Inequality In Civil Rights

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“Civil Rights: Inequality and Equality”

Chapter five of American Government in Black and White: Diversity and Democracy is entitled “Civil Rights: Inequality and Equality”. This chapter explains what Civil Rights are and discusses important concepts that are related to the topic. It also provides a very detailed history of African Americans and their struggle to achieve Civil Rights in the United States. Lastly, this chapter also focuses on other marginalized groups and their battle for Civil Rights and equality in today’s society.

Civil Rights are the protections that are implemented by the government, which are intended to ensure the equal treatment of all groups of people. One of the most essential aspects of Civil Rights is the concept of inequality, which is defined as “the extent to which one group enjoys more political, social, or economic benefits than another group”. In today’s society, there are several forms of inequality. Such instances are of opportunity and outcome. Inequality of opportunity exists when laws, policies, or official actions deny specific groups of people certain social, political, or economic benefits that are available to other groups. On the other hand, inequality of outcome occurs when social and demographic forces cause one group of people to enjoy political, social and economic benefits more than the other groups.

Another critical concept to Civil Rights is segregation. Segregation is the physical separation of two groups of people,