Civil Rights In America Essay

The United States of America, through its core democratic values, is greatly divided on civil rights issues because of the weight of consideration given to all who can voice their opinions. This gives rise to many topics of strong debate, delaying progressive action due to liberties granted by the Bill of Rights, and implications of impeding civil rights discrepancies. Currently there is a major debate in the white house, concerning the legal rights of gay people, mainly their right to have a marital status recognized by all levels of government. In 1996, there was an act, Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), that was approved that made clear what the definition was of the words “marriage” and “spouse”. This definition was: “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a
When there are enough like minded people, they may be able to have their voices heard, and gain large power and persuasive ability to sway government politics. The dictionary defines democracy as: “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” (Dictionary, 2005). The public’s views are what should have a significant effect on government decisions since the government is there to represent what the people want. Obviously, there are checks and balances in the system so that neither government nor people get too powerful, but their power cannot be ignored. This is very plainly seen through the 10th amendment, where it states that unless it is expressly written in the constitution, that the federal government can, or that the state cannot make laws on a specific topic, then the laws may be decided upon by the state or the people. (U.S. Const. amen.