The Story of Human Rights

Human rights is, um...

jeez, that's a good question.

Human rights, that's a tough one.

Wow, um...

I don't even know how to
give that a definition.

I would probably have to do a little bit
of homework or something.

Any right that I think any, just as a
normal, you know, uh, human, any...

The rights that humans have?

Um...

That's a very large debate.

We're just taking for granted they're
there but we don't even consider

what they are.

[Narrator] Human rights are the rights
you have simply because you're human.

It's how you instinctively expect and
deserve to be treated as a person,

like the right to live freely,
to speak your mind, and

to be treated as an equal.

There are many kinds of rights,
most apply to a certain group.

But human rights are the only ones that
apply to absolutely everyone everywhere.

That means kids, old people, poor people,
basketball players, garbagemen,

rappers, teachers, Africans, Indians,
Albanians, Christians,

Muslims, Kabbalists, atheists, your mom,
your dad, your next door neighbor,

and you all have the exact
same human rights.

In other words, they're universal.

But the question remains, what are they?

Name human, the human rights?

What the human rights are? Umm.

The right to live, um...

Equality between all peoples.

The right to religion, the right to

Is there supposed to be a list
somewhere I should be aware of?

According to the United Nations,
there are a total of 30 human rights,

which are usually lumped together
and called simply "human rights."

They're all listed out in a Universal
Declaration of Human Rights which is the

world's most widely accepted
document on the subject.

But it was a long time in coming.

At first, there were no human rights.

If you were in with the right crowd,
you were safe.

If you weren't, well, you weren't.

But then a guy named Cyrus the Great
decided to change all that.

After conquering Babylon, he did
something completely revolutionary.

He announced that all
slaves were free to go.

He also said people had the
freedom to choose their religion,

no matter what crowd they were a part of.

They documented his words on
a clay tablet known as the Cyrus Cylinder.

And just like that,
human rights were born.

The idea spread quickly

to Greece to India and eventually to Rome.

They noticed that people naturally
followed certain laws,

even if they weren't told to.

They called this natural law.

But it kept getting trampled
on by those in power.

Not until a thousand years
later in England

did they finally get a king to agree

that no one can over rule the rights
of the people, not even a king.

People's rights were finally recognized
and they were now safe

from those in power, kind of.

it still took a bunch of British rebels
declaring their independence before

the King got the point that
all men are created equal.

Which isn't to say he liked the idea,

but he couldn't stop them,
and America was born.

The French immediately followed with their
own revolution for their own rights.

Their list was even longer
and they insisted

that these rights weren't just made up,

they were natural.

The Roman concept of natural law
had become natural rights.

Unfortunately, not everyone
was so thrilled.

In France, a general named Napoleon
decided to overthrow the

new French democracy and crown
himself Emperor of the World.

He almost succeeded.

But the countries of Europe joined
forces and defeated him.

Human rights was again a hot topic.

They drew up international agreements,
broadly granting many rights

across Europe, but only across Europe.

The rest of the world somehow
still didn't qualify,

instead they got invaded, conquered and
consumed by Europe's massive empires.

But then, a young lawyer from India
decided "enough was enough."

His name was Mahatma Gandhi.

And in the face of violence, he insisted
that all people of earth had rights,

not just in Europe.

Eventually, even Europeans
started to agree.

But it wasn't gonna be that easy.

Two World Wars erupted.

Hitler exterminated half the
Jewish population of Earth

in horrifying Nazi death camps.

All told, 90 million people died.

Never had human rights been so
terrifyingly close to extinction.

And never had the world been
more desperate for change.

So the countries of Earth banded together
and formed the United Nations.

Their basic purpose was

But what were human rights?

Were they the Proclamations of Cyrus?

The Natural Laws of Rome?

The declarations of France?

Everyone seemed to have
a slightly different idea

of what human rights should be.

But, under the supervision of
Eleanor Roosevelt, they finally agreed

on a set of rights that
applied to absolutely everyone:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The French concept of natural rights
had finally become human rights.

So, in summary, at first only a few lucky
people had any rights,

until one of those guys decided

"Hey, other people should
have some rights too."

Which was great, except
not everyone agreed.

And it only took a few thousand
years of fighting and declarations

and more fighting until everyone
finally agreed that human rights

should apply to everyone.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Except for one little problem.

If people have the right
to food and shelter,

why are 16,000 children dying
of starvation everyday?

One every 5 seconds?

If people have freedom of speech,
why are thousands

in prison for speaking their minds?

If people have the right to education,
why are over a billion adults

unable to read?

If slavery has truly been abolished,
why are 27 million people

still enslaved today?

More than twice as many as in 1800.

The fact is, when it was signed,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

did not have the force of law.

It was optional.

And despite many more documents,
conventions, treaties, and laws

it's still little more than
words on a page.

So the question is, who will make
those words a reality?

I have a dream today...

[Narrator] When Dr. King marched for racial
equality, he was marching for rights that

had been guaranteed by the United Nations
for almost two decades.

But still, he marched.

When Nelson Mandela stood up
for social justice in the 1990s,

his country had already agreed to abolish
such discrimination for almost 40 years,

but still he fought.

Those who fight today against torture,
poverty and discrimination,

are not giants or superheroes.

They're people, kids, mothers,
fathers, teachers,

free-thinking individuals
who refuse to be silent.

who realize that human rights
are not a history lesson,

they're not words on a page.

They're not speeches or commercials
or PR campaigns.

They are the choices we make
every day as human beings.

They are the responsibility we all share.

to respect each other, to help each other,
and to protect those in need.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said,

"Where, after all, do
universal human rights begin?

In small places close to home.

So close and so small, that they cannot
be seen on any maps of the world.

Yet they are the world
of the individual person,

the neighborhood he lives in,

the school or college he attends,

the factory, farm, or
office where he works,

such are the places where every man,
woman and child seeks equal justice,

equal opportunity, equal dignity
without discrimination.

Unless these rights have meaning there,
they have little meaning anywhere."