Chapter 5. The Struggle for Equal Rights
Explore
Civil rights organizations
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the country's oldest civil rights organization. Its web site includes information about the association's major initiatives, its history, and how you can get involved.
The National Urban League is another African
American civil rights organization founded around the same time as the NAACP.
It focuses on empowering African Americans through community-based movements.
This site provides an annual report on The State of Black
America, which includes significant amounts of research on African
Americans' progress in education, home ownership, entrepreneurship, health, and
other areas. The full studies are available for a fee, but detailed abstracts
are viewable for free.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an
internationally recognized civil rights law firm that focuses on, among other
things, tolerance education programs and tracking hate groups. Although the
site has substantial information on all of the groups' activities, particularly
interesting is its map of active hate groups
in the
The Native Americans Rights Fund is the most
comprehensive site devoted to the rights of Native Americans. Visitors can read
the organization's annual report on the
status of Native Americans (Adobe Acrobat required), follow current cases
regarding Native American rights, or browse the National Indian Law Library.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(MALDEF) is the leading legal organization dedicated to fighting for
the civil rights of Mexican Americans. The site is particularly useful for
students who are researching Mexican American rights. See the Publications
section for reports on topics such as desegregation and voters' rights.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
works toward advancing the civil rights, education, and employment
opportunities of the U.S. Hispanic population. LULAC's
site contains a wealth of information on the organization's programs and events
as well as details on how others can participate in the organization's efforts.
The National Council of La Raza
is the largest national Hispanic organization in the country. It aims to reduce
poverty and discrimination and improve opportunities for Latin Americans.
Visitors to the site can follow current legislation on which the group is
working as well as read news releases and studies.
The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
fights for the civil rights of Asian Americans. On its web site, visitors can
learn in-depth detail about subjects in which the organization is involved,
including immigration, television diversity, and voting rights.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is
the preeminent women's rights organization. NOW's web site
contains extensive information regarding efforts to protect women's rights.
Top issues currently include a constitutional
equality amendment, reproductive rights,
eliminating
racism, lesbian rights, and
violence
against women. Particularly interesting is the information on the
organization's political
action committees; for example, students can view a list of
NOW-endorsed political candidates by state.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force are both dedicated to fighting for the civil
rights of the gay, lesbian, and transgender communities. The sites each contain
information on every major current issue faced by these communities, including
the right to marry and the issues surrounding religion, work, and family as a
gay, lesbian, or transgender citizen. For visitors wondering how their
representatives or senators fair on gay and lesbian rights, they can view the HRC's ratings of current members of Congress (Adobe Acrobat
required).
Interested in learning about legislation that
affects the elderly? Then visit AARP's web site. It includes everything
from coverage of upcoming elections to special travel deals for senior
citizens. Because of the vast array of information available, this site will
especially help those working on research projects on the elderly.
The American Civil Rights Institute was
founded to educate the public on the impact of racial and gender preferences.
One of its goals is to end affirmative action. The web site provides news
regarding the organization's efforts and speeches given by its leaders.
Civil rights history on display
On-line coverage of
the Library of Congress's Voices of Civil Rights
exhibit documents the events of the civil rights movement in the
Visiting
Representing the agency in the Justice Department responsible for enforcing the nation's civil rights statutes, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has a web site that includes guides to civil rights laws, cases in which the agency is currently involved, and reports on special topics.