å Sunday, February 5th, 2017

1. Introduction

Hi All. My name is Gabrielle and as I mentioned in class I have been a student at CWE since the fall of 2013. My career as the VP of eCommerce at a fashion accessories company keeps me fairly busy, so I am slowly chipping away, taking one or two classes every semester. I am happy to say the end is finally in sight! I expect to graduate either end of Fall ’17 or Spring ’18. My concentration is The Americas and within the context of the Americas I have been working towards focusing on human rights. Some past courses include the Human Rights Forum, History of Human Rights, and International Conflict. I am also hoping to focus in some way on human rights once I move on to graduate school. All of which is why I chose this class. And of course, it now seems to be more timely as ever. I am looking forward to learning alongside all of you.

2. The Evolving Notion of Rights and The Role of Education and The Arts

According to Hunt, two key documents laid the foundation for the Universal Declaration for Human Rights: The Declaration of Independence and The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. While both both can be used in context to the conversation around human rights today, I will be focusing on the Declaration of Independence for the following two reasons. Firstly, Hunt’s overall thesis which states that education and the arts fostered an environment of empathy which in turn helped to lead to the invention of human rights (p. 32), lastly, the idea of who should be included under the umbrella of self-evident rights is ever evolving and eventually shifted from particularistic to universal (p. 117).

Hunt’s thesis that education and the arts fostered an environment which lead to the Declaration of Independence including the notion of rights is particularly interesting given that we are currently in an environment in which both education and the arts are under attack. Those that are educated are considered ‘elitist’, the proposed Education Secretary possess a palatable disdain for public education, and the current proposed federal budget cuts funding for the arts and humanities completely. Given Hunt’s argument that education and the arts leads to an environment in which empathy is fostered and rights are recognized, one must wonder if the attacks on education and the arts we see today is a purposeful attempt to divide the populace in such a way that the concept of rights for all is no longer supported. In an effort to balance the somewhat fatalistic with the hopeful, I turn to the second reason for focusing on the Declaration of Independence, the evolving concept of rights as universal.

When the Declaration of Independence was written, the concept of rights was far from universal. At the time, rights applied to white, property owning men. Eventually, propertyless white men, black men, and women were included. In our own lifetime we have seen rights advance even further to include the gay and lesbian community and conversations around the rights of the transgender community. This must continue to give us hope. While again, movement is slow and may appear to currently be moving backwards, it is important for us to remember how far we have progressed and continue to push society forward. Rights are rarely, if ever, given, they are fought for. Today, we need to fight not only for the further advancement of human rights but to also keep the rights which those who came before us fought so hard for.

Hi class, I’m Destiny Rivera and this is my first semester at CWE, Introducing and describing myself has always been a semi-challenging task for me, which is somewhat ridiculous considering that I should know myself better than anyone else. It’s a pensive question. It’s a question that makes you weigh your personal pros and cons. It’s a debate between deciding whether the answer should be of academic or of personal relevance, whether it’s interesting enough to share or whether some things are better left unsaid. Maybe this is just my perspective on the task because I am indeed a contemplative person. My thoughtful nature contributes to my interest in this class. I want to be educated on why human rights, a topic that is seemingly self-explanatory, is a topic of controversy, of debate.

The label “Founding Father” often refers to someone who contributed to a movement, someone almost revolutionary. Thomas Jefferson is widely known as a Founding Father by the United States of America, considering that he was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence, a document that emphasized that all men were created equal, contributed to the development of the idea that Man is entitled to these non-negotiable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to Lynn Hunt (2007), these ideals and who they actually applied to were not explained enough. This document, a piece that served as a forerunner to the Universal Declaration for Human Rights adopted by the United Nations, is a work of controversy. Though there are a great quantity who idolize Jefferson, appreciative of his seemingly well-intentioned print, there are people who speak volumes against his credibility. The author, Jefferson, did not have enough credibility to make his belief of equality evident through his own reality, considering that he was a slave owner himself.

Jefferson’s hypocrisy, along with others men throughout history who have had the privilege to speak publicly, only adds disbelief to the idea that the rights of man, or human rights, should be evident and obvious. Several years later, after the Declaration of Independence had been published, a committee of forty deputies came up with articles that emphasized not only the rights of man, but of human rights before the law. In 1948, the United Nations adopted these articles as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, human rights can still be argued as clouded by restrictions, whether rights are limited to someone due to their religious practices,  age, disability, and so on. With the recent and popular use of social media, our present generation can view uproars of inhumane acts globally, discrimination in almost every social setting, and injustices under the law.

