EthnicNewz.org first published this commentary on Feb. 24. 2008.

At the entrance to Boston's South End Technology Center [1], of which I am director, we have placed a poster of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all to see.

Especially during Black History Month in February, attention turns to human-rights struggles.

For me, the United Nations Declaration is a reminder of the long history of such struggles, dating back to the 1215 signing of the Magna Carta in England.

This document established a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges with liberty for all.

The writers of this nation's Declaration of Independence drew on these fundamental rights in their liberation movement from England. Unfortunately, while drawing on values that would bring out the best in them, their love of power brought out the beast in them. Liberation for them led to genocide of large segments of the indigenous population and the taking of land based on a westward-bound ideology of white supremacy called "Manifest Destiny," with the nation's economy built on slave labor.

In time, workers gained their right to a living wage, women won the right to vote, and the civil-rights movement led to the end of legal racial segregation - thanks to civil disobedience, the suffrage movement, victories in the courts, and the passage of labor and civil-rights laws.

Key to these changes was how groups based their actions on recognizing their self-worth, thus demanding that their rights be recognized and that they be treated accordingly.

So what is the significance of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights at this time in our struggle?

First is the issue of national sovereignty: During the height of the civil-rights struggle in the 1960s, when civil-rights leaders asked African leaders to support the civil-rights struggles in the United States, the Africans responded they could not interfere in the "civil-rights" laws of a sovereign nation. They indicated, however, they could address examples of "human-rights" violations which have universal implications in keeping with the United Nations Declaration.

Second is the issue of what kind of world we want equal rights in. Author Vincent Harding, in "There is a River," says "our destination has always been for a new and transformed humanity."

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the underpinnings of a new and transformed humanity. It mandates a society based on the power of love which would bring out the best – rather than the beast – in us, welcoming all the tribes and sharing the gifts of creation.

Third, is the matter of ending the struggle still before us.

It is long past time for the United States to attend to unfinished business. We must seek leadership for a movement to get our people and our government to sign and implement the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Source: EthnicNewz.org

Read the United Nations Universal Declararation of Human Rights [2] in these languages:

Arabic [3]
Chinese [4]
Creole [5] (Haitian)
Khmer [6]
Korean [7]
Polish [8]
Portuguese [9]
Spanish [10]
Vietnamese [11]

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the source. Contact Newz for more information.

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