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Caroline Kennedy on Civil Rights
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US civil rights movement sparked international human rights
It took the Civil War and the civil rights movement to begin to fulfill our country's promise to African Americans. Women were denied the vote until
1920, and not until the 1970s did they enter the workforce in large numbers, backed by the Supreme Court decisions reinforcing equality of opportunity.
More recently, our society has begun expanding the Declaration's promise to other victims of discrimination, ethnic minorities, the disabled and gay men and women.
The progress made in our society has inspired an international human rights movement.
Source: A Patriot's Handbook, by Caroline Kennedy, p.285
, Apr 13, 2005
Free speech includes distasteful speech such as flag-burning
[In 1991] the Bill of Rights hit the front pages in the flag burning controversy. The US Supreme Court voted 5-4 that the First Amendment protected burning the flag in political protest. The close decision and resulting uproar reflected a deep national
split between those who found flag burning abhorrent but believed freedom of expression more important, and those who did not believe that freedom of speech meant that the government was powerless to protect our national symbol.People on both sides
reacted emotionally, patriotically, and with absolute conviction. Legislation to protect the flag was introduced in Congress. The President, not satisfied, called for a constitutional amendment. If passed, the flag-burning amendment would have limited
the Bill of Rights for the 1st time in its 200-year history. The amendment was narrowly defeated.
To us, the flag burning case illustrates another aspect of the Bill of Rights - it protects people who have done distasteful, even dreadful, things.
Source: In Our Defense, by Caroline Kennedy, p.337-338
, Mar 1, 1992
Page last updated: Jun 05, 2018