On March 10, CIVICUS, a global human rights watchlist, lowered the United States’ rating, citing limitations to civic freedom nationwide. CIVICUS has a five-tiered ranking system: “open,” being the highest rating, and progressing downwards as “narrowed,” “obstructed,” “repressed” and then “closed.” The United States has lowered from an “open” rating to a “narrowed” ranking, joining the ranks of countries like Australia, Italy and Chile. In CIVICUS’ report, the research tool cited the prosecution of pro-Palestinean protestors, the cut of foreign aid contracts and the elimination of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) government programs.
Donald Trump’s most recent administration has taken serious action, cutting all DEI programs. Donald Trump has gone on record asserting that DEI programs were actually “discriminatory.” Grosse Pointe South, students like Elisabeth Russell ’27 disagree.
“They exist for a reason,” Russell said. “They shouldn’t have to exist in the first place, but they give the underdogs a good chance to get ahead of society.”
Grosse Pointe South social studies teacher Peter Palen finds the lowering in score not all too surprising, recalling that historically, the United States specifically has been fraught with various blockades on civil freedoms, as the country has gone through numerous cultural shifts. Palen finds one historical period vastly more restrictive than the rest.
“World War One is a real low-light in American civil liberty history,” Palen said.
“The Sedition Act made it illegal to speak out against the draft and the government.”
Not just historically, Palen finds that the United States is following suit with the rest of the world in a shedding of civil liberties, and the institution of more restrictive governments.
“Human rights are waning a bit,” Palen said. “You can look to…Turkey, Russia and China…I think the United States is following a bit of a global trend.”
However, Palen finds it exponentially difficult to adequately evaluate the United States now, from more of a historical point-of-view, as the repercussions of history are only seen today.
“It’s hard to examine the Trump administration in real time,” Palen said. “Sometimes you have to be ten years away from current events to examine them from a historical perspective.”
CIVICUS specifically cited an infusion in corporate interest as a definitive pillar in the degradation of American civil liberties. Recently Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner, Jeff Bezos, infringed guidelines on the types of opinion articles that can be published by the Washington Post.
Grosse Pointe South students like Paul Lyke ’25 find that these restrictions are harmful to the very inalienable rights provided in the Constitution.
“[It’s] censorship,” Lyke said. “The press should be able to say as they please.”
Conversely, Palen finds the corporate ownership of news more impactful than a ding to Constitutional rights.
“The Washington Post’s slogan was ‘democracy dies in darkness’,” Palen said. “When an editorial board is given a directive by the owner of a newspaper, that’s dangerous.”
