A government “Of the people, by the people, for the people,” is the very basis of the United States government, where popular sovereignty rules. The nation is a democracy, where the power is vested in the people. At the heart of the nation is the people. The “people”, however has not always been, and many argue, still not all-inclusive. American citizens hold unique rights and responsibilities, but have not always. Through the African-American Civil Rights Movement, political participation, representation, and inclusiveness have expanded.
Political participation is probably the greatest right because it gives normal people, the ability to have a voice. Political participation includes voting, joining interest groups, supporting a political
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The NAACP was able to get Republican Congressman Dryer from Missouri to support them. Dyer revised a 1918 antilynching bill and presented it to the House of Representatives. For the next year, the NAACP worked with Dryer and other supportive Republicans to get the bill passed. The bill made it through the House but could not get passed through the Senate. Furthermore, the bill’s constitutionality was questioned by some Republican Senators. The argument was that local police affair’s are the state’s matters and that the federal government has no role in it. The secretary of the NAACP, James Weldon Johnson and his assistant, Walter White lobbied for the support of Senators who thought the bill of unconstitutional. During the Great Depression and FDR’s term as president, Represenative Joseph Gavagan used a discharge position but still it met another Senate filibuster. By 1940 the NAACP s decided to focus their limited resources on “work for the branches, the fight against educational inequalities, and legal defense.”
Membership of the NAACP, historically and currently is mostly African American. That means, the victories of the NAACP were all due to African American political participation. The NAACP is one of the most powerful interest groups and they are representing and fighting still for equality of colored people. Through the NAACP, the concerns of African Americans are voices, are heard, and included as a part of the