Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals ' freedom from infringement by governments , social organizations , and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society and the state .
68-562: Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (November 6, 1930 – October 5, 2011) was an American lawyer, legal scholar, and civil rights activist. Bell first worked for the U.S. Justice Department , then the NAACP Legal Defense Fund , where he supervised over 300 school desegregation cases in Mississippi. After a decade as a civil rights lawyer, Bell moved into academia where he spent the second half of his life. He started teaching at
136-506: A bill of rights or similar document. They are also defined in international human rights instruments , such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . Civil and political rights need not be codified to be protected. However, most democracies worldwide do have formal written guarantees of civil and political rights. Civil rights are considered to be natural rights . Thomas Jefferson wrote in his A Summary View of
204-425: A 1990 video of Obama praising Bell at a protest by Harvard Law School students over the perceived lack of diversity in the school's faculty. Bell's widow stated that Bell and Obama had "very little contact" after Obama's law school graduation. She said that as far as she remembered, "He never had contact with the president as president." An examination of Senior Lecturer Obama's syllabus for his course on race and law at
272-488: A book of parables and introduced the Bell Annual Gospel Choir Concert, which is a tradition at the school today. During his time at NYU Law, Bell supported a student organization who were demanding the university for more faculty of color. Taking advice from Bell, the student organization led silent protests outside faculty meetings. During the summer of 1981, under the auspices of a grant from
340-456: A book questioning the Brown v. Board of Education's legacy. His 2004 memoir, Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth , where he dives into how he stuck to his beliefs. He wrote about how staying true to himself was how he was so successful. Along with Bell's contributions to critical race theory, in his early articles, he exhibited multiple analyses' of legal doctrine . He discussed
408-591: A course on "Race, Racism and the Law" using his textbook of the same name. Later, Bell's tenure was interrupted by his resignation following a protest, due to the university's refusal to hire an Asian-American candidate he had chosen for a faculty position. Bell's full time visiting professorship at New York University began in 1991. After his two-year leave of absence, his position at Harvard ended and he remained at NYU where he continued to write and lecture on issues of race and civil rights. He related these issues to music in
476-545: A group focused on fighting racism and Jim Crow. Other things that civil rights have been associated with are not just race but also rights of Transgender and other LGBTQ individuals. These have been fights over sexuality instead of race and focused around whether these individuals may access certain spaces like bathrooms according to their sexual identity or biological sex. Gavin Grimm's fight in Virginia over whether he could use
544-485: A life of ethical behavior, including "a good job well done, giving credit to others, standing up for what you believe in, voluntarily returning lost valuables, choosing what feels right over what might feel good right now". Literary Works Between the years of 1970 and 1980 Bell published many pieces of work. Other than his two most read books, Race, Racism, and American Law , and Serving Two Masters . His other mentionable books are Silent Covenants , written in 2004,
612-508: A lot riding those dusty roads and walking into those sullen hostile courts in Jackson, Mississippi . It just seems that unless something's pushed unless you litigate, nothing happens." Later in life, Bell questioned the approach of integration they took in these school cases. Throughout the South, often the winning rulings and the following desegregation caused white flight , ultimately keeping
680-542: A moral shift in nature, but rather because of the "convergence" of efforts in dismantling Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Additionally, it had to do with the concern of the white elite that the United States would lose the battle to communism, and tarnish their reputation and global influence. The injustices initially set by segregation were not undone but, instead created new issues for Black students at predominantly white institutions. Consequently, Bell comes to
748-511: A new course in civil rights law, published a book, Race, Racism and American Law , and produced a steady stream of law review articles. He resigned from his position at Harvard in protest of the school's hiring procedures, specifically the absence of women of color on the staff. In 1980, Bell started a five-year tenure as the Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law. There, he also taught
