Civil rights are granted by the government to prevent discrimination based on specific attributes like gender or age, while civil liberties are fundamental rights granted to all citizens by a country’s constitution, such as freedom of speech or religion. Civil rights are fought for by groups seeking equal treatment, while civil liberties refer to the actual freedoms people wish to enjoy.
The difference between civil rights and civil liberties is quite well defined and distinct based on how each term is used. Civil rights are rights granted and protected by a government for its people to ensure fairness and prevent discrimination in relation to a particular attribute of its people, such as gender or age. On the other hand, civil liberties are fundamental rights generally granted to all people in a country by that country’s constitution or other founding document and are extended to all citizens without further specificity, such as freedom of speech or religion in the States United.
While the terms may seem somewhat interchangeable or similar in nature, there are clear differences between each term. They are often used together when discussing a particularly complicated issue. Civil rights and civil liberties are both legal matters and may require the efforts of courts, legislators and lawyers to define and protect these freedoms. In general, they can be more easily distinguished considering that civil rights are usually fought for by various groups within a population, while civil liberties are about the actual rights that people are fighting to secure.
Civil rights are generally those rights sought by individuals in a country or community who are treated unfairly in some particular way. In US history, for example, there are numerous examples of struggles by various groups to ensure equal treatment and protection under the law in order to guarantee all people their civil rights. Various ethnic minorities, women and people with disabilities have struggled to ensure equal treatment from employers, government and educational institutions. While civil rights and civil liberties are somewhat similar, if a woman is paid less than a man simply because of her gender or someone is barred from promotion because of their ethnicity, then it would be a civil rights issue.
Where the two often differ is in how these various freedoms are expressed. Civil rights are often about how people are treated by others, while civil liberties refer to the actual freedoms people wish to enjoy. In the United States, for example, freedom of expression, the right to vote, and the right to a speedy and fair trial are considered civil liberties. When someone of a particular gender or ethnicity had to fight for one of these civil liberties, such as the right to vote, then it was considered a civil rights issue.
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