POL 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Solid South, Jim Crow Laws
Document Summary
Civil liberties are the constitution"s protections from government power. Civil rights are protections provided by government or that government secures on behalf of its citizens against the arbitrary actions of others. The crucial difference is that civil rights require government to act, whereas civil liberties are well served when government does nothing. The civil rights of african americans and the politics of black civil rights. The long struggle of african americans for civil rights has redefined the rights and liberties of all. The history of black civil rights also provides a testing ground for madison"s arguments in federalist. 10: madison, recognizing that people are motivated by self-interest, believed that tyranny could best be avoided by empowering every faction to look out for its own interests. African americans faced several major obstacles in securing rights: the constitution reserves important authority for the states, such as the power to determine voting eligibility.