Individual Rights

Native Americans, black people and LGBT people are groups of people who have faced

discrimination. Based on racism and homophobia, these groups have been repeatedly mistreated

during history. They have faced discrimination and violence for being different. Through the red

power movement, the Civil Rights movement, and gay and lesbian activism, these groups have

fought for equality in America. While some of the things they fought for they did not achieve,

their activism has led to differences in America.

Native Americans have faced violence and been stripped of their rights since European

colonist came to the Americas. After Reconstruction, Western expansion began and Native

Americans lost their lands and were massacred by white settlers. When white hunters almost led

to the extinction of the American bison, nomadic tribes lost a way of life and faced starvation.

The US government forced assimilation on Native American children, taking them from their

homes and putting them in Indians schools to destroy the Indian and save the man (Roark

494). In the 1960s, Native Americans fought for their rights through the red power movement.

The American Indian Movement sought to protect Indians from police violence, secure

antipoverty funds, and establish survival schools to teach Indian history and values (Roark

852). They did not reach their specific goals, but the red power movement won the end of

relocation and termination policies, protection of their religious practices, tribal sovereignty and

control over community services, and gained them some respect (Roark 852). Court decisions

and legislation compensated Native American tribes for their seized lands and restored their

rights to their ancestral lands.

African Americans first came to American under slavery, and once slavery ended, they

still did not have equality. During Reconstruction, Southern states passed black codes, laws that
kept ex-slaves subordinate even after the end of slavery. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 ended

black codes and stated that black Americans should have equal protection the law. The

Fourteenth Amendment gave all citizens of America equal protection of the laws and

prevented states from depriving them of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

The Fifteenth Amendment gave Americans of all colors the right to vote. In the 1950s, African

Americans did not have equal rights and began the first Civil Rights movement. Brown v. Board

of Education was a suit brought to the Supreme Court that challenged the separate but equal

policy enacted by Plessy v. Ferguson that allowed segregation. Brown v. Board of Education

ended segregation in schools. Legislation also ended poll taxes and poll literacy tests, among

other inequalities. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement continued and black Americans

began to challenge retail stores, parks, libraries, transportation, voting registrars and police, all of

which discriminated against them. In response, in Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was

passed, guaranteeing all Americans access to public accommodations and banning racial

discrimination in employment. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 then banned discrimination in

housing and jury selection.

In the 1960s, the gays and lesbians began to organize and gay activism began. Gay men

and lesbians were forced to hide their sexualities, or else face discrimination, prejudice and

violence. Picketers outside of the White House in 1965 challenged the governments efforts to

keep gays out of civil service. The Stonewall Riots of 1969 were a turning point and afterwards,

gays and lesbians organized groups like the Gay Liberation Front and the National Gay and

Lesbian Task Force. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association withdrew its destination of

homosexuality as a mental disease after being persuaded by gay activist groups (Roark 856). The

first antidiscrimination laws were passed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the first openly gay
candidate to win state office, Elaine Noble, was elected in 1974. Gay and lesbian activism grew

in the 1980s, in response to the AIDS crisis, which disproportionately affected gay men. Gay and

lesbians called for publicly funded AIDS education, prevention and treatment. Beginning in 1982

with Wisconsin, 11 states protected sexual orientation under civil rights laws. In 1986, the

Supreme Court upheld a law banning sodomy, but in 2003, the decision was reversed.

Each group has a different history in America, but LGBT citizens, black citizens, and

Native American citizens have all been discriminated against in America. The Civil Rights

movement, red power, and gay and lesbian activism all sought equality. Black Americans sought

the end to discriminatory laws, segregation and wanted the right to vote easily accessible. Native

Americans wanted rights to their ancestral lands, antipoverty funds, and schools to teach Indian

history. Gays and lesbians sought protection from discrimination and assistance in the AIDS

crisis. None of the groups achieved all that they wanted. Equality should extend beyond equal

treatment under the law. It is unjust that the majority of impoverished Americans are minorities,

and that Native American tribes are impoverished and have lost so much of their culture. In order

to protect gays and lesbians, equality had to move beyond equal treatment of the law, it had to

extend into sexual relations; sodomy was once illegal. Equality has different meaning to

everyone, but all American citizens should have a fighting chance to achieve the same levels of

success.

Work Cited
Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia C. Cohen, Sarah Sage, and Susan M. Hartmann.

Understanding the American Promise: A Brief History. 2nd ed. Vol. II. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.

Martins, 2011. Print.