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#1732780311355816-421: A number of works of short fiction which deal with similar themes to his nonfiction works. These include the science fiction short story " The Space Traders ". Here, white Americans exchange the U.S. Black population for extraterrestrials to solve the former's problems. Bell explained, “[It's] better [to] risk the unknown in space than face the certainty of racial discrimination here at home." An adaptation of
884-538: A role. Implied or unenumerated rights are rights that courts may find to exist even though not expressly guaranteed by written law or custom; one example is the right to privacy in the United States , and the Ninth Amendment explicitly shows that other rights are also protected. The United States Declaration of Independence states that people have unalienable rights including "Life, Liberty, and
952-408: A teaching position at Harvard University . He worked alongside lawyers, activists, and legal scholars across the country. Much of his legal scholarship was influenced by his experience both as a Black man and as a civil rights attorney. Writing in a narrative style, Bell contributed to the intellectual discussions on race. According to Bell, his purpose in writing was to examine the racial issues within
1020-510: Is a well-known non-profit organization that helps to preserve freedom of speech and works to change policy. Another organization is the NAACP , founded in 1909, which focuses on protecting the civil rights of minorities. The NRA is a civil rights group founded in 1871 that primarily focuses on protecting the right to bear arms. These organizations serve a variety of causes, one being the AFL–CIO , which
1088-468: Is considered foundational in the field of critical race theory . The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case prompted Bell's interest in studying racial issues within the education system. This was due to the Supreme Courts decision and its evident lack of progress for Black students. During the 70s, Bell studied and wrote about the effects of desegregation noting that this decision was not due to
1156-402: Is that if individuals have fewer political rights than are they more likely to commit political violence such as in countries where individual rights are highly restricted. That is why it is important for countries to protect the political rights of all citizens including minority groups. This extends to racial, ethnic, tribal, and religious groups. By granting them the same rights it helps reduce
1224-651: The Edict of Milan in 313, these rights included the freedom of religion; however, in 380, the Edict of Thessalonica required all subjects of the Roman Empire to profess Nicene Christianity. Roman legal doctrine was lost during the Middle Ages, but claims of universal rights could still be made based on Christian doctrine. According to the leaders of Kett's Rebellion (1549), "all bond men may be made free, for God made all free with his precious blood-shedding." In
1292-529: The U.S. Bill of Rights (1789). The removal by legislation of a civil right constitutes a "civil disability". In early 19th century Britain, the phrase "civil rights" most commonly referred to the issue of such legal discrimination against Catholics. In the House of Commons , support for civil rights was divided, with many politicians agreeing with the existing civil disabilities of Catholics. The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 restored their civil rights. In
1360-675: The USC Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California. There, he succeeded Martin Levine as executive director of the new Western Center on Law and Poverty. Among his notable cases was a class action suit against the Los Angeles Police Department on behalf of the city's Black residents. During Bell's directorship, the Western Center's work was recognized in 1971 with a trophy bestowed by
1428-621: The University of Southern California , then moved to Harvard Law School where he became the first tenured African-American professor of law in 1971. From 1991 until his death in 2011, Bell was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law , and a dean of the University of Oregon School of Law . While he was a visiting, he was a professor of constitutional law. Bell developed important scholarship, writing many articles and multiple books, using his practical legal experience and his academic research to examine racism , particularly in
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#17327803113551496-656: The right to a fair trial , (in some countries) the right to keep and bear arms , freedom of religion , freedom from discrimination , and voting rights . They were pioneered in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century during the Age of Enlightenment . Political theories associated with the English, American, and French revolutions were codified in the English Bill of Rights in 1689 (a restatement of Rights of Englishmen , some dating back to Magna Carta in 1215) and more fully in
1564-427: The rights of the accused , including the right to a fair trial ; due process ; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy ; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of association , the right to assemble , the right to petition , the right of self-defense , and the right to vote . These rights also must follow the legal norm as in they must have the force of law and fit into
