Human Right Violations in the U.S.

Many people are affected by the U.S. legal system in a negative way because hundreds of
thousands of people have their rights violated in one way or the other. If you are a person of
color you have less rights than any other Caucasian person. Although, legally, this is untrue.
America prides itself on giving everybody equal opportunity. Of course, that only means if
youre the stereotypical white male. If youre a women, youre treated with less respect. If youre
colored skinned, youre treated like youve committed a crime. If you wear a turban, youre
treated with mistrust and with the mindset that youre a terrorist.
Every day people are treated with sexism and racism. No matter how much people try to
hide it, or cover it up, its plain to see. On Wednesday, August 5th, 2014, an incident began in
Beavercreek, Ohio in Walmart where a 22-year-old John Crawford III was shot by police.
Crawford had picked up an air rifle in the store and aimlessly fiddled with it as he spoke on the
cell phone with his girlfriend. What he didnt know, however, is that police officers were on the
scene after receiving a call from a man who dialed 9-1-1 and told them that a black man was
waving a gun and pointing it at children. The security video that was revealed clearly showed
that he was doing no such thing. He never aimed it at any children, and it was clearly an airsoft
gun. He was unaware that the police were there as he chatted on the phone with his girlfriend.
The police gave him no time at all to drop the rifle before they open fired at unsuspecting
Crawford. His last words, heard by his girlfriend, were Its not real!
Teachers are often unaware of the gender distribution of talk in their classrooms. They usually
consider that they give equal amounts of attention to girls and boys, and it is only when they
make a tape recording that they realize that boys are dominating the interactions. Dale Spender,
an Australian feminist who has been a strong advocate of female rights in this area, noted that

teachers who tried to restore the balance by deliberately favouring the girls were astounded to
find that despite their efforts they continued to devote more time to the boys in their classrooms.
Another study reported that a male science teacher who managed to create an atmosphere in
which girls and boys contributed more equally to discussion felt that he was devoting 90 per cent
of his attention to the girls. And so did his male pupils. They complained vociferously that the
girls were getting too much talking time.
In other public contexts, too, such as seminars and debates, when women and men are
deliberately given an equal amount of the highly valued talking time, there is often a perception
that they are getting more than their fair share. Dale Spender explains this as follows:
The talkativeness of women has been gauged in comparison not with men but with silence.
Women have not been judged on the grounds of whether they talk more than men, but of whether
they talk more than silent women.
In other words, if women talk at all, this may be perceived as too much by men who expect
them to provide a silent, decorative background in many social contexts.
Another thing, this one about Feminism, Emma Watson on March 31, 2014 made a
speech which encouraged men to embrace feminism and support a new campaign called
HeForShe. Afterwards, she was greeted with cruel criticism from the male audiences. It seems
that most men have the misconception that feminism is a hate movement against men. But
Holtom writes "Feminism is not about man-hating or female supremacy," he writes. He goes on
to encourage everyone to make an active effort in changing their language and stop "pressuring
each other to fit stereotypes. It seems that Holtom, a 15 year-old boy in the UK, as received
quite a lot of feedback concerning this. Most are actually positive, which is a nice change

compared to the burning words people have been slinging towards Ms. Watson. Are people
listening to this boy over Emma simply because hes a boy and not a girl? We dont know. All
we know is that this young boy is sticking up for the right thing and that its finally drawing a
fraction of the attention it deserves on this topic.

15-Year-Old Boy Makes a Poignant Case for Emma Watson's UN Speech. mashable.com,
29 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2014/09/29/
ed-holtom-emma-watson-un-speech/?utm_cid=mash-com-tu-quote>.

Do You Speak American? pbs.org, 2005. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/

speak/speech/prejudice/women/>.

WHY DID A BLACK MAN GET GUNNED DOWN IN WALMART FOR CARRYING AN
UNLOADED AIR
RIFLE? vice.com, 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.vice.com/read/
why-did-a-black-man-get-gunned-down-in-walmart-for-carrying-an-unloaded-air-rifle
-929?utm_source=vicetumblrus>.