Motivated by Fear: Civil Rights & Terrorism
September 11th, 2001, a day that will live in the hearts and minds of millions. A day that exposed the brutality and inhumanity of a group of radicals from across the globe, hell bent on the destruction of America. Terrorists is a name given to a specific group who’s goals are to evoke terror and fear to all of its enemies and anyone else that gets in his or her way..
Mankind has been dealing with terrorism for hundreds of years. Innocent people have had their civil liberties violated, because their countries are consumed by their petty differences. From Iwo Jima to Pearl Harbor, thousands of lives have been lost and millions have been impacted by a stroke of a pen from a Politician.
Whether it’s called a war or a police action, a major conflict between countries impacts many. These conflicts cause countries to live in fear which in turn causes paranoia. When a person is forced into a life threatening situation they can make decisions out of panic. Some of these decisions may affect the civil rights of others. The philosophy, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or the few, comes into play and decisions are made based on the overall potential outcome.
In the United States, civil rights has been a major issue. From Jackie Robinson to Dr. Martin Luther King, politicians have had to deal with maintaining the balance and assuring Americans their constitutional rights that all men are created equal and therefore should be treated equally. Individual civil and human rights have broadened in the years and some rights are still very controversial. Some, like abortion rights and gay rights are still being disputed across the country and will be debated for many years to come.
Although some rights in this country are still being disputed as actually being rights at all as a United States citizen, there is one god given right that has been affected by 911 and that is of cruel and unusual punishment. The excuse for the violation of these rights is explained in two words, National Security.
Issues of torture by members of the U.S. Military has been discovered and documented. These acts on people of Arabic decent living in the U.S. were, at first covered up, then explained by politicians as overzealous members of the military during a very scary time. Acts performed to help the war on terror effort and stop terrorism in the country. These acts as well as other violation of civil rights are often motivated by fear and I’m scared.
