Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union
Discrimination is an issue for me personally; because, it's something that I saw growing
up. My parents came from Puerto Rico. They were a working class people trying to make
a better life for themselves in America. And, yet, I could see often about the prejudice
and discrimination that they encountered. I understood the importance of standing up
for dignity, to battle discrimination, to undo prejudice and stigma.
One of the things that they taught me was to live by the golden rule. To treat other
people the way you would want yourself to be treated. And, I guess it's that initial
teaching, that came from the Bible and from my family's deep religious beliefs, that made
me believe in human rights.
And, that's been very much the ethos of all of the work that we've done at the American
Civil Liberties Union for close to 90 years. Since we've come a long way since enacting
the universal declaration of human rights. We still have a long way to go. The fact is
that discrimination and prejudice are unfortunately every day barriers that people still confront
in their lives all across the globe.
We have a case where we are arguing that law enforcement officials are following individuals
based on their race or ethnicity. We have another case that is challenging the conditions
of confinement for immigrants in a detention center waiting for deportation. They are treated
poorly because they don't look like ordinary Americans. Even in the age of Obama, we still
see the enormous discrimination against minorities, poor people, women, gays and lesbians.
We're locked in an enormous battle, right now, for full equality for gay and lesbian
people in America. Where some, even within the administration, say that gay people should
not be treated with the equal rights that others are in our society. On Human Rights
Day, we march the enormous success of the Human Rights Movement. We've come a long way
in the last 60 years. But, even as we celebrate, we have to lock our eyes on the horizon that's
ahead of us. Seeing the very long road that's still before us to ensure that every person
regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, *** orientation, is treated with dignity
and respect regardless of the place they live. And, that's a road that we have to continue
to walk down.
Slide says: Learn More.
Do more. Aclu.org