“Human rights are the foundation for peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.”
-U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Sixty million people died in World War II, more than in any war before. People in war-torn countries lost loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods. Those who survived had to somehow rebuild their lives after years of trauma and loss. After World War II, even in Allied nations who emerged victorious, anxiety about the future and the fear of renewed conflict using nuclear weapons was widespread.
Into this environment, just a few short years after the war ended, the Commission on Human Rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt and under the auspices of the United Nations, began work on a universal declaration of human rights, opens a new window. The Declaration was drafted by Commission members from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Lebanon, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the United Kingdom, and the United States. Women delegates from various countries, opens a new window ensured women’s rights were included in the declaration. It was the first document of its kind and is considered the foundation of international human rights law today. It has been translated into 577 languages, opens a new window, has led to more than 80 international human rights treaties and countless other human rights laws at all levels, including constitutional. Some of those rights (among many others) are:
- That all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. (Article 1, UDHR)
- That everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religions, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status. (Article 2, UDHR)
- Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the security of person. (Article 3, UDHR)
- Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. (Article 6, UDHR)
Out of the ashes of what was considered the most brutal example of man’s inhumanity to man, the United Nations and its member states agreed on what the society of the future should be, and created a document providing a guide to help humanity get there.
Now, over 75 years later, it can sometimes be difficult to envision us reaching that peaceful future society. In today’s world we’re far more likely to hear about all the cruel, hateful things people say, the barbaric acts committed, the move this or that government made to take away yet another fundamental human right. Watching the news, a person could be excused for thinking there’s a significant lack of kindness and compassion in humanity today. It’s easy for us to feel helpless, to think there's nothing to be done.
But there is something we can do. There are actions we can take that will help humanity get closer to that just, inclusive, peaceful future.
We can believe in and act in accordance with the most basic rights to which all human beings are entitled, those rights that are foundational to documents like the UDHR.
We can understand that no matter how different people may seem, humans all share the same basic needs such as food, safety, love, and respect. We can also seek out common ground with our fellow humans. We can make efforts to meet new people, especially those different from us. We can see people as individuals. We can be aware of our unconscious bias, and compassionately bring attention to it when we see it in others.
We can learn about what we fear, instead of hating it. Libraries are a great place to learn about different people, cultures, and ways of living that are unfamiliar to us or that we find confusing. For example, if we want to understand more about immigration at our southern border and how we got to where we are now, the book "Whose America?" reviews the history of immigration laws and attitudes from 1980 onward. A more personal story can be found in "My Boy Will Die of Sorrow" which provides primary perspectives of parents separated from their children at the border.
We can affirm that every human being, regardless of background or characteristics, possesses inherent dignity, deserves respect, and should not be treated as less than human based on arbitrary factors. Timberland Regional Library strongly supports this right by upholding intellectual freedom and the right to read, ensuring that "Everyone's Story Belongs in the Library." The action of “othering”, the us versus them mentality, does not move us toward a more just future. Humans are hard-wired to be tribal, so this work takes extra effort. People who believe differently, who have different politics, even those who act in ways we never would are all still fundamentally human beings with the same rights we have. Condemn actions, but don’t “other” people. The booklist below offers a selection of titles that can provide insight and first steps for doing this work.
A collection of titles about how to create a more inclusive, just, kind, and compassionate future.
Finally, we can recognize that all humans, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, or social status have the same moral value. The religious and the atheists. The transgendered and cisgendered. The LGBTQ+ and the straight. Women and men and those who are non-binary. Those who serve in the military and those who are pacifists. Progressives and moderates and conservatives. We can treat all people we encounter with kindness and compassion and we can assume best intentions. We can listen and counter arguments and express different opinions, passionately, but without hate in our hearts. Hate will not get us to that just, inclusive, peaceful future. Neither will fear.
Kindness, compassion, and justice will.
“We shall overcome, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. From “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” Speech at the National Cathedral, March 31, 1968.
