Stand Up For Your Rights

Vivian Jones, one of the many student activists of the Civil Rights Movement died yesterday at age 63.
During the second semester of my freshman year in college, one of the classes I took was the "Civil Rights Movement." It very quickly became my favorite class of the semester, and is one of my favorite classes from college in general. The class inspired me to change my major to History (although I graduated with a major in English, I still minored in History, and am still fascinated by.)

Another reason that I loved the class was because it focused on such recent history. This struck me because the people that dominated, and enacted the most change in the Civil Rights Movement were people my own age. These people, with everything against them were able to bravely stand up to discrimination. A young man (Emmett Till) was able to kick off the Civil Rights Movement pothumously, and organizations like SNCC, and individuals such as Vivian Jones, are at the core of the campaign for equal rights, which lasted for over a decade. In that time, these young leaders had to face threats of death, fire hoses being used on them, and the possibility of losing everything.

In my opinion, much was gained from the 1960's Civil Rights Movement. The 1964 Equal Rights Bill was signed (which is now up for renewal), and slowly but surely, things changed for the better. But in 2005, while things are much better now than in 1965, a new kind of discrimination has surfaced. This is most evident in New Orleans, and what Hurricane Katrina showed: the poverty gap.

Another issue that I feel needs a Civil Rights Movement II is for gay/lesbian rights. I think it is utterly ridiculous that the government wants to legally ban gay marriage. How is that not discrimination? How is that not a clear violation of one's civil rights? This country still has a very long way to go in the fight for equal rights for all (what our country is supposedly founded on.)

I hope Vivian Jones died knowing that she was part of a movement that changed our country for the better. It also makes me feel somewhat ashamed of my generation for not being able to do what hers did: to fight hard enough for what they knew was right, enabling the government, and the country to change for the better.