American Citizenship and Gender
The issue of American citizenship in America cannot be discussed without mentioning gender, which has played a significant role all through history. US citizenship has been evolving and can be tracked through the development of the legal service. Gender has significantly affected what would be considered as the rights of an American citizen.
A case of Jewish man said to have murdered a young lady is a story that remains to be told in American history when citizenship is mentioned. The central theme of the story is built on the impacts of racism on the enjoyment of the rights of American citizenship (Fischer, 2018). Frank Leo was convicted on murder based purely on a witness’s evidence that did not have any tangible evidence. However, the fact that Leo was a Jew made things difficult for him, and no one would listen to his side of the story. The masses seemed to have control throughout the action to be taken when the crime was committed since Frank was hanged despite being sentenced to a life sentence. The case of Frank does not, however, rely on racism as the only theme. Gender appears to have contributed immensely on the fate of Frank Leo even with the race being an issue of contention. The fact that Frank Leo was a man took away any compassion that the public would have had with the suspected offender. The issue of gender was combined with the claim that he was also a man and was supposed to have respected the female gender. The case seemed to bring some male-female crisis with Frank appearing to be judged because he was a male Jew who had no respect for non-Jew females in the past. The case appears to have taken the twist that it took because the society believed that Frank had used his conviction as a man to murder a lady who she thought was inferior and powerless.
The belief that females are endangered and should be given special treatment has significantly affected the evolution of American citizenship. First, the setting of the law appears to be slowly turning genders against each other (Grinberg, 2018). Although Frank was not the real murderer, the real murderer was a man. Therefore, men appear to be killing women under the claim that the law is over-protective when it came to women. The issue of over-protection comes in when Frank is prosecuted based on a past that is said to be littered with cases of preying on non-Jewish ladies. Under normal circumstances, the term preying would be harsh for a man who makes friends with females and should not be used in the course of administering justice. The conviction of Frank Leo, based on the history of preying on non-Jewish ladies, gives a picture of a judicial system that protects one gender over the other. Generally, American citizenship appears to be good news to the females but a nightmare for the males who would have difficulties controlling their desires for women.
In sum, the case of Leo Frank is not purely decided under the influence of influence since gender plays a significant role in the final ruling. The fact that Frank Leo was a Jew was made worse by the fact that he was also male. American civil rights appear to give more protection to women over men.
References
Fischer, K. P. (2018). Kristoff Kerl. Männlichkeit und moderner Antisemitismus: Eine Genealogie des Leo Frank-Case, 1860er–1920er Jahre.
Grinberg, R. A. (2018). Masculinity and the Making of American Judaism by Sarah Imhoff. American Jewish History, 102(3), 448-450.