Human Rights Quote (82): African Americans

(source)
President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the nomination of an African-American to be [...]

Human Rights Quote (81): Equal Adoption Rights for Gays and Lesbians

(source)
While for some Americans religious beliefs remain an obstacle to their support of marriage rights for gays and lesbians, many of those same Americans have a tough time reconciling their religious conviction and compassion with the idea that a child may remain homeless in spite of the fact that a loving home exists in which [...]

Human Rights Quote (80): Impunity

(source)
I deeply hope that the horrors humanity has suffered during the 20th century will serve us as a painful lesson, and that the creation of the International Criminal Court will help us to prevent those atrocities from being repeated in the future. Statement made by Luis Moreno-Ocampo on the occasion of his election as first [...]

Human Rights Quote (77): Civil Disobedience

(source: http://www.freewebs.com/phamho/literature.html)
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil disobedience is a dangerous thing. Laws are [...]

Human Rights Quote (76): Prerequisites for Democracy

(source: http://www.democraticunderground.com/)
There are numerous examples of countries which do not meet a number of supposed cultural “preconditions” for democracy, and which nonetheless have managed to achieve a surprisingly high level of democratic stability. The chief example of this is India, which is neither rich and highly industrialized nor nationally integrated, nor Protestant, and which nonetheless [...]

Human Rights Quote (75): Real and Normative Universality of Human Rights

No doubt the commitment of many countries to human rights is less than authentic and whole-hearted. Yet, the fact of the commitment, that it is enshrined in a constitution, and that it is confirmed in an international instrument are not to be dismissed lightly. Even hypocrisy may sometimes deserve one cheer for it confirms the [...]

Human Rights Quote (74): Democracy or Experts?

The proper judge of the expert is not another expert, but the user: The warrior and not the blacksmith for the sword, the horseman and not the saddler for the saddle. And evidently, for all public (common) affairs, the user, and thus the best judge, is the polis. Cornelius Castoriadis
The best method of choice is [...]

Human Rights Quote (73): Equality of Opportunity

(source: http://www.al3x.net/)
Those who are at the same level of talent and ability, and have the same willingness to use them, should have the same prospects of success regardless of their initial place in the social system. In all sectors of society there should be roughly equal prospects of culture and achievement for everyone similarly motivated [...]

Human Rights Quote (72): Gender Discrimination

The inequality of the sexes has deprived society of a vast pool of talent. If women had the free use of their faculties along with the same prizes and encouragements as men, there would be a doubling of the mass of mental faculties available for the higher service of humanity. Every restraint on freedom of [...]

Human Rights Quote (71): Democratic Peace

“In an increasingly interdependent world, Americans have a growing stake in how countries govern, or misgovern, themselves. The larger and more close-knit the community of nations that choose democratic forms of government, the safer and more prosperous Americans will be, since democracies are demonstrably more likely to maintain their international commitments, less likely to engage [...]