CHAPTER SIX
The Struggle for Equal Rights

Exercises

Compare different organizations fighting for the same cause

  1. Go to the web sites of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the National Council of La Raza.
  2. Answer the following questions:
    • What is the goal of each organization?
    • What similarities exist between the organizations? What differences?
    • What are the advantages of having several organizations fighting for the rights of Hispanic Americans? Might there be any disadvantages?

If you prefer to study African American or gay and lesbian civil rights organizations instead, you can access the web sites for these organizations in the "Explore" section.

  Follow a civil rights organization

  1. Pick a civil rights organization such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Native American Rights Fund, or the Human Rights Coalition. Each of these sites has an immense amount of information regarding the organization's activities.
  2. Visit the organization's web site and create a list of issues in which the organization is currently involved.
  3. Answer the following questions:
    • What are the organization's positions on the issues? In other words, what is it fighting for?
    • Why would the organization believe these issues were of importance to the group it represents?
    • What strategies is the organization taking to defend its position? For example, is it using the media? Lobbying Congress? Instituting a boycott?
    • Follow the organization's activities over the course of the semester. What victories, if any, did it obtain? Did it suffer any defeats? Overall, do you think the organization was successful? Why or why not?

What would conservatives say?

Most of the members of the civil rights organizations discussed in this chapter are liberal. Although conservatives generally agree with the notion of equality and many of the goals of these organizations, they often hold different views on some of the issues as well.

  1. Visit the web site of a conservative think tank, such as the American Enterprise Institute or The Heritage Foundation, or a conservative news magazine, such as National Review or The Weekly Standard.
  2. Once at the site, perform a search for one of the issues we discussed in the chapter (for example, affirmative action, Title IX).
  3. Answer the following questions:
    • How does the conservative argument differ from the liberal argument? What do conservatives view as important? What does this suggest about their worldview? About their view of the role of government?
    • What compromises or solutions can you think of that would iron out the differences and satisfy both sides?
    • What, if any, goals, principles, or values do conservatives and liberals share on the issue?