The New Civil Rights By Kenji Yoshino

1528 Words4 Pages

All human beings are born with genes that are unique to them and make us the individuals we become. The right to exist as an individual in society achieving the best possible potential of one’s existence irrespective of any bias is expected by most humans. In the essay, ‘The new Civil Rights’ Kenji Yoshino discusses how the experience of discovering and revealing his sexual preference as a gay individual has led to him proposing a new civil rights by exploring various paradigms of the rights of a human being to exist in today’s diverse society. In exploring the vast demands of rights ranging from political or basic human rights we have differentiated ourselves into various groups with a common thread weaving through all the demands which …show more content…

To understand how the law affects individuals with respect to civil rights or human rights one must first understand how humans express themselves with respect to their society. The 21st century has seen advances in technology which has led to communication amongst humans to occur on a global level at the speed of light. The Information and Communication Technology advances such as the mobile phone and internet has provided this platform making us more aware of what goes on anywhere in the world. Humans are all part of a small global village which affects how our sense of personal privacy is portrayed and this is being redefined daily. Yoshino, in his essay, quotes D.W Winnicott who is a psycho analyst and suggests that to attain full human potential, the process involves “ finding a way to exist as oneself, and to relate to objects as oneself,”(554 ). He further describes the quest for self-elaboration through the model of D.W Winnicott who posits that in …show more content…

The need to understand each other better and live in harmony is a reality and must be approached using multiple techniques including conversations. We must talk to each other to smooth out or differences and embrace our common attributes. Most conflicts are resolved after some form of dialogue. To stop discrimination or negative stereotyping of individuals or groups of people we should try to embrace conversations which will eventually lead to new laws that can protect the basic human rights of people and allow for people to be true to themselves without having to hide, cover or pretend to be what they are not,.Yoshino suggests using “reason-forcing conversations to address people forced to cover”(557) this conversations should occur informally and intimately in settings such as restaurants and should underscore certain reasons which include illegitimate issues such as homo phobia opining that such discourse are where tolerance can be made or unmade. The laws that govern our society should be dynamic allowing for changes that accommodate our human sensitivity and allow us to live together in better harmony with each other and our

Open Document