The Tyler Group Barcelona Hand and Gavel

Domestic: Civil Rights in the Modern World

The 13th Amendment of the United States of America exemplifies the constitutional
protection government provides for the civil rights as well as the general inalienable
human rights of people to be free to live and to express themselves according to their
inherent beliefs and distinct customs as citizens of a nation. Self-evident in this historic and
magnificent example of the triumph of justice and equality is the continuing struggle of
certain classes within the many nations of the world, whether defined by culture, habits,
language, gender, age or beliefs, to live according to their calling within the vast freedom
provided to them by civil laws.
Offenses carried out against such rights of people are therefore duly punished, yet
oftentimes not without the accompanying prejudices or miscarriages of justice by those
who fail to uphold the law. Crimes against persons by virtue of their ethnic background or
nationality, though treated differently from criminal cases, fill up our courts as they occur
quite frequently in the form of petty quarrels or conflicts between varying certain religious
or political groups.
Electoral disenfranchisement and gender biases still happen as they did decades before
because it takes time for people within a generation to unlearn what previous generations
passed on to them. Here are some ideas to consider how we can minimize the violation of
civil rights of those we often take for granted:

1. Age may define a civil rights issue
The elderly have certain rights society protects which many people fail to recognize or
uphold. Public transportation laws have designated seats for the elderly or the
handicapped which many ordinary passengers fail to observe.
Senior citizens are also accorded discounts on essential goods purchases such as food and
medicine. However, some shops often arbitrarily deny these rights. For instance, an elderly
who goes out to treat his or her family is not given the full discounted but is counted as a
single consumer even though he or she paid for the bill.


2. Privacy protection
Online privacy as well as actual privacy are protected by the bill of rights of a nation.
However, the social media over the web provides many loopholes that test and challenge
civil rights stipulations. We still have to keep up with this technological tool while
safeguarding our privacy and the welfare of our families.
The use of the Internet practically allows any person to invade our privacy and even steal
information and money from us. How this new paradigm of interpersonal connection will
affect our civil rights is a new field of concern for everyone.

3. Criminal and civil cases online
We have heard of children and even adults who have become victims of bullying in
cyberspace. Cases of child prostitution and women exploitation have also become
profitable sources of criminal syndicates in cyberspace. These are just a few specific cases
of how civil rights are affected by modern technology.

4. Religious discrimination continues to hound societies
With increased mobility of workers around the world nations providing employment
opportunities to professionals and skilled laborers, criminal and civil cases related to
ethnicity or faith have caused problems between host nations and their partner nations.
In spite of the goodwill developed through trade and exchange of labor opportunities,
human and civil rights are often put on the line as people leave the comforts of their homes
to seek work in strange lands which are at times inhospitable to other cultures and beliefs.
Today, in Iraq, Christians are in grave danger of losing their lives as the Iraqi regime clamps
down on their perceived Christian enemies.
Ones color or religion can still be a cause for losing your rights or your freedom even in the
modern world as intolerance continues to rear its horned head. But each one of is, to a
certain degree, guilty of violating the rights of our neighbor one way or another. Singing
loudly on your karaoke beyond midnight when neighbors are sound asleep is not merely an
inconsiderate practice but a violation of basic rights of others. Yet, we see this done
frequently in many neighborhoods. If we want to achieve world peace and harmony, we
must start in our own homes.