America (Washington Insider Magazine) -It has been over 70 years since the United Nations implemented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was to promote their “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women,” according to the declaration. It was also supposed to “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”
This was in 1948, which means it took over 15 years before the United States put it into action by invoking the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was supposed to prevent any discrimination toward people of color regardless of race.
However, in 2021, women and minorities are still discriminated against, making some people question if human rights in America are protected or incomplete.
While the U.S. has been slowly fighting to protect sex trafficking and LGBTQ equality, the country is still slacking on other issues as well, and has been since the UDHR was put into effect.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are over 30 million citizens who lack their right to basic healthcare on top of having the widest income disparity in the world.
The ACLU also reported that poverty rates among African-Americans and Latinos are nearly twice that of the general population. Despite making up 13 percent of the U.S. population, the poverty rate for Black people was at 19 percent – or 8 million people – in 2019, according to the Census. While it dropped two percent since then, it is still the highest amongst any other race in the country.
Women’s rights have also been an issue since the beginning of time, with the ACLU reporting that an average of 464 women are sexually assaulted or raped each day, but only 40 percent – or 186 women – are reported to the police. Despite the numbers, there has been no action involved with law enforcement taking necessary action to make sure these are prevented.
There are still hundreds of other instances where people are untreated fairly or equally, such as racial profiling by law enforcement, harrassment toward the LGBTQ community, deportations, and incarcerations.
If the U.S. is to claim everyone is treated equally, it is time to start implementing better laws to protect these people.
Links:
121013-humanrightsfacts.pdf (aclu.org)
Poverty Rates for Blacks and Hispanics Reached Historic Lows in 2019 (census.gov)
