MetaFilter posts tagged with rights and civil

Apologies from a racist

Addlepated — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:25:50 -0800

Elwin Wilson burned crosses. He threw jack handles at kids. He hung black dolls in nooses. He threw eggs at men. He beat people up at bus stations - people who would one day become United States Congressmen. He lay in wait for the Freedom Riders in Rock Hill, SC ( more Freedom Rides video 1, 2). And now Elwin Wilson is apologizing for what he did.

This week's cover of The Nation features Obama with more than 60 civil rights icons.

harperpitt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:49:52 -0800

When Obama takes the oath of office, he won't be standing alone. This week's cover of The Nation features a portrait of an Obama inauguration presided over by Thurgood Marshall and attended by more than 60 civil rights icons. Some of the faces are familiar. Some we may not know as well. And far too many of them were taken too soon.

The Rapture is Not an Exit Strategy

fourcheesemac — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:59:49 -0800

“People like you are not holding up the Constitution ..." Or so said Major Freddy Welborn, Specialist Jeremy Hall's commanding officer in Tikrit. "Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers." (NY Times)

Franklin Kameny Papers Online

LarryC — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 13:14:07 -0800

The Kameny Papers Project preserved and presents the papers of gay rights pioneer Franklin Kameny, who had activists picketing the White House in 1965, well before Stonewall. The website includes a nice archive of his papers, including correspondence, a small photo gallery, and some charming hate mail from members of Congress. See also the Franklin Kameny pages at the Rainbow History Project. Yesterday, the Library of Congress accepted Kameny's papers. [via Andrew Sullivan]

How bout that voting rights act hummm?

Unregistered User — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 11:57:37 -0800

The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and abolitionist, was asked to give a Fourth of July speech while slavery still existed. His fiery talk is what this section is about: People within America recognizing that the American promises ring hollow. Bush tells CBC he's 'unfamiliar' with Voting Rights Act Also see: LCCR Disappointed that House Failed to Vote on Voting Rights Act Reauthorization Bill "No President has ever done more for human rights than I have." George W. Bush

Ideology of Equality

googlebombed — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 06:40:29 -0800

Coretta Scott King passes away at age 78.

Politics and fat

skjønn — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 11:04:28 -0800

America's Waistline. A new piece examines the politics of the fat. Despite the growing numbers of people who are becoming obese, the fat acceptance movement remains oddly stunted in terms of membership. The growing civil rights movement faces many problems, including presenting a respectable face to the public. You see, many of the people who are in charge are feeders (NWS). Many wonder how the movement be taken seriously when so many who lead are sexual deviants and much of the revenue generated for size acceptance efforts is through pornography? Still, the battle rages on.

Citizenry

goofyfoot — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 21:47:37 -0800

Bravery and citizenship: Memphis Norman died the other day. He was one of the citizens, who, along with Anne Moody, whose book "Coming of age in Mississippi," vividly describes their action, sat at a Woolworth's lunch counter and took abuse in 1963.

Mass arrests of Muslims in LA

CrazyJub — Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:13:07 -0800

Mass arrests of Muslims in LA. The BBC is reporting US immigration officials in Southern California have detained hundreds of Iranians and other Muslim men who turned up to register under residence laws brought in as part of the anti-terror drive.

CNN, FOX News, and the like have extensive coverage.....sort of.

emmling — Mon, 09 Sep 2002 17:56:19 -0800

Should non-citizens have the same rights under the law as citizens? What about those who have naturalized? A poll given by NPR, The Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvardâ??s Kennedy School of Government finds that a majority of those taking the poll think that, if accused of terrorism, a non-citizen should have fewer rights than a citizen. You can take the poll yourself here.

Carol Anne — Mon, 21 Jan 2002 09:14:08 -0800

Thank Mahalia Jackson for King's "I have a dream." "On August 28, 1963, under a nearly cloudless sky, more than 250,000 people, a fifth of them white, gathered near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to rally for 'jobs and freedom.'... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, 'Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!' Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America--a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy."