The Next Civil Rights Movement

Over the past half century, Americans have fought and argued historic battles over the civil rights of African Americans and the LGBT community. To stop government from codifying personal prejudice into civil law, we marched, battled and bled through progressions of violent protests, generational combat across our dinner tables, protracted court cases and emotional elections.

While civil rights battles continue, the outcomes of these wars are decided. Any list of the 10 most popular people in America might include: Barack and Michelle Obama; Oprah Winfrey; Colin Powell; Michael Jordan; Denzel Washington; Magic Johnson; Beyoncé; Tiger Woods; and, Muhammad Ali. While race-based discrimination continues in American hearts, law and majority opinion solidly condemn it. Jim Crow is on life support.

The civil rights of the LGBT community are solidly endorsed by America’s youth and increasingly validated by our Courts. The Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Clinton in 1996, receives the same levels of ridicule and scorn previously reserved for Plessey v Ferguson. Five words from Pope Francis, “who am I to judge?” signaled a global religious reassessment of homosexuality. The days are clearly numbered for politicians who believe anti-Gay campaigns are winning strategies.

If these two struggles are decided, what is next for the Civil Rights movement? What is the next class of people who will reject today’s social paradigm and force another national re-examination of civil rights in America?

Within 5 years, certainly no more than 10 years from now, the civil rights of Undocumented Immigrants will rise to similar levels of partisan and protracted political combat. Undocumented Immigrants will cease to accept second-class status and insist on equal rights under the Constitution. They will force a civil rights struggle over the meaning of citizenship in America and its value in a globalized world.

The Department of Homeland Security lists specific “Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities” on its website (http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/citizenship-rights-and-responsibilities)

Rights

Responsibilities

1.  Right to vote in elections. 2.  Right to run for elected office. 3.  Right to apply for federal jobs requiring U.S. citizenship. 4.  Freedom to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 5.  Freedom to express yourself. 6.  Freedom to worship as you wish. 7.  Right to a prompt, fair trial by jury.

1. Defend the country if the need should arise 2. Serve on a jury when called upon. 3. Support and defend the Constitution. 4. Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws. 5. Pay income and other taxes honestly and on time. 6. Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others. 7. Stay informed of issues affecting your community. 8. Participate in the democratic process. 9. Participate in your local community.

The “Responsibilities” of US citizenship are very light. Of the “Responsibilities,” current citizens routinely ignore numbers 7, 8 and 9. Numbers 4, 5 and 6 apply to anyone within US borders, citizen or noncitizen. Number 3 (Support and defend the Constitution) is more aspirational than actionable. That leaves us with national defense and jury duty. With no draft in an era in warfare when conscript armies are ineffective, the national defense responsibility is more theoretical than real.

Jury Duty remains as the sole concrete responsibility of citizenship. Is that sufficient grounds for discriminating against non-citizens? As an aside, California Governor Gerry Brown vetoed a 2013 bill that passed both house of the legislature to allow Green Card holders to serve on California juries. Even the bind between jury duty and citizenship is fraying.

The “Rights” of US citizenship are almost as light. Of the “Rights” listed above, numbers 4 through 7 are basic human rights. Number 3 is self-fulfilling (you must be a citizen to get a job that requires you to be a citizen). The most exclusive rights of US citizenship are the right to vote and to hold office. I doubt Undocumented Immigrants would argue these exclusions. All the other rights are shared by all humans, including inalienable rights endowed by our Creator. They are not unique to US citizenship.

For decades, while America had de jure prohibitions against illegal immigration, we extended de facto invitations to millions of people to cross our borders any way they could. Jobs were plentiful. Fences nonexistent by design. Hundreds of thousands (possible millions) of Americans hired Undocumented Immigrants without penalty. Undocumented Immigrants performed work that no one else wanted in the service, construction and agricultural sectors. They obeyed laws, started families, bought houses, started businesses and paid taxes. Some served in uniform. All the while Undocumented Immigrants remained vulnerable to exploitation. They endured unpaid wages, dangerous working conditions, uncompensated injuries and threats of exposure. These vulnerabilities continue to this day.

What will happen when Undocumented Immigrants take to the streets in violent protests over their lack of civil protections and their vulnerability to exploitation and deportation? If history proves a guide, authorities will crack down, meeting violence with violence. Politicians will either fail to act or will join the crackdown. Undocumented Immigrants will then take their cases to Court. After a series of successes and failures, judicial decrees will eventually trigger a reappraisal of American values over immigration and citizenship.

It’s entirely possible that this scenario will not play out. History may not repeat itself.  Problems posed by Undocumented Immigrants may simply “go away.” However, if history does repeat itself, Congress will refuse to act, forcing Courts to address a basic injustice. Congress will then criticize “activist judges” for stepping into the vacuum. As in the 1954 Brown decision, the Courts will dictate a leadership path that politicians will undercut for temporary political advantage.

A better course would be to place a short and specific proposal on the political table that extends basic civil protections to Undocumented Immigrants in America. We would debate and modify this proposal until a consensus forms. Our overall purpose is to get ahead of a possible civil rights struggle before it turns violent.

Future blogs will outline one possible path. Suggestions are welcome.