CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

      In the " Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau, he wrote of the need to prompt the

government when the rights of a citizen is being trampled upon, and to what extend the government

can restricts the rights of a citizen. He wrote of the government's responsibility to make sure every

citizen is accord bill of rights regardless of race, color ,and socio-economic status.

     Government can be accountable for their actions when people stand up for things that they

realized benefit only a few of the members that they vote for and not the nation as a whole. I also

learnt of three important figures who champion liberty for all and was ready and willing to make

known all the abuses of a government, which restricts the liberty of its citizen. These figures are

Elizabeth Cady- Staton, (1815-1902), Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), and Frederick Douglass (1817-

1895).Frederick Douglass was a runway slave from the south, who when he got to the North

campaign for the end to slavery. In one of his campaign , he was asked to speak during the fourth of

July celebration and he took the chance to nail it home of the meaningless of the celebration to him

and his fellow race because attributes and laws behind the celebration did not applied to them. This

 is an excerpt from his speech,"The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence

,bequeather by your fathers, is shared by you, not me. This is basically saying that since the concept

or idea behind the celebration is not applicable to me why should I honor this.
 
   This clearly shows a recipe for civil disobedience because if the government think that the African -

American is not eligible for the bills of rights which is to justice, liberty , prosperity and

independence, why should they celebrate a holiday for those things. It clearly showed the

disregard for bill of rights for certain race and yet expect them to pay taxes in the building of the

nation.
   

Having finished reading the "Civil disobedience by Henry Thoreau, I find it difficult to understand what he actually meant whether as an individual we do disobey the the law or as collectively as most laws are enacted with the mindset of what to gain from it and not how it is going to benefit the nation as a whole.
 One quote that catch my attention was " If I devote myself to other pursuits and comtemplations,I must first see,at least , that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders.  Basically I think this means that whaterver you are doing , make sure it is not going to infringe on the rights of another.
And also bare him from doing what is beneficial to him.I think he also liken our country as a people who only talks about injustice but does nothing to correct it.  There is a lot of unjust acts being done in the name of order and civil obedience to the government. Lastly lawmakers by being bais and selfish have set a lot of laws which leads to civil disobedience.

Another stab at the constitution.

         






           This is a writing from the New York Times  opinion section  called "ROOM FOR DEBATE
" which deliberates on matters pertaining to the constitution of America. It argues for the review and change of most of the constitution since it has not been made since the 1960 and 1970s. The only recent one was also made in 1992, which is a decade old. It further went to explained the tedious and technicalities involved in having a constitution amended.  This platform was used Proffessors from various states who gave their opinions on what amendaments needs to be done and also a clear interpretation of some of the constitution laws.

                      
       "We are a nation dedicated to liberty and equality. So it is a particularly tragic irony that America leads the world in imprisonment and that a large proportion of those serving sentences are people of color" This the second piece by Rachel Barkow, a professor at the New York University  on matter of regulatory laws and policies. This brings into perception the Eight Amendement which touches on the rights of a person to get a fair trial, sentences and levies in respective of race or color.  The reason why I choose this quote was the knowledge that this is just a theoretical saying and not a reality thing, especially the part about being a nation dedicated to liberty and equality.

Infact I agree with her revision of her Eight Amendement which clearly stated that excessive terms of incarceration are prohibited just as it bans excessive fines. This will then showed how America is dedicated to liberty and equality instead of still having a two-faced idealogy of writing something and doing something else although. It has teaches me about the ecomonical and political propaganda attach to the lobbying for tougher and harsh punishments for crimes allegedly committed. One thing that brought to mind as I wrote this was the federal role in making sure states adhered to their demands. Prisons from this point is not a reform but another way of downtrotten the black American as it has always been the case since emanicipation. Therefore she hit  right on the nail of the problem and education on this will help alleviate this harm that is still done to the minority in this country.