1632-502: The 17th century, English common law judge Sir Edward Coke revived the idea of rights based on citizenship by arguing that Englishmen had historically enjoyed such rights . The Parliament of England adopted the English Bill of Rights in 1689. It was one of the influences drawn on by George Mason and James Madison when drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776. The Virginia declaration heavily influenced
1700-543: The Civil Rights Division. He was one of the few Black lawyers working for the Justice Department at the time. Bell was the first academic in law that created a casebook that explored and examined the law's impact and relationship on race and racism. Along with this he examined how race and racism shaped law-making, during a time when connecting these ideas was not considered legitimate. In 1959,
1768-508: The Community Relations Conference of Southern California. In 1969, Black Harvard Law School students helped to get Bell hired. They had protested for a minority faculty member and Derek Bok hired Bell to teach as a lecturer. Bok promised that Bell would be "the first but not the last" of his Black hires. In 1971, Bell became Harvard Law's first Black tenured professor. During his time at Harvard, Bell established
1836-914: The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 and the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. They were enshrined at the global level and given status in international law first by Articles 3 to 21 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and later in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . In Europe, they were enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights in 1953. There are current organizations that exist to protect people's civil and political rights in case they are infringed upon. The ACLU , founded in 1920,
1904-530: The Justice Department asked him to resign his membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) because it was thought that his objectivity, and that of the department, might be compromised or called into question. Rather than give up his NAACP membership and compromise his principles, Bell left the Justice Department. Bell returned to Pittsburgh and joined
1972-612: The National Endowment for the Humanities, Bell conducted a multi-week seminar in Race Relations Law for 14 lawyers and judges from across Oregon. The University of Oregon School of Law was not the only place Bell fought to create a more diverse and inclusive faculty. Following his return to Harvard in 1986, after a year-long stint at Stanford University . Bell staged a five-day sit-in in his office. The goal
2040-531: The Ole Miss Law School in 1962. While working at the LDF, Bell supervised more than 300 school desegregation cases and spearheaded the fight of James Meredith to secure admission to the University of Mississippi , over the protests of Governor Ross Barnett . Afterward, he said of this period,"I learned a lot about evasiveness, and how racists could use a system to forestall equality...I also learned
2108-502: The Rights of British America that "a free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate ." The question of to whom civil and political rights apply is a subject of controversy. Although in many countries citizens are considered to have greater protections against infringement of rights than non-citizens, civil and political rights are generally considered to be universal rights that apply to all persons . One thing to mention
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2176-460: The U.S. legal system would adapt legal doctrines meant to remedy Black injustices only when the doctrine would further benefit the interests of whites. In his doctrine, he also critiqued Brown V. Board and titled it the “Revisionist Brown Option” which was his alternative answer that Brown should have said in the court case. His doctrine also consisted of the concept “racial fortuitous corollary” and “racial preference licensing act”. Bell published
2244-652: The United States gathered steam by 1848 with such documents as the Declaration of Sentiment. Consciously modeled after the Declaration of Independence , the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments became the founding document of the American women's movement, and it was adopted at the Seneca Falls Convention, July 19 and 20, 1848. Worldwide, several political movements for equality before
2312-492: The United States, the term civil rights has been associated with the civil rights movement (1954–1968), which fought against racism. The movement also fought segregation and Jim Crow laws and this fight took place in the streets, in public places, in government, and in the courts including the Supreme Court. The civil rights movement was also not the only movement fighting for civil rights as The Black Panthers were also
2380-405: The University of Chicago revealed significant differences between Obama's perspective and that of Derrick Bell, even as Obama drew on major writings of critical race theory. In 1970, Bell published Race, Racism, and American Law , a textbook of more than a thousand pages containing the idea that racial progress would be achieved only when it aligned with white people's interests. Bell is arguably
