Posted on July 18, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
(copyright Monte Wolverton)
Slavery was officially abolished worldwide at the 1927 Slavery Convention. Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”.
Slavery is illegal everywhere and yet it still exists everywhere. Experts estimate that today [...]
Filed under: human rights cartoon | Tagged: bonded labor, cartoon, child labor, china, debt, debt bondage, forced labor, migration, modern slavery, politics, poverty, prostitution, racism, saudi arabia, sex trafficking, slavery, trafficking, work | No Comments »
Posted on July 18, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
The Slave’s Lament, Robert Burns
It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthrall
For the lands of Virginia-ginia O;
Torn from that lovely shore, and must never see it more,
And alas! I am weary, weary O!
Torn from &c.
All on that charming coast is no bitter snow and frost,
Like the lands of Virginia-ginia O;
There streams for [...]
Filed under: human rights poem | Tagged: poem, poetry, slavery, africa | No Comments »
Posted on July 3, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Here’s a small catalogue of examples of dehumanization, of the ways in which humans try to exclude others from humanity, to deny them equality, to ridicule them, to render them objects in their plan, instruments for their advancement or pleasure. It ranges from the harmless national stereotypes and political humor, to the incitement of genocide. [...]
Filed under: comedy, human rights facts | Tagged: abu ghraib, african americans, arab, bin laden, bush, comedy, dehumanization, exclusion, genocide, humanity, jew, muslim, nazi, politics, racism, rwanda, slavery | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 24, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Posted on June 24, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (two excerpts, abbreviated)
1. Two brothers debate the possible slave revolt in the South after witnessing the young Henrique beat the slave Dodo:
” ‘All men are born free and equal!’ Poh! one of Tom Jefferson’s pieces of French sentiment and humbug. It’s perfectly ridiculous to have that going the [...]
Filed under: human rights, human rights story | Tagged: equality, slavery, revolution, revolt | No Comments »
Posted on May 28, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the main human rights treaty, creates the possibility for states to declare a so-called “state of emergency“, a temporary suspension of mechanisms for the protection of some human rights when this is required by a national crisis:
1. In time of public emergency which threatens the [...]
Filed under: democracy, human rights, human rights facts | Tagged: slavery, torture, war, war on terrorism, civil war, state of emergency, nazi, germany | No Comments »
Posted on May 25, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
1. Ancient Greece
Democracy is a Greek invention, created by some of the ancient Greek city states, in particular Athens. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy. Citizens - not including women, children, slaves, resident foreigners, i.e. the majority of the population - gathered together to discuss and decide on the policies of the state. Within this [...]
Filed under: democracy | Tagged: ancient greek democracy, athens, bourgeoisie, democracy, direct democracy, franchise, history of democracy, no taxation without representation, parliament, slavery, states-general, taxation, universal suffrage | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 11, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the dark fens of the Dismal Swamp
The hunted negro lay;
He saw the fire of the midnight
camp,
And heard at times a horse’s trams
and a bloodhound’s distant bay.
Where will-o’-the wisps and glowworms
shine,
In Bulrush and in brake;
Where waving mosses shroud the
pine,
and the cedar grows, and the poisenous
vine,
Is spotted like the [...]
Filed under: human rights, human rights poem | Tagged: african americans, poem, poetry, slavery | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 6, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
“The poor are getting poorer, but with the rich getting richer it all averages out in the long run.”
(Copyright: Joseph Mirachi)
Private property does not have a good press. It’s unequal distribution has often been criticized, also on this blog. However, there is a recognized human right to private property (or, more specifically, the right to [...]
Filed under: human rights, human rights cartoon | Tagged: autonomy, cartoon, communism, privacy, private, property, slavery, torture | 5 Comments »
Posted on April 3, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. Abraham Lincoln
Fortunately, few people do, these days. Thanks in part to Abe. But although almost no-one argues for slavery, slavery still exists. Outright slavery, but also “grey slavery”, people officially receiving a wage and officially having [...]
Filed under: human rights, human rights quote | Tagged: politics, property, quote, slavery | 1 Comment »