In the 17th and 18th centuries, African tribe members were kidnapped, sold into slavery in the American colonies, and exploited to work in cultivating crops such as tobacco and cotton. By the mid-nineteenth century, America's expansion of The United States and the abolitionist movement had sparked a massive controversy over slavery, tearing the country apart in the deadly Civil War. On September 22nd, 1862, only a year after he took office, President Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, and on January 1st, 1863, Lincoln made it official. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country, awaiting news of the Emancipation Proclamation. At that very moment, as the clock struck midnight, all enslaved individuals in the Confederate States were legally declared free. Union soldiers, many of them who were African-American, marched onto plantations and through southern communities, reading small duplicates of the Emancipation Proclamation and spreading the gospel of freedom throughout the Confederacy. However, not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control until after the Civil War.
Juneteenth (short for "June Nineteenth") celebrates the day in 1865, months after the Civil War, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and guarantee the freedom of all enslaved people. Juneteenth marks our country's second Independence Day. Though it has been long-honored within the African American community, it is a history that has been mostly unknown to the general public until it was officially recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. The legacy of Juneteenth demonstrates the importance of bold hope and rapid organizing in turbulent times.
Opal Lee is a 94-year-old activist, born in Marshall, Texas, on October 7, 1926. She is the oldest of three children. Many consider her to be the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," since she has helped organize Fort Worth's annual Juneteenth celebration, while also encouraging a 2.5-mile walk each year to commemorate the two and a half years it took for knowledge of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas. Lee has also taken part in marches in Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Atlanta, Georgia; Selma, Alabama; and the Carolinas. At the age of 90, Opal walked 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to bring awareness to America's 2nd Independence. In 2021 Lee was named the "Texan of the Year" for her activism on behalf of Black Texans.
Even though June 19th, 1865, was over 150 years ago and the last enslaved African Americans were freed, it does not mean the suffering ended there. Even now, in 2022, we struggle with discrimination, not only in our African American communities but in other minority communities as well, ranging from race, sex, and age to sexual orientation. According to Merriam-webster, discrimination is a prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment. The American Psychological Association states that the human brain naturally puts things in categories to make sense of the world. However, the values we assign to various types are taught from our parents, peers, and observations we make about how the world operates. Discrimination is frequently motivated by fear and misunderstanding.
Going to work is an everyday occurrence for most Americans, and it should be a friendly environment. Unfortunately, job discrimination occurs far too frequently. Discrimination in the workplace occurs when an employer treats an applicant or employee unfairly because of their ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. It could also happen if an employer disciplines, terminates, or penalizes an employee or job applicant for discussing, disclosing, or inquiring about pay. Discrimination in the workplace might be aimed at a single person or a group of people. Discrimination in the workplace can also happen to present employees or job applicants. Workplace discrimination violates one's civil rights and may prevent one from reaching their full potential.
Some examples of workplace discrimination are provided below:
Discrimination by an employer is illegal. Therefore, it is illegal to discriminate against a specific race of workers. It is also prohibited to discriminate against an employee because he or she is married to or spends time with people of a particular race. According to a Glassdoor research from 2019, 61% of U.S. employees have experienced or witnessed discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
Here are a few helpful tips to help you prevent workplace discrimination based on race.
Age discrimination is defined by the EEOC as treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of their age. To combat age discrimination concerns, the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 was created.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was designed to protect applicants and employees 40 and older from age discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, wage, or employment terms, conditions, or privileges. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Age Discrimination Act into law. Congress approved the legislation to encourage older individuals to work based on their ability rather than their age and to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in the workplace. Over the previous fifty years, the ADEA has been revised several times, including in 1978, 1986, 1990, and 1996, increasing the scope of the law and providing protection to elderly workers.
When applying for a job, there are a few basic strategies you may use to defend yourself against age discrimination on your application, such as:
Once you've completed the application process and been invited for an interview, bear in mind that there are some elements during the interview that can still make you vulnerable to ageism. The following steps will assist you in overcoming this obstacle.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sex discrimination as treating someone unfairly because of their sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy. When organizations are looking to hire new staff, gender roles frequently come into play. There have been instances where an employer refused to hire a lady with preschool-aged children but hired men with the same age children. This is because conventional gender stereotypes say that it is the mother's responsibility to watch for the children.
An attorney will have in-depth understanding of your circumstances and will decide whether or not you have a case. Your attorney will need to first confirm that you are a member of a protected class. Identifying yourself as a member of a protected class may be the simplest part of the process. However, your lawyer may face some challenges, such as if you claim to be a victim of age discrimination but are in your 30s, you will not fall within the age-protected class. Although, if you fall within a protected class, having statements from witnesses of the discrimination is one method to ensure you have a sound case. A weak discrimination case will consist of hearsay, no witnesses, and a lack of evidence.
FindLaw defines Civil Rights as an expansive and significant set of rights that are designed to protect individuals from unfair treatment; they are the rights of individuals to receive equal treatment (and to be free from unfair treatment or discrimination) in several settings, including education, employment, housing, public accommodations, and more, based on specific legally-protected characteristics.
Through the state constitution and other statutes, states create their own civil rights laws (generally comparable to those enacted at the federal level). State laws can also be more protective of civil rights than federal laws, including protections for LGBTQ people. Municipalities, such as cities and counties, can also pass civil rights legislation.
In our society, police officers have an extremely demanding job. Even though they work in a demanding workplace every day, that does not give them the authority to misuse their status. However, there are many excellent police officers in our communities, but it is the few who cast a dark cloud over the entire organization. Below we have provided methods that you can take to help you survive the encounters with police officers who struggle with not being able to contain their attitudes.
Q. Can I sue for police abuse even if I am convicted of a crime?
A. Yes, even if you are convicted of a crime, you can still file a lawsuit.
Q. Can I sue the police officers for using unnecessary force?
A.True, but it can be tricky and difficult to win. You have the right to sue the police officers and their superiors for the actions of their subordinates, and you may also have the right to sue the municipality if it has a policy or process that led to the use of excessive force.
Q.Can I sue someone who is the same gender as me for sex discrimination?
A. Yes, both the victim and the harasser might be either the same or different gender..
Q. How can I identify employment discrimination?
A. An employer asks inappropriate inquiries such as how old you are, what religion you practice, and if you have any children.
Works Cited
Age Discrimination. (n.d.). US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination
Age Discrimination Act of 1975. (n.d.). US Department of Labor. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/regulatory/statutes/age-discrimination-act
Discrimination Definition & Meaning. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrimination
Discrimination: What it is, and how to cope. (2019, October 31). American Psychological Association. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/types-stress
Diversity & Inclusion Study 2019. (n.d.). Glassdoor. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://about-content.glassdoor.com/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Glassdoor-Diversity-Survey-Supplement-1.pdf
What Are Civil Rights? (2021, March 18). FindLaw. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.findlaw.com/civilrights/civil-rights-overview/what-are-civil-rights.htmlWhat is Hearsay? (n.d.). Miranda Rights. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from http://www.mirandarights.org/hearsay.html
