Civil rights are the rights of a citizen, as opposed to -human rights- which are the rights of all human beings.
Civil rights include things like the right to vote, equality under the law, the right to go to public school, to use roads, bridges and other public infrastructure and facilities, the right to police and fire protection, the right to be left alone in your house, the right to apply for any job and get it if you're the best applicant, the right not to be hassled because of your gender, religion, accent, sexuality, national origin, the right to walk in any neighborhood, shop at any store, the right to get a passport, etc. Etc. If you are accused of a crime you have the right to refuse to incriminate yourself, the right to refuse warrantless searches, the right of a speedy, public, fair trial, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, etc. Etc.
The US was founded as an expressly -democratic- country. That means we don't have classes of citizenship. ALL citizens have exactly the same rights, the rights of citizenship.
The term civil rights implies all the prerogatives, privileges, rights and facilities that a citizen of a country is entitled to or in a more global context it can be said to be the prerogative of all sentient beings that make up the global community. Generally, those rights include access to higher education, a reasonable amount of nutrition to sustain life, employment and benefits, the right to free speech, welfare in case of disability and old age, the right to medical facilities, housing and shelter, etc.
