Human Rights

Over the last two weeks we have seen cruelty directed at some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.  Somewhere in the future people will look back at the pictures of men shackled in chain gangs, doubled over with heads shaved, and rank it with those of the early days of the holocaust, where elder Jewish men and women were forced to clean streets, while being publicly humiliated. Such images capture the depravity of power, the powerlessness of onlookers. They are the early warning signs of brutalities to come.

These images have been joined by those of young students abducted illegally, without any sense of due process or care for their dignity. They are imprisoned, cut off from family and legal counsel. They have been targeted because they have spoken out against war, against violence, against the dehumanization of people. At this writing at least eight international students and professors have been identified for deportation. The State Department acknowledges that it has revoked the visa of at least 300 people who are studying at universities across the country.

These abductions and the harsh treatment of individuals by the Trump minions should come as no surprise. Trump vilifies people who have immigrated here, fueling fear that is the basis of all such humiliation. And he was abundantly clear during his campaign that he intended to crush student demonstrations that are pro-Palestinian. He was explicit in pledging he would deport all those who speak up and organize for a just peace.

Legal challenges are being raised by civil rights groups, constitutional lawyers, families, and supporters. These challenges raise fundamental questions of human society: the right to think and speak freely, the right of all human beings to dignity and to be safe in their body and personal integrity, and the right to join with others to advance ideas in opposition to those in power and authority.

The Trump administration has shown no respect for any of these fundamental rights, nor does it seem inclined to respect the orders of judges and courts.

The resistance sparked by these actions will grow. Along with demonstrations and gatherings on campuses, individuals and organizations are coming forward to demand that people be restored to their families and their work here in the US.  We all need to contribute what we can, where we are to this resistance.

Whether it is text messaging about dropping bombs, forcing young men into handcuffs and chains, or grabbing students off the streets, the disregard for human dignity is essential to fascist functioning. 

In these times we can draw strength from how most of the people on earth reacted to earlier fascist devastation. At the end of World War II, appalled by the brutality of fascism, the United Nations crafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Preamble sets out values to guide us.

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Defending freedom of conscience, the right to lives of freedom and to governments of laws, this document reminds us we can do better collectively.  It helps us think beyond narrow questions of citizenship to larger issues of the fundamental dignity of all people. Fear and force are not the values that frame our futures. We have the power to organize ourselves on values that express our best and deepest aspirations.