The Long Journey to Civil Rights in Obama's America

On April 4, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Peace Prize winner, activist for civil rights and the integration of African-Americans, was assassinated in Memphis during a campaign rally for Democratic Party leader Robert Kennedy, who himself was assassinated a few months later.

At this time, the racial integration of African-Americans still faced many obstacles. Two African-American sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who came in first and third respectively in the 200-meter race in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, denounced this discrimination in silent protest the summer after King’s death. During the playing of the American national anthem at the medals ceremony, the two athletes stood firm with closed, black-gloved fists raised in protest against racial discrimination still prevalent during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, despite his anti-segregation policies.

Americans have been marching on the long path toward integration over the past 40 years, which led to an African-American, Barack Obama, being elected president in November 2008 and even to his re-election in 2012. (During his inaugural ceremony, Obama used King’s bible for his swearing in.) There have been other important milestones along the way, such as during the 1984 and 1988 elections, when the African-American Rev. Jesse Jackson became a presidential candidate, and when George W. Bush appointed African-Americans Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as successive secretaries of state during his first and second term respectively. Other symbolic events paved the way to integration: African-Americans now have starring roles on television and in Hollywood; the achievements of athletes are commemorated; and in the year 2000, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was officially observed for the first time in all 50 states. Despite having met some initial resistance after Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983, this federal holiday is now observed on the third Monday of January.

Two key reforms of Obama’s domestic policy during the past four years have been the health care law and access to education, even at the college level, facilitated with the creation of a grant program. Health and education are actually two areas that are still used to measure the gap between white people and African-Americans. High health care costs mainly penalize African-Americans, the poorest ethnic group in America and therefore more likely to die from heart attacks and childbirth because of substandard health care. The percentage of unemployed African-Americans is higher than that of unemployed white people; young African-Americans have lower levels of education than their white counterparts and are more likely to take low-skilled and precarious jobs.

These statistics show just how much progress is yet to be made. There is yet another aspect of civil rights that does not require public spending but rather legislation reform. Amnesty International’s 2012 report on the U.S. points out the existence of legislation that discriminates against Latin-American immigrants in some Southern states, like Alabama, which was one of the most unrelenting in its support of racial segregation until the 1970s.

Regarding the rights of minors, the U.S. is the only country, along with Somalia, which has not ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The U.S.’ recent interest in children’s rights is the sign of a turning point for a country that has always been intent on not making a distinction between a crime committed by an adult and one committed by a minor. (A well-known case is that of Jordon Brown, a Pennsylvania native who was almost tried as an adult for a crime he committed when he was 11 years old.)

The police still use excessive force — even during the peaceful Occupy Wall Street movement, the police were reported to have been violent in their handling of protests. In 2011, 43 people were killed by the police as a direct result of the use of tasers, an electric shock weapon that should not cause death in theory. (Almost all the victims were unarmed.) Similarly, Amnesty’s report highlights that “there was no accountability for human rights violations committed under the administration of President George W. Bush as part of the CIA’s program of secret detention and rendition.” This was seen with Afghanistan and Iraq, when excessive abuse and force used during the wars scandalized global and U.S. public opinion to a large extent.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, which was certainly premature; he was just at the start of his first term, and the prize was awarded without a thorough and prolonged analysis of his action plans. What is certain is that the president is trying to stay away from armed conflict given the high risks involved and the irony of Bush’s doctrine, which, instead of succeeding in establishing democracy in the occupied countries, succeeded in bringing the American people closer together instead.

The journey to integration and civil rights seems to be officially complete, but in reality this is not yet the case. Living conditions of the common person are worsening with the dismantling of the welfare state, which was carried out over three decades of neoliberalism. As a consequence, the U.S. has been on a backward trajectory and the recession of 2008 has resulted in more dramatic effects on the economy.

The majority of the House of Representatives is led by Republicans supporting libertarianism. This is an obstacle to political reform, which would recreate opportunities for everyone. Joseph Stiglitz, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, states in his latest book, The Price of Inequality, that the U.S. is the only country in the world that harbors the most inequality while benefiting from an advanced economy at the same time. Under these conditions, it is difficult to exercise one’s rights. Swearing in on King’s bible, Obama inherited an inconvenient legacy: Even with racial prejudices overcome, he needs to find a way to strengthen an economically divided community.