The United States is guilty, much like many other parts of the world, of turning a blind eye to those in need: the impoverished, the addicts, the old, the young, minorities, immigrants, etc. We’re living in a world where Muslims cannot even converse in their own Arabic or foreign languages without striking fear into the lives of those who are not educated in that language, to those who are prejudice, and to those who are ignorant. We’re living in a world where protests are constantly happening to ensure that everyone is aware that all lives matter, an idea that Jefferson would have ensured was self-evident. Trayvon Martin. Eric Garner. Kendra James. These are the names of people, humans born with human rights, who may never know justice before the law. It seems to me that our Universal Declaration of Human Rights may have more than a few loopholes, where there is confusion between an ideal world and unattainable ideas.

Hello! I’m Allison Fabian, and this is my first semester at CWE. I am returning to school after a few years off to help me move forward in my career. I chose to take “Women’s Rights as Human Rights” for several reasons. I’ve always been interested in human rights and feel strongly that equal human rights are essential to the society I would like to live in. Particularly in the current political climate it’s important to know not just contemporary human right’s issues, but to be able to give them historical context. Yes, I am looking to improve my talking points, but also to educate myself, so I can act in ways that align with my thinking. I am especially concerned with women’s rights. I am a proud intersectional feminist, and my first Women’s Studies class opened my eyes to the injustices women face, from the obvious to the subtle. I’m excited to learn from the differing perspectives in the class.

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The standout document in the Introduction to Inventing Human Rights by Lynn Hunt is the US Declaration of Independence, and Hunt uses it as an anchor to offer an interesting study of the evolution of philosophies of human rights. Philosophies that were, at the time of the Enlightenment, spreading, with the US Declaration held as the standard. However, what really struck me was the importance of the language involved, and the ways that that language has changed. Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence of the unalienable rights of men, but used the phrase “natural rights” in his writings until adapting to the term “rights of man” in the late 1780s. The French had been using “rights of man” since the 1760s but the phrase “rights of man” wasn’t defined until 1789, when the marquis de Condorcet described them in his essay “On the Influence of the American Revolution on Europe”. Contemporarily, if any group was to write a manifesto it would absurd for them not to define their terms. Despite the perceived objectivity of a dictionary, words have subjective meanings and uses, that change and are redefined by those who use them.

The Declaration of Independence (and the writings that were inspired by it) described these unalienable rights of men as “self-evident”. The term strikes me as a bit egotistical- though there are other, more optimistic, ways to interpret the concept. For a group of wealthy, property-owning, white males to declare their rights to be “self-evident” is to say they all had an equal estimation of their inherent value and of the treatment they deserved. The lack of other voices in that conversation implies that these self-evident rights that Jefferson (followed by many others) wrote about, applied only to that privileged class.

The paradox of the self-evidence of rights is brought into the modern era with the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which abandons “rights of man” for “human rights”. The key issue that the language is changing to address is the universality of the defined rights. Logically, human rights would apply to all humans, thus being self-evident. How can something self-evident require discussion, and not be applied unilaterally? However, then as now, these rights are not universal, and therefore not self-evident as the “Whereas” that begins the UN Declaration implies they are. Hunt tackles this conflict in thinking by linking the concept of the self-evident rights of man with moral autonomy, citing the work of J. B. Schneewind. Moral autonomy requires not only the capacity to reason, but also the independence to think and act freely. The groups excluded from the self-evident rights of man by Enlightenment philosophers, groups like women, children, slaves, those without property, and so on, were excluded based on the philosophers’ belief that those groups lacked the competence for moral autonomy. This is the same logic, in different language, that is used to further disenfranchise already marginalized groups today, and what the UN is attempting to combat by updating to “human rights”. For a document like the UN Declaration to be fully inclusive, and for terms denoting the self-evidence of rights to be accurate, there needs to be a universal consensus that absolutely all humans are entitled, without question, to the rights laid out within the document. I believe, as Hunt also concludes, that the antidote to the prejudiced logic that complicates the universality of rights, is empathy, learned through experience and interaction.

Hello, my name is Delia Rosero. This is my third semester in CWE and my major is Liberal arts with a concentration in Disability studies. I have a part-time job working with a lovely lady who is in a wheelchair. I have a beautiful son, he is 6 years old and he has autism. I really like to spend time with him, playing or working in areas he needs a lot.  He is doing better and better even though doctors told me a few years ago that he would never talk, now he has some words to communicate. When I understood that his condition was something that could happen anyone and this did not him make different I started to love the way he is. At the beginning, I was comparing him to the rest of the kids but now I know he is unique and he is my son.

