Julie W.

The 20th century produced much progress in widening civil rights the United States.The only reason I can vote today is because of those bad-ass suffragettes from 100 years ago who formed a grassroots organization all across the nation. They had politely asked for the right to vote from men for over 60 years and were refused. So they went out and raised a hell of a ruckus and swayed public opinion to their side. The Civil Rights movement of the 60s was the same…political power ignored them for decades, so they had to do it on their own, creating a from-the-streets movement that resulted in the sweeping changes of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Other minorities- LGBT, the disabled, the Dreamers all had to fight for their equality. Racism is again becoming acceptable in our country, due to the racist rhetoric of many federal, state and local politicians, re-shaping public opinion on race in a negative way. There needs to be a strong, united response to this re-birth of white nationalism and I hope by joining ARCC, I can be a part of this response. Just because equality has been given to a particular group doesn’t mean it can’t be taken away. We have to remain vigilant.