2448-435: The area include Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld , and Jean Edward Smith . First-generation rights, often called "blue" rights, deal essentially with liberty and participation in political life. They are fundamentally civil and political in nature, as well as strongly individualistic : They serve negatively to protect the individual from excesses of the state. First-generation rights include, among other things, freedom of speech ,
2516-420: The bathroom of his choice is a well known case in these civil right fights. Another issue in civil rights has been the issue with police brutality in certain communities especially minority communities. This has been seen as another way for minority groups to be oppressed and their rights infringed upon. Outrage has also been a massive result of incidents caught on tape of police abusing and in some cases causing
2584-447: The conclusion that American educational systems should focus on improving the quality of education for Black students, as opposed to, national integration. His early work on education contributed to his creation of critical race theory, alongside Kimberlé Crenshaw , Alan Freeman, Cheryl Harris , Patricia J. Williams , Charles R. Lawrence, Mari Matsuda , and Richard Delgado . In the 1970s, Bell and these other legal scholars began using
2652-424: The context of their economic and social, and political dimensions from a legal standpoint. In addition to this, Bell's critical race theory was eventually branched off into more theories, describing the hardships of other groups, such as AsianCrit (Asian), FemCrit (Women), LatCrit (Latino), TribalCrit (American Indian), and WhiteCrit (White). His theories were based on a number of propositions. CRT led to creation of
2720-463: The deaths of people from minority groups such as African Americans. That is why to address the issue has been accountability to police engaging in such conduct as a way to deter other officers from committing similar actions. T. H. Marshall notes that civil rights were among the first to be recognized and codified, followed later by political rights and still later by social rights. In many countries, they are constitutional rights and are included in
2788-583: The faculty, Bell decided to protest with an unpaid leave of absence. Students supported the move which critics found "counterproductive," while Harvard administrators cited a lack of qualified candidates, defending that they had taken great strides in the previous decade to bring in Black faculty members. He details the story of this protest in his book Confronting Authority. Bell's protest at Harvard provoked angry criticism and backlash. Opposing Harvard Law faculty called him "a media manipulator who unfairly attacked
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2856-535: The foundation of critical race theory . Bell worked towards the creation of what he considered a more inclusive faculty within institutions such as USC, Harvard, and NYU. Bell was known to be respectful of all beliefs and his class was described by his students to be the "least indoctrinated class" in their law school. Bell would give his students freedom to reach their own conclusions and to build their own arguments that could be reasonable, despite their political beliefs. Bell's first law faculty position began in 1967 at
2924-660: The framers of the Constitution chose the rewards of property over justice. With regard to the interest convergence, he maintains that "whites will promote racial advances for blacks only when they also promote white self-interest." Finally, in The Price of Racial Remedies, Bell argues that whites will not support civil rights policies that may threaten white social status. Similar themes can be found in another well-known piece entitled, "Who's Afraid of Critical Race Theory?" from 1995. His 2002 book, Ethical Ambition , encourages
2992-535: The future of race relations and racial justice in the United States. Many have connected his teachings to the police brutality and Black Lives Matter movements in 2020 and 2021. Civil rights Civil rights generally include ensuring peoples' physical and mental integrity, life , and safety , protection from discrimination , the right to privacy , the freedom of thought , speech , religion , press , assembly , and movement . Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law , such as
3060-502: The government intervene to protect individuals from infringement on their rights by other individuals , or from corporations —e.g., in what way should employment discrimination in the private sector be dealt with? Political theory deals with civil and political rights. Robert Nozick and John Rawls expressed competing visions in Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia and Rawls' A Theory of Justice . Other influential authors in
3128-533: The ideas of microaggressions , paradigmatic kinship, the historical origins and shifting paradigmatic vision of CRT, and, according to it, how in-depth legal studies show law serve the interests of the powerful groups in society. Microaggressions are subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously. As an example, in The Constitutional Contradiction, Bell argued that