I decided to take this class because my adviser recommended me but I also was reading the description of the class before I took the decision and I really call my attention. I believe that having knowledge about rights as human beings it is very important. I was born in Ecuador and in my country even these days women are considered less that men and not have the same rights. This is something that I hope one day will change.

According to the Introduction by Lynn Hunt (2007), the Declaration Of Independence said that “ “all men are created equal”. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.“(Pg,15) . Even though there were some changes the final Declaration of Independence was supposed to include all people without distinction.

While I was reading this Introduction I can not believe how  “Bill of Rights “ did not recognize of people because some of them were still not considered to be part of the Human rights. Lynn describes how children, people with no property, slaves, some black people, women and some religions were not considered capable of participating in a political process. I can not understand how they were talking about “equality of rights” when they were leaving aside several people who were part of society and have the same rights as the rest of people.

There was also “The Paradox of Self-Evidence”  where Jefferson wrote, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident.” This part of the book mentions how all human rights were not self -evident when not all people were part of those rights. As the author of the book mentions “how can human rights be universal if they are not universally recognized?” (pg.20, 21).  I believe this is happening every day with women, people with disability, black people and people who have a different sexual orientation. Every day we see news about how immigrants have to work more hours and get less money or just how people don’t have the same rights as other.There are million of people who are exposed to human rights abuses every day.

My name is Doris Estevez. I have been at CWE for 3 years. I went back to school in 2014 after almost 11 years without being in school. I am a single mom to 15 year old son. I was a teen-mom and had to work and put my education on hold for a while. I currently work at Grand Street Settlement (non-for-profit organization) under a contract from the DFTA (Department for the Aging) as a caseworker for a senior center (Grand Coalition of Seniors). I enjoy my job very much. It brings me a lot of joy and happiness that I can help people in need. It could be just reading and translating a letter or applying for benefits & entitlements for a senior. I am hoping to one day becoming a social worker. I would be the 1 generation to complete college and obtain my bachelor’s degree. My parents are both immigrants from the Dominican Republic. My mom came to the US when she was 7 years old. She speaks and write English well. My mom only finish high school and my dad has only 5th grade education. Both my parents work very hard to provide me and siblings a good life. They both always pushed and enforce us on getting an education. So, today I strive to finish my education for my parents and son. I want to set an example to them and my family that getting a degree will help you move forward in life.

While reading Lynn Hunt “Introduction” I found that the Declaration of Independence” was written at a time when people were becoming aware of their actions as human beings. Thomas Jefferson “We hold truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (pg.15), he made a permanent mark on recognizing human rights in today’s society. This spark a worldwide opinion on human rights good and bad. But the Declaration of Independence did not included slaves, free blacks, some religion minorities and women. During this time, men did not consider these groups of people equal. It was only considered for “white men”. The concept of “equal human rights” took some time unfold to what is in present time. America evolve as times were changing. As I start this class, I observe how many young women are in my class. It was amazing to see the change in times. Women during the 18th centuries could not go to school. It took many centuries to see what is in place today. The Declaration of Independence (1776) was implemented but also had a lot of amendments added to it. I agree with Lynn Hunt’s opinion on how new kinds of readings, experiences and empathy all played an important roles in “brain changing individuals”. It took people to think beyond what was going presently. People need to understand the change that was coming.

My name is Shatorra Harris and this is my last semester here at city. The reason why I am taking this course is because I need a substitute for Spanish three. When I first came to city I entered in majoring in early childhood. The process to get into the program was longer than I foreseen so I decided to change my major over to social work. Although I love working with children I want to expand my knowledge and work with children and their families. At first I thought I really didn’t have any interest in this class but seeing how women didn’t have rights way back then and seeing the rights we have today is there really a huge difference. Hearing my grandma talk about her times when she was growing up and all this terrible things she had to endure made me think of how strong she has become.

Lynn Hunt describes the universal declaration of human rights as everyone being born with free an equal rights. The French did not believe in these rights. They had developed their own rights or deprived citizens from practicing their rights. The French declaration wasn’t so universal. They had blacklisted; people of color, children, mentally ill. And people who did not own property. The French was seen as discriminatory because of their inefficiency to acknowledge everyone truly having the same level of rights. When the rights  of man are ignored it would cause corruption. People would commit crime because they didn’t think that their rights were self evident. This happens today in the workplace. Workers  protest because they may feel that the employer is violating their rights as an employee.

Human rights must be consistent, identical and worldly. In order for these wise to be considered human rights, all humans from all over the world must acquire them on the same level. If you questions were asked such as when does someone have full participation of these rights? And do noncitizens share these rights and which ones? I believe when a person is able to fully understand their rights that’s when they should be able to participate in them. I also believe that all immigrants or noncitizens should also engage in these rights because they are still humans. They may have participated in the right where they came from so why can’t they participate in the right where they are currently residing. They’re able and aware of how to follow these rights. Thomas Jefferson changed the name of the rights to rights of man. But all men did not have access to these rights. Jefferson didn’t enable these right to Africans and African Americans but only to the slaves that were at home.

Human rights are not self evident because there is still some discrepancies within the rights themselves. It’s says that all men are born equal but one man or person can’t partake in these rights because of the color of their skin or because they came from another country.

Hello everyone, my name is Liatt. This is  my last semester at CWE. I currently work as a Direct Service Provider for a non-profit in Brooklyn. I work with adults with mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities. I also have a 14 year old daughter on the Autism spectrum.

I chose this class because I feel it will connect well with a class I took in the fall titled Women and Work. Another reason I chose this class is because I think it is important to understand the history of human rights and why women are still fighting for them.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 1789 essentially said that all people are born free and have equal rights. The document also specifically named those rights, such as freedom, the right to own property, the right to safety and protection,  the right to be involved in the creation of laws, the right to a fair trial (innocent until proven guilty). Many of  the articles in the declaration  sound very similar to the U.S Constitution but the language changes in some of the articles. According to article 6 of The Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen, the words “all citizens” is used where in article 1 of the document the words “all men” is used.

I think that language as well as changes in society (education, employment, economics) affects how rights are interpreted, exercised, and applied. Today civil and human rights are not applied evenly or equally. In the past rights were not applied evenly or equally either. All of the precursory documents written regarding rights and citizenship were written by men. In almost all of them women, slaves, and people that are not property owners were not written in to the documents therefore not protected or included.

There are many groups of people today in the U.S that do not enjoy full citizenship  and who are not protected by the constitution or bill of rights. A persons social location determines citizenship, inclusion, protection under the law and whether or not one can exercise certain rights as well as political representation. Gender, immigration status, race and economic status all determine what rights apply to a particular group or if that group is even included under those rights. Human rights are still being violated today just as they were in the past.

I don’t understand a declaration to be law but instead they are a set of rules that were put into writing in order to prevent one person from having too much power. A declaration is basically a document stating how a person should be treated by others in the larger society and what society expects of its members.  Again, the language used as to who these rights protect is also very vague and not specifically naming every group of people. So if the terms “man” and “citizen”  were used then for me that implies that only men are protected and only men can be citizens. Women, slaves, and  people who did not own property, were not mentioned in the declaration, they were not thought to be honorable and had no political representation or rights. The language used in the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen separated groups of people based on gender, economic status and race.

Good evening, My name is Brittany Thomas and as fore stated in class, besides this course being a requirement, I am taking this class to increase my awareness of women’s rights and human rights as a whole. For as long as I can remember I have been surrounded with strong women in my life. From my grandmothers to godmothers to my own mother I have never doubted that I woman is just as strong if not stronger and capable in every capacity as a man. I take pride in that strength and it is because of that strength I am a first generation college graduate. Breaking so many barriers just within my own life and family it has been impressed upon me by the strength of the women in my family that I continue to pursue my education and take all the opportunities afforded to me. It saddens me to see not just young women but young black women such as myself who are not able or willing to enjoy and reap from a college education. Even my mother at an early age was unable to continue with her studies due to having become the head of her household after the passing of my grandparents. However its is never too late to finish your education. She is now pursing an online business degree and everyday is showing me the strength of a woman is unmeasurable.

In reading the introduction to this book by Lynn Hunt a couple of things really stood out to me. With so many revisions of what is now called the Bill of Rights, it is clear that not everyone who the bill was supposed to include and protect actually included and protected. Many were actually excluded with every revision. Blacks, people without property, foreigners and most of all women were considered not human enough to participate in political decisions as well as to be protected by the Bill of Rights .  The founders should have not been able to revise the bill if these groups were not going to include everyone. Which leads into the section about the truths of the bill to be self-evident. To say that everything listed and agreed upon as a human right of men (meaning all people) is self-evident is a very hypocritical statement to make. How can the Bill of Rights claim that it is a universal format and principal for all men while yet showing that it will not be afforded to all but in reality to a few, in particular the white aristocrat, the white male born on American soil, who has slaves and property and so forth. The Bill of Rights has been flawed for a very long time. The only thing self-evident about the Bill of Rights is how unequal it truly is.