Panel Examines Human Rights at Home
When Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in mid-June, his comments opened the door to a broader discussion about human rights in America.
Panelists from the 鈥淩acial Injustice from a Human Rights Perspective鈥� webinar (clockwise from top left): Russell McClain, Neijma Celestine-Donnor, Jackie Smith, Roger Ward, and Peter Danchin.
鈥淚 am asking you to help us 鈥� Black people in America,鈥� Floyd implored the international body less than a month after his brother was killed by police in Minneapolis.
The 91大神, Baltimore (UMB) added its voice to the global conversation about racial justice during a panel that was part of a virtual convocation ceremony Sept. 17 organized by the Center for Global Engagement (CGE).
Moderated by Roger J. Ward, EdD, JD, MSL, MPA, interim provost, executive vice president, and dean of the Graduate School, and propelled by panelists from varied backgrounds, 鈥淩acial Injustice in the US from a Human Rights Perspective鈥� added a learning component to the convocation program.
Virginia Rowthorn, JD, LLM, assistant vice president for global engagement, said the public event, the first of a three-part 鈥淗uman Rights at Home鈥� series, served as a way for CGE to bring the concepts of international human rights into current discussions of racial justice in the United States. The series will discuss why the United States has taken a divergent route on human rights and how embracing the international human rights system could make a critical impact in addressing systemic racism and differential access to education and health care.
Panelists included Russell McClain, JD, associate dean for diversity and inclusion, ; Peter Danchin, JD, director, International and Comparative Law Program, Maryland Carey Law; Neijma Celestine-Donnor MSW, LCSW-C, dean of diversity and inclusion, ; and Jackie Smith, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, coordinator of the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance (PHRCA), and steering committee member, US Human Rights Cities Alliance.
Smith said her work involves demonstrating how human rights advocacy can advance racial justice. Quoting Malcolm X, Smith explained the difference between civil rights and human rights, 鈥淐ivil rights means you are asking Uncle Sam to treat you right. Human rights are something you were born with. 鈥� Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth.鈥�
Smith reminded attendees it wasn鈥檛 just Malcolm X who took Black America's fight for racial justice to the global stage. 鈥淪truggles in the United States over racial justice were always looking outside of the United States,鈥� she noted, citing the early NAACP鈥檚 involvement in the 1951 鈥淲e Charge Genocide鈥� United Nations resolution that accused the U.S. government of genocide.
PHRCA鈥檚 mission includes education as well as connecting grassroots networks to the United Nations and its resources. Smith has witnessed the identity change that occurs when organizers begin to connect to a global movement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty interesting to see how they think about themselves as their identity shifts from being a Black person in the United States, for instance, to part of this very powerful movement that has authority and legitimacy in the United Nations.鈥�
For Celestine-Donnor, identity plays a key role in the discussion of human rights in the United States. As a self-described 鈥渘on-American Black person in America,鈥� Celestine-Donnor says the conversation about civil rights 鈥� grounded in citizenship 鈥� excludes issues that affect Black non-Americans. While Black immigrants face similar challenges in terms of race, they have the additional burden of xenophobia. 鈥淔or me, when we use the language of human rights, it feels more inclusive,鈥� she noted.
Ward, who came to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago to attend college, said he experienced a similar disconnect when he found himself at odds with African American classmates on the issue of racial justice and civil rights. 鈥淓ven though we were talking essentially about the same thing, I鈥檓 looking at it through a human rights lens, I鈥檓 having a different understanding,鈥� he said.
According to McClain, it鈥檚 clear to any outsider looking at America鈥檚 long history of slavery, Jim Crow, and police brutality that the United States is suffering from a serious human rights crisis. He suggested American exceptionalism is the reason the United States views itself outside the notion of human rights.
鈥淚 might even go so far as to say the United States is hostile toward any notion of an external foreign standard of conduct,鈥� he said, noting calls in recent years for the impeachment of judges who might rely on international law in their decision-making.
As an international human rights lawyer who grew up in South Africa during the apartheid years, Danchin offered a clear-eyed perspective on human rights for Black people in America. He outlined the paradox that occurred post-World War II when the United States played a pivotal role in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while enforcing Jim Crow back at home.
鈥淥n the one hand, there is a remarkable movement on the international level that occurs after the Second World War,鈥� he said. 鈥淪imultaneously there is this remarkable effort to make sure that none of that architecture, whether normative or institutional, has any effects in the United States itself.鈥�
He also examined U.S. attempts to thwart a complaint brought to the United Nations charging South Africa with systematic racial discrimination and human rights violations. American officials feared that if the U.N. could launch an investigation in South Africa, it would start investigating 鈥渢he condition of Negroes in Alabama,鈥� Danchin said, using the language of the day.
鈥淭he kind of disconnect we had, it鈥檚 not an accident,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a matter of conscious policy.鈥�
The 鈥淗uman Rights at Home鈥� series continues this fall with the following webinars:
- Experiences of Black UMB Students, Scholars, and Alumni from a Global and Local Perspective
Tuesday, Oct. 13, noon-1 p.m.
Conversations on race鈥� and human rights with Black鈥� UMB students, scholars, and alumni.鈥��
- Health as a Human Right in the United States: What COVID-19 Has Exposed
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m.-11 a.m.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the perilous state of access to health care in the United States and the danger that inadequate access poses to every citizen. Are we at a turning point on how we think about health as a human right?鈥��
