Our Eroding Civil Rights in America
Decades after the Civil Rights Act, the fight for equality hasn't been this important since the Civil Rights Era
July 2, 2022, marked 58 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) in 1964. Yet, in the last nearly six decades that have passed since Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) signed the CRA into law, the United States finds itself in a precarious position regarding the individual liberties of its populace. As the rest of the world watches, questions about the loss of freedom and a weakening democracy in the US continue to become part of the broader conversation.
From US allies in Europe to its detractors in Latin America and beyond, many nations have both questioned and mocked so-called freedom in a society that boasts unfettered capitalism alongside high rates of poverty, homelessness, and social neglect by those with the most money and power. Elites, including many politicians and unelected justices in the federal court system, are steadily eroding our civil liberties in favor of far-right political authoritarianism.
From libertarian to centrist and moderate politicians, all have allowed for extremism in politics as long as they can achieve what they refer to as bipartisanship. In order to work with extremists, more moderate politicians typically look away when blatant racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and transphobia are projected by those on "the other side of the aisle".
Politically, this willingness to work with outspoken hate mongers on the political right is one of the main reasons the US finds itself where it is. The 1994 Crime Bill, the Patriot Act, and the prison industrial complex are all prime examples of where this type of bipartisanship leads a society. Modern-day conservative politicians have incrementally proposed and successfully implemented policies that have slowly eroded how society views the inhumane treatment of non-white people.
They take advantage of those that don't understand the complexities of an issue and exploit it with propaganda. Instead of talking about the underlying issues that lead to crime and the diversity of those who commit them, conservatives use it to portray the Black community as inherently bad.
Rather than explain the myriad nationalities represented at the Southern border or the complexities of immigration, they use baseless narratives to portray migrants as drug-smuggling rapist Latinos or enemies of the US/ Thus, making every Latino community a target of their hate.
Far-right politics demonizes the gay and trans community labeling them groomers and pedophiles. Politicians use politics to attack the parents of trans kids. They find ways to politically target trans people leading to online hate and cyberbullying. Armies of extremists then take politicians' words and use them as calls to barrage marginalized communities with targeted hate often leading to violent attacks, mass murders, and suicide.
As politicians move further to the right with increasingly hateful rhetoric, so does the growth in hate group membership along with hate crimes across the country.
In the more than half-century since the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, we've seen the erosion of rights for communities that aren't straight, white, and male. Most of white America wasn't happy about the CRA and have continued to voice that displeasure with their vote. The vast majority of the conservative electorate will vote against their own interests in favor of the hateful political platform adopted by Republicans.
Modern conservatism is the result of decades of political rhetoric that minimizes the plight of various groups that have been marginalized by far-right punditry. Any signs of progress, particularly by non-white groups, are seen as attacks on the white population in the US. Equality feels like discrimination to a voting bloc that is accustomed to having everything handed to them while refusing to embrace a level playing field for all.