Introduction to Civil and Human Rights

Civil rights and liberties are those rights and protections granted to all individuals through the law. Most accepted definitions differentiate civil rights from human rights, which are rights that are universal to all individuals regardless of nation, government, or system of law. The editors of this volume appreciate the distinction between universal, natural rights and privileges granted by law, but further assert that civil rights and liberties are often the legal expression or guarantee of human rights. Freedom from slavery is a human right. Voting rights may be civil rights, but when those rights are abridged on account of race, that arbitrary distinction violates an individual's human rights of dignity and security of person, equality, and political expression. Therefore, as in the context of the American civil rights movement, the struggle for civil rights is often the fight for human rights.

Included in this chapter are a number of articles highlighting human rights issues, such as the treatment of women under the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and government oppression of political dissidents in China. A march in support of gay rights is part of the movement for privileges enumerated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights—the rights to marry and found a family. Lastly, the article "Two Prosecutors at Guantanamo Quit in Protest" further illustrates the melding of civil and human rights concerns in the actions of two unlikely activists.

The African-American struggle for civil rights from slavery to segregation is featured in this chapter. From 1954–1968 most of the leaders of the civil rights movement adopted a consistent protest creed of non-violence. Acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent action, from sit-ins to boycotts, protested racial segregation, voter discrimination, and violence against black Americans. Non-violent protest was not always met with peaceful reaction. Equally as iconic as images of protest are images of police brutality, mob violence, and riots.

Highlighted here are some of the most famous and successful protests of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" stands among the most powerful testaments of the movement. Though a book cannot fully convey the power of protest music, "We Shall Overcome" was a popular civil rights anthem that like many others was adopted from an old religious melody.

The protests of the civil rights era were largely confined to the South; riots rocked mainly northern and midwestern cities. However, the civil rights movement captured public attention across the United States and abroad. It was the first great protest movement captured on television. The sights and sounds of protest buzzed in households far remote from the events of the day. Fully contemplating the civil rights movement is impossible without viewing its poignant images. In this chapter are photographs of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the march from Selma, and Alabama Governor George Wallace's infamous "stand in the school house door" in protest of the enrollment of African-American students at the Univeristy of Alabama.