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What Are Civil Rights and How Far Have They Been Achieved?

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Civil rights are generally associated with the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965. They are Acts aimed at promoting equal rights in America, and ensuring protections of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution are extended to all groups in society. Although initially aimed at redressing the inequality for African Americans, civil rights are in fact equally applied to all groups in society and therefore their achievement needs to be viewed in this light, rather than just progress of African Americans.

Having said this, America has come a long way in the achievement of civil rights. In terms of political representation, the 113th Congress is the most diverse of all time, with 43 African Americans, 101 women, 32 Latinos and even 7 LGBT members. There is even the first African American Senator to serve a southern state since Reconstruction, Tim Scott of South Carolina. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are prominent Hispanic Senators and there is even a Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court; Sonia Sotomayor. Further to this, crucial Supreme Court decisions have reinforced civil rights in America, starting with Brown v. Board in 1954, moving to women's rights to privacy in the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, and the upholding of gay rights with Lawrence v. Texas in 2004 and affirmative action with Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003. All of these show protection of civil rights to minority groups in society. In other positive changes, equal pay legislation was initiated by the Obama administration in 2009 with the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and in 2013 the Violence Against Women Act provides more support for vulnerable females. The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell by Obama and his ordering of Supreme Court challenges against the Defense of Marriage Act and the Arizona SB1070, all suggest civil rights have been achieved.

However, civil rights are an ongoing

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