lthough the Constitution and the Bill of Rights guaranteed many important rights to the people, more Amendments were needed to insure the civil rights of all. The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, said that the states, not just the Federal government, must give “equal protection of the laws” to everyone. This and other Civil Rights laws passed since then have tried to guarantee that all people will be treated equally regardless of race, color, gender, age, religion or national origin.

Examples

Some important civil rights protected by law in the United States are:

• Equal pay for equal work for men and women
• Equal access in public places, such as restaurants, hotels, etc.
• No discrimination by state and local governments, public schools, universities
• Equal access to all programs receiving federal money
• No discrimination in selling or renting housing
• No discrimination in employment
• Equal access to sports for men and women
• Disabled children have the right to a free and appropriate education

Because past discrimination has hurt minority groups, some programs to help women and minorities have been established. These programs are often called “Affirmative Action” programs. There is disagreement about aspects of affirmative action programs and many cases are under review in the courts.

The Civil Rights listed above generally apply to all in the United States, both citizens and non-citizens. After September 11, 2001 however, the government passed the USA Patriot’s Act which made some changes. There is still a lot of discussion about the subject of civil rights and intelligent people have very different opinions, but if you think that your civil rights have been violated you can contact the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.