Human rights

Human Rights

Learning Objectives:

Define what Human Rights are
- A right that belongs to every human
  - eg. Freedom of speech, Freedom of religion, Right to a fair trial, Freedom of press, Right to food/water, Equality, Right to education
Understand how Black Americans fought for equal civil rights*
- Black Americans fought for equal civil rights through the use of peaceful protests.
  - Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)
    - A bus boycott that took place from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956 where African-Americans refused to ride city buses to protest segregated seating.
    - Lead to the supreme court ruling segregation on public transport was illegal
  - Birmingham Campaign (1963)
    - Was once America's most segregated city
    - Birmingham Campaign consisted of mass meetings, lunch counter sit-ins and the boycott of public buses.
    - Paved way to the Civil Rights Act (1964) which banned racial discrimination.
  - Selma March (1965)
    - Hundreds of people gathered in Selma, Alabama to march to the capital of Alabama, Montgomery on March 7 1965.
    - The march was to ensure that African-Americans could exercise their right to vote.
    - Lead to the passing of the Voting Rights Act (1965)
Assess whether Black people in the USA feel that they have equal rights and justice today
- Afro-Americans in the USA most likely do not believe that they have equal rights and justice as other races. Though many people still say they do, they live in a society where negative assumptions will be made and always be made about them. The Ahmaud Arbery caseis a good example of this. The three charged men saw Ahmaud, and assumed that he was a burglar. They pursued him and shot him. Later, the jury decided that this was a racially motivated murder. Events like these are the reason why Afro-Americans still don't believe in their "equal" rights. They continue to live in fear of the negative assumptions made towards them, and will still do unless this situation ceases.
- Understand the work that Amnesty International does in fighting for human rights today*
- Describe a human rights issue in the world today
  - Human Trafficking
    - Exploitation of humans against their own will
Key People:
- Abraham Lincoln
  - 16th President of the United States, famous for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation (abolishing slavery) and leading the Union to victory in the Civil War
- Martin Luther King Jr.
  - A social activist who lead the Civil Rights Movement, protesting against the heavy racial discrimination towards Blacks
- Rosa Parks
  - A civil rights activist who was most well-known for refusing to give up her seat in a racially segregated bus. This action lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- Bull Connor
  - Served as Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama, and was against the Civil Rights Movement. He used his authority to make sure that "Birmingham remained the most segregated city in America"
- George Floyd
  - An African-American man who was murdered by a police officer during an arrest. This led to several protests in a movement named "Black Lives Matter"
    
    Ahmaud Arbery
    - A 23-year-old Black man who was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging.
  Key Events:
  - American Civil War (1861-1865)
    - A civil war fought between the United States of America (the Union) and the Confederate States of America (The Confederates). The war primarily began as a result of the long-standing disagreement over the use of slavery. The Unions won, and the practice of slavery was abolished.
  - Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
    - A document signed by Abraham Lincoln which abolished the practice of slavery in America. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
  - Brown vs the Board of Education (1954)
    - Brown v. Board of Education was a case which ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and signalled the end of legalised racial discrimination in schools in the USA.
  - Central High School, Little Rock (1957)
    - On September 4, 1957 nine African American students arrived at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. They were initially prevented from entering the school by Governor Orval Faubus, but later entered the school protected by federal troops.
  - Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)
    - Sparked by Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13-month boycott of public buses in Montgomery, Alabama which protested the segregated seating that took place on these buses.
  - Birmingham Campaign (1963)
    - A movement in early 1963 led by Martin Luther King Jr. in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. The goal of the local campaign was to attack the city’s segregation system by putting pressure on Birmingham’s merchants during the Easter season, the second-biggest shoppingseason of the year. This campaign succeeded, but not without backlash. Following the agreement with the city of Birmingham, KKK members bombed a hotel where MLK was staying, and many more places.
    - Also aimed to bring media attention to Birmingham to expose its policies
    - March on Washington (I have a dream speech)
      - On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people gathered in the nation’s capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was originally a mass demonstration regarding economic inequalities, a new federal jobs program and higher minimum wage, but then expanded for full integration of public schools, and other issues involving the civil rights act.
    Key Definitions/Terms:
    - United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
      - The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedom of all human beings.
    - Separate but Equal
      - Separate but Equal means blacks and whites are segregated but receive equal protection from the government.
    - Segregation
      - Segregation is the practice of restricting people to certain areas
    - Desegregation
      - Desegregation is the ending of racial segregation.
    - Integration
      - Integration is the ending of segregation allowing Whites, African Americans, and all races to be together whether in schools, buses, theatres.
      - The difference between integration and desegregation is that desegregation is simply ending the practice of segregation, while integration is where members of different racial groups experience the same treatment in a desegregated society
        
        NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People]
        NAACP is an interracial organisation formed to fight discrimination against African Americans. It was first established on 12 December 1912.
      - Jim Crow Laws
        Laws introduced in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation
      - Voter registration
        Registering to vote
      - Black Lives Matter
        Black Lives Matter is a movement founded in 2013 fighting for the rights of black people.
      - Amnesty International
        Amnesty International is a movement that campaign to end abuses of human rights
      - Prisoners of conscience
        A prisoner of conscience is a prisoner who has been put in prison for holding political or religious views that are not tolerated in the state in which they live