The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement
Problem
Our generation has become some of the most open to other people. Yet despite this, there is still a large amount of prejudice and discrimination towards an entire communities in the nation. The LGBT community is a large community you could not easily pick out someone as being part of without knowledge of the person directly. Around the world, many of their civil rights are violated without most people knowing of it happening. The LGBT community is faced with a large amount of discrimination and prejudice, and some large events make it to national news. For the sake of this, prejudice and discrimination will be defined as follows:
Prejudice: Negative feelings toward persons based on their membership in certain groups (Kassin, 2017).
Discrimination: Behavior directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group (Kassin, 2017).
Civil rights is a set of rights that most people take for granted. Many of us do not actively realize that people are still facing discrimination. In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states. Following this, numerous counties throughout the country continued to not allow same-sex marriage. One county in particular became popular through a video that made national news by the county clerk Kim Davis refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Prejudice: Negative feelings toward persons based on their membership in certain groups (Kassin, 2017).
Discrimination: Behavior directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group (Kassin, 2017).
Civil rights is a set of rights that most people take for granted. Many of us do not actively realize that people are still facing discrimination. In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states. Following this, numerous counties throughout the country continued to not allow same-sex marriage. One county in particular became popular through a video that made national news by the county clerk Kim Davis refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
(USA TODAY, 2015)
In the video above, you can see the interaction of the county clerk office with a same-sex couple, and the couple being denied their marriage license. Kim Davis is seen telling them that they are not providing marriage licenses that day, but ignores all questions if they related to same-sex couples, but saying that if it were a man and a woman, she would do it.Impact
These actions all lead cause the LGBT community to be persistently stereotyped and perceived as deviant and devalued to society. Doing this causes the whole group to be stigmatized due to negative stereotypes. Sometimes stereotypes are harmless, but letting a stereotype form an opinion on a person before you know them becomes harmful. When one is experiences concern about being in a certain group, this is a stereotype threat. One stereotype threat is seen by South African football player Phuti Lekoloane, who is the first openly gay player, and feels it has held his career back. Phuti was blamed for losses on his previous team, one player even said "we only lost because we have a sissy on the team." On his new team, Tornado FC, all of his players are supportive of him, and the coach even says its good that he is on the team to allow a different perspective of things to be seen. Now the only time Phuti gets negative comments its by the opposing team, and instead of them setting him back like they used to in the past, they now influence him to perform better.How to help
Sometimes all people will need is to be treated as equals, then everyone can be seen the same way. Private life does not have an impact on a public life. Be supportive of members of the LGBT community, and be there to help them as you would anyone else. Recognizing that they are a person and have their right to live their life and allowing them to do so. You do not need to be under a category of the LGBT community to help support the community. Support can be confronting those who are harmful to the community, pointing out that what they say and do is hate speech. None of them want special treatment, they just seek to be treated as equals.
References
Parkinson, C., (2019, Feb 10). South Africa football: 'Being openly gay has held my career back.' Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-47179197/south-africa-football-being-openly-gay-has-held-my-career-back
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2017). Social Psychology. Cengage Learning.
USA TODAY. (2015, September 1). Watch Kentucky clerk defy Supreme Court on gay marriage [Video File]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ComaDQijgxA
[Ally-image]. Retrieved Feburary 13, 2019, from http://www.deltaconceptsinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Ally-image.jpg
You make some very valid points in this post. I think one issue that some people have with the LGBT community is when it comes to religion. People go back and forth on this topic all the time saying "God created men and women to be with each other and there is nothing in the Bible that says a man should be with another man or vice versa." Now the other side of it is also that people feel if you are a Christian that you should always be accepting and forgiving of others. This would then include sexual orientation. I love the saying "Private life doesn't affect public life" because it shouldn't but it obviously does and this is why the topic is so hard to discuss because everyone will have differences of opinions and never see eye to eye. It is sad but our country has become so opinionated that discussions and debates are non-existent. It instantly becomes "Who can yell the loudest?" My point of this response is to get you thinking about the religious side of things and maybe seeing if this is why some people are no willing to accept same sex marriage and how you feel that affects your opinion of those who do and those who do not support.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAs a Christian myself I can easily attest to the failures of the American Church. While much of American society is honestly seeking love, the Church continues to divide and that goes completely against the ideas that Jesus taught and desired the Church to be based around. We tend to forget that nobody is perfect and we all are looking for the same things. And I am living proof (yet admittedly imperfect proof) of the fact that you don’t have to agree with a person’s choices to love them. Jesus’ top two commandments were (1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and (2) to love your neighbor (later defined as everybody) as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). And Jesus Himself ate with tax collectors, some of the lowest on the societal totem pole. Basically I agree with the idea that “if you are a Christian you should always be [loving,] accepting, and forgiving of others” because that’s what God has already done for us.
DeleteI also wholeheartedly agree that our society should have more open discussions!
(And I’d encourage you to look at my comment on the third reply here in regards to “Private life doesn’t affect public life” and let me know what you think!)
I really enjoyed reading this post because I agree with you in saying that everyone should be created equal. It is hard to go through life in this day and age where there are still people judging others and discriminating against them just because they want to love a different way than what is perceived as being normal. Someone who I know that is lesbian has told me very disturbing stories about her and her girlfriend walking in public holding hands and having people walk by them making snarky comment such as "that's disgusting" or "you aren't meant to be on this planet". Hearing her say these stories just made my heart hurt. I was raised in a family where I was taught to treat everyone equal and treat everyone as you want to be treated, and just seeing these acts of hate go on just doesn't make sense to me. I just think in my head, what if the roles were reversed? What if you were on the flip side and you were the one seen as "not being normal". Something that I really liked in your blog was when you said, that it just takes people to be treated equal to be able to be seen the same way. That stuck with me because I agree with it and I think that this world would be a better and more positive place if everyone was treated equal.
ReplyDeleteFor the comment above, I do agree that religion does play a big role into the issues with the LGBT community. It would be an amazing time to be alive if people were able to see eye to eye on this topic, but obviously there will be people with different beliefs and different opinions. I am not saying that these people are wrong to have their own beliefs and opinions, but if there was a way to have everyone see each other equally, then I think there would be a lot more positivity in the world today.
I wholeheartedly agree with the last tip for working with disabled co-workers. It’s important to treat disabled co-workers with the same amount of respect as anyone else in the workplace. I also believe it’s important not to condescend, placate, or humor someone simply because they are disabled. That is not kindness, and the distinction between these behaviors needs to be made. I also think tip three is very conducive to a functional and efficient workplace. Communication is a very key part in society and should be prioritized if any workplace wants to operate at peak efficiency. Not only this, but proper communication helps us understand one another.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your article. It’s very unfortunate that people like Kim Davis still exist and openly discriminate against people for an uncontrollable preference. To have that amount of hate for something that doesn’t affect you in any way, shape, or form is really just sad. What people do and consent to in their personal lives is not anyone's business except their own, and people should stop trying to control others for doing things they deem immoral. If no one is hurt, no should care. While things are improving in first world countries such as the United States, we have to remember that the modern day civil rights movement doesn’t just involve us, it also involves third and second world countries. In many of these places, it still legal and encouraged to discriminate against LGBT members. Homosexuality is still punished by death in Iran and many more countries. There is still a very long way to go before the civil rights push for the LGBT community will be over.
Article stating 10 countries where Homosexuality may be punished by death:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death-2/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775be0fe2cb9
Disregard that first part, its a comment to another article.
DeleteIf I may, I’d like to play devil’s advocate for a second. I’m also taking a sociology course which has made it clear that virtually every decision impacts society as a whole in some way. So if “what people do and consent to in their personal lives is not anyone’s business except their own” then that completely goes against the social nature of humankind. Think about friendship for example. I have many acquaintances but a friend must be able to challenge me when they see me doing something disagreeable. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been doing something wrong that I didn’t even recognize until it was brought up to me by a friend.). So I would challenge the idea that “no one should care” and say, yes, people should care! But at the same time we should recognize that people are different from us and it is okay to disagree with them!
DeleteI agree with Tim, he brings up a good point by reversing the roles of the situation. Every choice we make has an impact that leads to other inevitable occurrences. By saying that someones private life doesn't effect their public life or others is a contradiction as your private life influences your public life or vice versa. I also want to note that people may never see eye to eye on these situations, but taking the time to listen and discuss rather than ignore or mute is always a better option.
DeleteWell said David!
DeleteIn response to Tim, the difference is Kim wasn't simply voicing her disagreement (which is 100% okay), she broke the law and *actively* interfered with the freedoms and beliefs of others. It's not simply disagreeing and voicing opposition, it's a direct action against another person. To put that in the same example, if I was doing something a friend disagreed with (like eating meat), it's OK for them to continually tell me why eating meat is bad, or why I should be a vegetarian, but it is NOT okay for them to throw away all the meat I have in my house, or physically prevent me from buying it.
ReplyDeleteSo to that extent (and to bring it back to the discussion of religion), a huge issue is that people think it's okay to actually interfere with others, such as when religious advocacy groups attempted to ban gay marriage, where in reality they're massively overstepping bounds.
You bring up a good point Caden, However, its also important to note that this country was founded on religious freedom. But times have changed and the supreme court and government in general have increased in power and have made changes to what religious freedom entitles. To be honest, I don't have a clear cut answer as to how the situation in the video should have been handled. As you stated "a huge issue is that people think it's okay to actually interfere with others, such as when religious advocacy groups attempted to ban gay marriage, where in reality they're massively overstepping bounds." Its true that if someone doesn't want to be religious or believe what I do, I should not force my views on them as it only worsens the situation. But... if a gay couple forces their views/beliefs isn't that hypocritical? As I said, its complicated and I don't have all the answers. I would be interested in talking in person to anyone about these topics as it is much easier to communicate.
DeleteI find this post very relevant in today's world. It is interesting to see the how the LGBT revolution has evolved through time. I also think the year you were born in can have an effect on your outlook. For example, I grew up with gay friends, teammates, and a transgender cousin. I really have never thought anything of it just because when I was growing up, it was becoming more accepted and "normal". Since I was raised to treat everyone equal, it blows my mind that people still think not everyone deserves equal rights. I like how you brought up the fact that the people of the LGBT community do not want to be treated "special", rather they just want to be treated equal. I feel like a lot of people who are against the LGBT community think that they want some sort of special treatment. I like how your section on how to help explained that just informing people of the fact that everyone deserves equal rights. Also, I liked how you brought up the fact that confronting hateful speech can help the LGBT community as well. Overall, I thought your post was very insightful and intriguing to read. Thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I guess I'm confused about how a gay couple forces their views/beliefs, unless you're referring to the act of marriage as forcing views/beliefs. It seems like if that qualifies, then straight couples would be forcing their beliefs as well. I think that speaks directly to the freedom of religion our country was founded in, meaning everyone is allowed to express themselves and their own beliefs without another interfering, such as by blocking a legally binding marriage due to personal religious beliefs. Would love to discuss further if you want to, but ultimately the case of Kim Davis comes down to being prejudiced and breaking the law due to religious beliefs, which highlights why respect of other's is important.
ReplyDelete