3196-424: The law occurred between approximately 1950 and 1980. These movements had a legal and constitutional aspect, and resulted in much law-making at both national and international levels. They also had an activist side, particularly in situations where violations of rights were widespread. Movements with the proclaimed aim of securing observance of civil and political rights included: Most civil rights movements relied on
3264-483: The law school community has been profoundly shaped by Derrick's unwavering passion for civil rights and community justice, and his leadership as a scholar, teacher, and activist.'" He reportedly "loved" his students and taught up to the week before his death. Bell has been memorialized at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law with the Derrick A. Bell Constitutional Law Commons which was opened on March 20, 2013, in
3332-554: The legal doctrine through his outsider narrative scholarship. He would conclude that the rule of law "sought to convey an objectivity that may exist in theory but is impossible in the real world". In his narrative stories, he would create hypothetical legal doctrines that put forth the idea that racism is a permanent neutral principle. In doing so, he called “the nation to repent”, rather than having policymakers listen to him or change policies. His deconstructionist legal doctrine would include an “interest-convergence thesis” which assumed that
3400-465: The legal system. Bell questioned civil rights advocacy approaches, partially stemming from frustrations in his own experiences as a lawyer. Bell is often credited as one of the originators of critical race theory . Bell was born on November 6, 1930, to Derrick Albert and Ada Elizabeth Childress Bell. He was raised in a working-class family in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . He
3468-766: The local chapter of the NAACP. Soon afterward in 1960, Bell was recruited by Thurgood Marshall , the head of the NAACP's legal arm and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). Bell would join the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Pittsburgh, crafting legal strategies at the forefront of the battle to undo racist laws and segregation in schools. At the LDF, he worked alongside other prominent civil-rights attorneys such as Thurgood Marshall, Robert L. Carter , and Constance Baker Motley . Bell
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#17327803113553536-522: The most influential source of thought critical of traditional civil rights discourse. Bell's critique represented a challenge to the dominant liberal and conservative position on civil rights, race and the law. He employed three major arguments in his analyses of racial patterns in American law: constitutional contradiction, the interest convergence principle, and the price of racial remedies. His book Race, Racism and American Law , now in its seventh edition, has been continually in print since 1973 and
3604-435: The phrase "critical race theory" (CRT) a phrase based on critical legal studies , a branch of legal scholarship, taken that challenged the validity of concepts such as rationality , objective truth , and judicial neutrality. Critical legal theory was itself a takeoff on critical theory , a philosophical approach originating out of the leftist Frankfurt School . Bell continued writing about critical race theory after accepting
3672-653: The pursuit of Happiness". It is considered by some that the sole purpose of government is the protection of life, liberty , and property. Some thinkers have argued that the concepts of self-ownership and cognitive liberty affirm rights to choose the food one eats, the medicine one takes , and the habit one indulges . Civil rights guarantee equal protection under the law. When civil and political rights are not guaranteed to all as part of equal protection of laws , or when such guarantees exist on paper but are not respected in practice, opposition, legal action and even social unrest may ensue. Civil rights movements in
3740-472: The risk of political violence breaking out. According to political scientist Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr., analyzing the causes of and lack of protection from human rights abuses in the Global South should be focusing on the interactions of domestic and international factors—an important perspective that has usually been systematically neglected in the social science literature. Custom also plays
3808-607: The school's Barco Law Library . Bell was also honored with the renaming of the school's community law clinic that provides legal assistance to local low-income residents to the Derrick Bell Community Legal Clinic. Two fellowship positions within the school are also named for Bell. There continues to be lectures regarding Bell's teachings and concepts at NYU Law School, and Harvard Law School. They discuss Bell's teachings of racism in America and explore
3876-413: The school," noting that other people had accused him of "depriv[ing] students of an education while he makes money on the lecture circuit." Following his leave of absence at Harvard, Bell accepted a visiting professorship at NYU Law in 1991. After two years, Harvard had still not hired any minority women, and Bell requested an extension of his leave, which the school refused, thereby ending his tenure. It
