By John van Bladel
“To deny people their human rights, is to challenge their very humanity.”
-Nelson Mandela
While at an Amnesty International meeting I attended a workshop on Human Rights in Education. The room was packed with people from all walks of life: students, educators, survivors of human rights violations, and the general public. The facilitator began by asking a seemingly simple question: “What’s a Human Right?” A lively discussion ensued as we struggled to develop a definition. Numerous perspectives emerged and we agreed on some basic tenets including the need for raising awareness about the topic by placing greater emphasis on it in our educational systems.
A good starting point is the U.S. Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution. They invite wide variations in interpretation as we have seen repeatedly throughout our history. How do we interpret these Amendments in an ever changing world? In the U.S and globally there has been gradual movement towards greater equality. The Caste System in India and Apartheid in South Africa ended. In the U.S the Civil Rights Movement fostered many changes. The general consensus is people should be treated equally. This is theory and often not praxis. As an example, the #MeToo movement helped bring awareness to the sexual harassment and assault so many, primarily women, have experienced. This type of institutionalized discrimination remains part of our culture. We often support unequal treatment of people or groups, consciously or unconsciously, that we see as different from us. Unequal treatment is frequently based on race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, or religion. Is this acceptable? What are the consequences of supporting unequal treatment?
Another important document is the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed on December 10, 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is composed of 30 Articles, several of which are similar to the Amendments in the United States Bill of Rights, and provides fundamental human rights to be applied universally to all the world’s peoples. This is a more detailed article than the United States Bill of Rights and worth reading. Knowledge of these two documents provides a solid base for starting a dialogue about human rights. And don’t neglect Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s proposed Second Bill of Rights. It will add another dimension to the discussion.
So what can we agree upon when it comes to human rights? Most people agree clean water and air are a right. Life, liberty, and security sound good but try to define and agree upon what they mean. The right to equal pay for men and women? Affordable education? Employment that pays enough to own a home? Health insurance? The right to bear arms? Freedom of speech? Social Security? If we can define these concepts then we can begin an informed discussion, free of rhetoric, in an attempt to understand the political, economic, social, ideological, and ethical factors that influence our perception of human rights. Then comes the hard part, to feel what human rights are. To look into the eyes of the homeless, perhaps a family who fled a country with only what they could carry to avoid being killed because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. To sit in a doctor’s office and experience what it is like to be without health care coverage while facing a devastating illness. To read or watch the numerous media outlets detail the death and suffering in Yemen where some have seen fit to deny people the basic right to life. Human rights are not just words written on a paper. They are the daily, collective experience of all of us.