For as long as I can remember, there have always been disputes over equality in one form or another. If I didn’t live through a time where I’ve personally witness this, I learned about it in history classes.
So what is all the fuss about? One might think that learning from the past would make for a better future but that doesn’t seem to be the case. There will always be one group of people fighting to oppress another group that is totally unrelated to them; has nothing to do with them; would not impact their personal life at all.
In other words, you will always have haters simply because they LOVE to hate.
Racial equality/ Racism. The earliest example that comes to my mind is Slavery of Africans here in the Early USA. Known as “Blacks” as oppose to “Whites”. Talking about slavery is a really big topic and my blog isn’t meant to be a really big blog so we’ll just say, “Yeah, we know what happened, we know what it was about, we know it wasn’t fair and we know that “Blacks were eventually given equal rights”. Let's skip to my own experience of racial equality/racism. My Dad was born and raised in Alabama. He would often take me back to his home to visit his grandparents and when I was 6 years old, we went for a visit but stopped at this little store to pick up a couple of grocery items. Being from Chicago, and classified as a city girl, walking into a grocery store was no big deal. Strolling through picking up items (especially candy) was the fun part, but I could sense something different in this Alabama store. As soon as Dad and I walked inside, two white men standing by the cash register began to stare at us. I remember feeling the tension roll off Dad as he repeated for me to stay next to him. That was my first clue that something wasn’t right because Dad knew that I was a wondering soul, unafraid to explore and to curb that instinct was odd, but I did. I stayed near Dad as he walked around and kept his eyes on the other two men. I can't recall what exactly happened next, but he took hold of my hand and we left the store without buying one thing. He later explained, once we were in the car and heading back down the country road, that it wasn’t safe to shop at that store and his worry centered more on me than anything else. That was my first memory that my Dad (and me) did not have the same rights to walk into that store and shop. Even though we would have paid with US currency Dad earned while working in Chicago, it didn't matter.
I remember the riots of Chicago and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King because of his fight for civil rights.
So what is all the fuss about? One might think that learning from the past would make for a better future but that doesn’t seem to be the case. There will always be one group of people fighting to oppress another group that is totally unrelated to them; has nothing to do with them; would not impact their personal life at all.
In other words, you will always have haters simply because they LOVE to hate.
Racial equality/ Racism. The earliest example that comes to my mind is Slavery of Africans here in the Early USA. Known as “Blacks” as oppose to “Whites”. Talking about slavery is a really big topic and my blog isn’t meant to be a really big blog so we’ll just say, “Yeah, we know what happened, we know what it was about, we know it wasn’t fair and we know that “Blacks were eventually given equal rights”. Let's skip to my own experience of racial equality/racism. My Dad was born and raised in Alabama. He would often take me back to his home to visit his grandparents and when I was 6 years old, we went for a visit but stopped at this little store to pick up a couple of grocery items. Being from Chicago, and classified as a city girl, walking into a grocery store was no big deal. Strolling through picking up items (especially candy) was the fun part, but I could sense something different in this Alabama store. As soon as Dad and I walked inside, two white men standing by the cash register began to stare at us. I remember feeling the tension roll off Dad as he repeated for me to stay next to him. That was my first clue that something wasn’t right because Dad knew that I was a wondering soul, unafraid to explore and to curb that instinct was odd, but I did. I stayed near Dad as he walked around and kept his eyes on the other two men. I can't recall what exactly happened next, but he took hold of my hand and we left the store without buying one thing. He later explained, once we were in the car and heading back down the country road, that it wasn’t safe to shop at that store and his worry centered more on me than anything else. That was my first memory that my Dad (and me) did not have the same rights to walk into that store and shop. Even though we would have paid with US currency Dad earned while working in Chicago, it didn't matter.
I remember the riots of Chicago and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King because of his fight for civil rights.
Gender equality: Equal rights for women. Not too long ago, women didn’t have the same rights as men. Women couldn’t get paid the same as a man for doing the same job. Women couldn’t vote until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. It took 41 years for that law to pass. Because of that many women exercise their equal rights to vote.
LGBT equality: Currently our country is once again divided regarding who “shouldn’t” have basic human rights or basic civil rights. Anytime the government wants to take away rights, it’s a giant step backward, because where does it end at that point? LGBT want to be considered equal by their community and, in my opinion, they should be. Why not? Why hold sexual preference over someone’s head. It does not affect my relationships or life and I fail to understand why others feel that it does. En.wikipedia says this … LGBT rights laws include, but are not limited to, the following: government recognition of same-sex relationships (such as via same-sex marriage or civil unions), LGBT adoption, recognition ofLGBT parenting, anti bullying legislation and student non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT children and/or students, immigration equality laws, anti-discrimination laws for employment and housing, hate crime laws providing enhanced criminal penalties for prejudice-motivated violence against LGBT people, equal age of consent laws, and laws related to sexual orientation and military service.
Equal Opportunity: Encompasses equality across ALL of the equality board as previously listed. Equal opportunity is a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The aim according to this often complex and contested concept is that important jobs should go to those “most qualified” – persons most likely to perform ably in a given task – and not go to persons for arbitrary or irrelevant reasons, such as circumstances of birth, upbringing, friendship ties to whoever is in power,[religion, sex, ethnicity, race, caste, or involuntary personal attributes such as disability, age, or sexual orientation. Chances for advancement should be open to everybody interested such that they have “an equal chance to compete within the framework of goals and the structure of rules established. I found that Wiki says this in the simplest form.
Someday, none of this will be as important as it is now and when that day happens
Someday, none of this will be as important as it is now and when that day happens