3944-451: The schools segregated. Later, as an academic, these practical results led him to conclude that "racism is so deeply rooted in the makeup of American society that it has been able to reassert itself after each successive wave of reform aimed at eliminating it." Bell spent the second half of his career working in academia until his death in 2011. During this time, he worked at a number of law schools while authoring books which are now considered
4012-436: The second portion). The theory of three generations of human rights considers this group of rights to be "first-generation rights", and the theory of negative and positive rights considers them to be generally negative rights . The phrase "civil rights" is a translation of Latin jus civis (right of the citizen). Roman citizens could be either free ( libertas ) or servile ( servitus ), but they all had rights in law. After
4080-793: The story appeared as part of the 1994 made-for-television anthology film Cosmic Slop . "The Space Traders" and other works of short fiction by Bell appeared in Bell's collection Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permenance of Racism . On October 5, 2011, Bell died at the age of 80 from carcinoid cancer at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. At the time, the Associated Press reported: "The dean at NYU, Richard Revesz , said, 'For more than 20 years,
4148-429: The system of administrative justice. A key feature in modern society is that the more a state can guarantee political rights of citizens the better the states relations are with its citizens. Civil and political rights form the original and main part of international human rights . They comprise the first portion of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (with economic, social, and cultural rights comprising
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#17327803113554216-560: The technique of civil resistance , using nonviolent methods to achieve their aims. In some countries, struggles for civil rights were accompanied, or followed, by civil unrest and even armed rebellion. While civil rights movements over the last sixty years have resulted in an extension of civil and political rights, the process was long and tenuous in many countries, and many of these movements did not achieve or fully achieve their objectives. Questions about civil and political rights have frequently emerged. For example, to what extent should
4284-534: Was a member of the college's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1952. He then served as an officer for the United States Air Force for two years, one of which he spent in Korea. In 1957, he received a LL.B. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he was the only Black graduate of his class. In 1960, Bell married Jewel Hairston who
4352-561: Was also a Civil Rights activist and educator and they would go on to have three sons: Derrick, Douglas, and Carter. They were married until Jewel died in 1990. He later married Janet Dewart. After graduation and a recommendation from then United States associate attorney general William P. Rogers , Bell took a position with the newly formed Department of Justice in the Honor Graduate Recruitment Program. Due to his interests in racial issues, he transferred to
4420-573: Was assigned to Mississippi where during his trips to the state, he had to be very cautious. For example, once while in Jackson, he was arrested for using a white-only phone booth. After returning to NY, "Marshall mordantly joked that, if he got himself killed in Mississippi, the L.D.F. would use his funeral as a fund-raiser." When Bell was in Mississippi, he provided legal support to Mississippi schools, colleges, voting rights activists, and Freedom Riders. He also supported James Meredith's attempt to attend
4488-399: Was not until later in 1998, Harvard Law hired a civil rights attorney and U.S. assistant attorney general nominee Lani Guinier , who became the law school's first Black female tenured professor. In March 2012, five months after his death, Bell became the target of conservative media, including Breitbart and Sean Hannity , in an exposé of President Barack Obama . The controversy focused on
4556-571: Was raised a Presbyterian . Bell's maternal grandfather, John Childress, was a blind cook on the Pennsylvania Railroad . His paternal grandfather was a minister in Dothan, Alabama . Bell attended Schenley High School and was the first member of his family to go to college. He was offered a scholarship to Lincoln University but could not attend due to a lack of financial aid, choosing to attend Duquesne University instead. There, he
4624-489: Was to protest the school's failure to grant tenure to two professors on staff, both of whose work promoted CRT. The sit-in was widely supported by students, but divided the faculty, as Harvard administrators claimed the professors were denied tenure for substandard scholarship and teaching. In 1990, Harvard Law School had 60 tenured professors. Three of them were Black men and five were women; none of these women were African-American. Displeased with this dearth of diversity among
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