Clovis North student is the county schools essay winner in contest honoring MLK

Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Michele Cantwell-Copher just concluded the 2024 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. educational contest. Schoolchildren from elementary to high schools countywide took part in art, essay and speech contests under a theme King once enunciated: “Where do we go from here?”

Winners in all contests were celebrated at an exhibition and awards ceremony that was held at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building on Thursday.

The Bee is pleased to present this year’s winning essay in the high school division, written by Marian Pineda of Clovis North. It has been lightly edited.

— Tad Weber, Bee opinion editor

Civil rights and women

“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”

In the movie, “Little Women,” Jo March beautifully expresses the pressure and discrimination she faces as a woman. Women, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans are just a few of the groups that have been discriminated against in American history. Throughout time, discrimination slowly diminished, but it never really ended.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had a substantial effect on American society; it empowered people and gave human rights to many groups, including women. However, women still face prejudice in daily life, which can be fought against with unified effort.

The Civil Rights Act is a significant civil rights victory that promotes equality in many ways. For instance, Title II of the act prohibits segregation and refusal from services on the ground of race, color, religion or national origin. The section discourages discrimination by encouraging equality and banning separation by origin. This aspect of the act focuses on giving people of different races, colors, religions, and origins the civil rights they deserve.

Furthermore, not only does the bill address discrimination against origin, it was also a step towards gender equality. Title VII of the act prohibits unfair pay, terms, conditions, and privileges at work based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In addition, the act also promotes equality for women and men. This was a necessary step at the time, for women’s suffrage had been in play, fighting for women’s rights since the mid-19th century.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a powerful and necessary act that addresses and prevents discrimination against not only races but also against women. Though focused on race, color, and origin, the act had a great influence on the women’s movement for gender equality.

This effort was recognized as women later gained rights and better job opportunities. Originally, the act focused on prohibiting discrimination against race, religion, color, and national origin; discrimination based on sex was not initially proposed. The National Organization of Women wrote a letter to President Johnson, expressing disdain for omitting women’s rights in Title VII, Equal Employment Opportunity, and arguing that women’s rights are not any less significant than the other groups’ rights: “Our greatest concern today is that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should be able and willing to fulfill its legal mandate to enforce the prohibitions against discrimination in employment based upon sex … we believe the Commission is hampered by … a reluctance among some of its male members to combat sex discrimination as vigorously as they seek to combat racial discrimination.”

The act was not intended to have a direct effect on women’s rights, but the exclusion of their rights drove the women to take action. The women of NOW did not succumb to the omission of their rights; in fact, the omission was an impetus for women to fight even more.

In addition, the Civil Rights Act also had a direct effect on expanding women’s rights by allowing them more job opportunities, especially after NOW’s request to President Johnson. Title VII forbids unfair refusal and reference for employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. After speaking out and protesting for equal rights, the rights were granted, as sex was addressed in prevention of unfair employment. The Civil Rights Act encouraged women to fight for their rights, which ultimately led to their gaining of these rights.

Since the beginning of civilization, women have been considered inferior to men. Inspiring figures helped diminish this misconception, as women climbed up the social ladder from housewives to powerful leaders. Today, women have equal rights, but they still face sexism in society that must be addressed. Women experience violence, issues with the gender pay gap, and disrespect. Taking action to reduce these issues would serve women better in the present and future, as well as honor influential women of the past.

Violence is one of the most common issues that women face today. The UN Women organization describes a number of examples of violence that women experience. Technology, climate change, and COVID-19 are some things that feed into the contagion of violence against women.

Women online also receive misogynistic hate with impossible standards for what a woman should be, which can affect a person physiologically. Other forms of violence that are prevalent include femicide, domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking.

In addition, only about 40% of women who experience violence reach out for help. All of these types of violence are incredibly inhumane and traumatic for the victims. Being a woman in itself is a risk for being victimized by violence and silenced by a historically misogynistic society.

The gender pay gap is also a problem. For example, female basketball players are paid less than male basketball players even though they have the same job. It is objectively unfair for gender, not the amount of work, to determine a salary.

There are other examples of this pay gap between men and women, as women often go unrecognized for their work. The pay gap in basketball is caused by the interest of men more than women in society. The root of this is the prohibition of women’s sports in history. Then is also the disrespect women face in daily life. Women receive blatant disrespect driven by sexism that can sometimes cross the line into harassment.

The majority of women have experienced gender discrimination and being underestimated merely for being a woman. Disrespect also comes from misinformation, such as menstruation being perceived as unsanitary and something shameful.

To prevent violence against women, many countries have passed laws on domestic violence and sexual harassment. However, sometimes these laws are not as effective as they could be. Women can be better protected by governments enforcing laws against violence more rigorously, especially in countries experiencing war or natural disasters. Protests by civilians can catch a government’s attention.

Some pay gaps and types of disrespect can be controlled by educating people about misinformation. For example, if more people know about women’s basketball, more people will be interested; therefore, the female players will be paid higher, eventually as equally as men.

The pay gap may also be addressed with an act such as the Equal Employment Opportunity, emphasizing equal wages for men and women. Also, disrespect due to misinformation, such as the myth that menstruation is unclean, can be reduced by educating people about menstruation being natural. Normalizing imperfect women will also release pressure placed by the media. Education can be online or local actions can be taken to educate a community.

Through many civil rights victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the light of equality has risen above the gloomy clouds of discrimination. The effect of this act was empowerment and rights given to women; respect is still being fought for by women today, in hope for true equality and justice.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 encourages equality for all races, religions, origins, and genders. It also acted as a stimulus for even more action to be taken against sexism. Inequality between genders has dwindled since the beginning of time, but there is always room for improvement.

Problems women face today, such as violence, the gender pay gap, and disrespect, can be combated with active governments and widespread education. Working towards the common goal of equality perpetuates the legacies of the greatest heroes in history for a brighter future for humanity.

Middle school division winner: Natasha Drigpal, Kastner Intermediate

Elementary division winner: Blake McLaskey, Fort Washington