y people allowed to vote for the Constitution were white male property owners (Bardes 50).
             This very basic, flagrant discrimination continued for a very long time indeed. As the nation grew, the people began to remove some of these barriers to equality. First, the nation adopted a Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, and later amendments gave former slaves and eventually women the right to vote. These amendments did not, however, eliminate discrimination. It was not until the Civil Rights Movement of the late 50's and early 60's that the nation began to deal with discrimination substantive ways. Congress began seriously addressing discrimination by passing the Civil Rights Act in 1964, prohibiting employment discrimination against individuals based on their race, creed, color, gender, or national origin ("Nondiscrimination" 260). Over the next ten years, Congress added the aged and the disabled to the Civil Rights Act; They also added housing, private employment, and public and private education to the areas of discrimination prohibited ("Nondiscrimin!
             To simply say that the discrimination these policies sought to assuage has been unfair would be an understatement. These people have had their rights trampled on for a very long time and for reasons over which they had no control. To be targeted for discrimination because of something as innate as race, color, or gender must have been a terrible burden. Fortunately, the people of the United States have decided within the last few decades that these discrimination practices must end. Unfortunately, however, not everyone feels the same regarding discrimination. Laws protecting at risk groups are still, and probably always will be, necessary.
             There is a relatively new cry for help against discrimination now in our society. Homosexuals have become increasingly vocal over the last thirty years, and since the AIDS crisis began in the ea...