Since passing this act, the climate of Americans was slow to change It took many years for schools to become desegregated and for other fronts to change as well. There remains in place today, efforts to insure that employers and government agencies abide by equal opportunity guidelines that had to be put in place well after this movement.
Today, it seems that there are obviously still struggles with racial issues as evidenced by the need for departments to monitor compliance with the rules of the civil rights act. If the problem of racial inequality were completely resolved at this time, there would obviously be no need for these checks and balances to remain in place, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, applied a nationwide prohibition against the denial of the right to vote. This act had to be implemented because the current anti—discrimination laws of the time and the 15m amendment were obviously not enough to protect the rights of all Americans thereby requiring further laws to be implemented. As with the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Act also had to be subsidized by other legislation and more amendments, because the outcome still did not lead to total equality for all races. The famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr Martin Luther King, written in 1963, spoke about the inequality that continued to exist 100 years after Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, set forth to free African Americans from ownership and afford them the same freedoms as everyone else.
Dr King stated that he dreamed that his children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. That children of all colors would sing together in harmony. Today, there are still racial stereotypes in existence as evidenced by racial profiling as recent as the Ferguson riots People were singled out for violence and for perpetrations of violence based on color. People have been prosecuted because of being black, and people have been terrorized simply because they are white Racism has, I believe, gone to the other extreme at this point. While we no longer have as great of an issue with people being denied civil liberties because of their race, color, sex national origin, or religion, stereotypical understandings still come into play in certain areas, be they positive or negative. For example, black people are to most, considered more athletic and are thereby given high paying contracts over white people in sports such as basketball or football.
White people may be stereotypically considered more apt in areas such as business or finance, where there is a predominance of white males in high-ranking positions I further believe that racism is sometimes perpetuated by those claiming to be racially violated in the first place. Some people may say that they were denied a job because they were black. When given all the circumstances, say this black male showed up to a job interview with a white male. They were both equally qualified for the business position, but the white male shows up for an interview in a suit and Lie, while the black male shows up in sagging pants, a basketball jersey, and a ball cap, The opposite employment decision could just as easily have been made had the men showed up in opposite attire.
I believe that the only way racism will ever be solved is if everyone “grows up”, People have to be responsible for their actions and conduct themselves in a manner that portrays how they want to be treated. If you do things such as dress for success, speak in an effective manner, and show courteousness and respect for others, it would go a long way towards getting what you desire. Looking at some of the black men who have been successful in our recent history, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, etc, they have done these things. They dressed the part, spoke the part, and most importantly lived the part I believe there are many white people who have sunk to levels of acting and living in a way that lowers their credibility and worth. I think we have come to a point in our society where it is not necessarily about the color of skin anymore, but the color of our souls that is most important.
