What We Believe – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Human Rights Rejects Murder

Human Rights Rejects Murder —

December 10, 2024 –
Universal Human Rights Day –
Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) –

Advocacy of human rights rejects the concept that murder is normal, common, and acceptable; it furthers moral shame to reject those who consider murder even laudable. On December 10, Universal Human Rights Day, this is the most compelling and urgent issue for human rights. Rejection of murder needs to discussed with our children. Opposition to murder needs to be shouted from our street corners. Shame over murder needs to be part of protests to our institutional leaders, both to dictators and to those who claim to be democratic leaders, to those who who make and facilitate weapons to murder, or and to those denying health care, food, and support to those in desperate need for survival. We cannot progress towards all of the other objectives and values of universal human rights, if we casually accept murdering fellow human beings, and if we view their human lives as merely expendable with the “ends justifying the means.”

On Human Rights Day, December 10, the world remembers the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The position of the UDHR on murder is crystal clear.

— UDHR Article 3. “EVERYONE has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”

We all have the right to safety, security, and liberty, and we have the right to defend ourselves accordingly. But as the UDHR states, it was created in 1948 in response to “disregard and contempt for human rights [that] have resulted in barbarous acts,” and so it also appeals to the “conscience of mankind” to find a path to peace with “human rights [that] should be protected by the rule of law.”

Those who choose “barbarous acts” of MURDER as their pathway to “security” or “liberty” are choosing neither; they are only perpetuating contempt for human life itself.

Many institutions and people have terms to disguise their actions in violence either by physical attack on others or by denying healthcare to others with glib terms of “national security,” “security operations,” “economic stability,” etc.

But those of us who demand respect for fellow human life and dignity know MURDER when we see it – no matter who is doing the murdering or what they claim to be their justification.

Murder is NOT a human right. Life is a Universal Human Right.

Defense of our human civilization demands that we reject murder and respect life of fellow human beings.

Progress requires that we have find a shared view of actual reality, and we cannot get achieve progress without a greater common cause in respecting lives of fellow human beings. As my long-time comrade in human rights campaigns Shireen Qudosi reminds me of our discussion six years ago, “there could be no rule of law without a shared reality.”

Too many allow this concept of a “shared reality” to be too complex to grasp, and that it is impossible to understand how others might feel and how their lives are impacted by events. Let us start with the beginning – We are all ALIVE. We all breathe. We all have a heartbeat. We have brains to think. We are all human beings, no matter how different we think that we are. Our lives matter as human beings.

UDHR Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

No matter how much we oppose, object, or in worse case are even at war, with our fellow human beings, let us stop, BREATH, FEEL OUR HEART, THINK. We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights. We can control our world choices and the actions those of those who claim to represent us.

Let us first respect shared human life. ALL OF US.

Let us STOP THE KILLING of fellow human beings.

To ever be Responsible for Equality And Liberty, let us first believe that our fellow human beings have the right to be alive on our shared Earth. Let us start with THAT shared reality.

Human Rights Change – Begins with An Outstretched Hand and Willingness to Discuss

For the record, Responsible for Equality And Liberty has NO ENEMIES.
There may be those who hate us, but we will not hate them back.
Hate is NOT the Answer. We do not promote hate.
We do not promote contempt. We do not promote violence.
We urge for change in human rights. We call for change in behavior.
But we do not hate our fellow human beings.

We promote equality, liberty, dignity, and responsibility for our shared human rights… with an outstretched hand.

When you look at the world that Hate is NOT the Answer, you need to think about Communication.

We cannot just talk to those we like and those like us.

Especially if we seek to achieve CHANGE, we need to talk and listen to those who hate us and those who have different values, even (especially) those who reject our shared universal human rights.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty rejects Communist China’s persecution of 1,379,000,000 fellow human beings.
But this does not mean we cannot and will not talk to Communist China to change.
At our first major public demonstration in 2009 at the Communist China embassy, we spent the entire day there with them.
We gave them every reason to consider change. We provided history of China, examples of Chinese culture, and urged them to consider the future.
We provided a full copy of the Univeral Declaration of Human Rights in Chinese.
They rejected our outreach, but we did and we continue to try, including writing in Chinese every week, and most days of the week.

R.E.A.L. has done the same to the Pakistan government, the Pakistan judiciary, Pakistan people, and Pakistan institutions regarding religious minorities and one another – even writing in Urdu.

R.E.A.L. has done the same for the North Korea government and North Korean people on the persecution and abuse of Korea people – writing in Korean to reach them.

R.E.A.L. has done the same for the Russian government and the Russian people – on many issues, including the challenges of the “managed democracy” and writing in Russian to reach them.

R.E.A.L. has done the same for the extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir. We have seen them face-to-face in Chicago, in Virginia, in other parts of the country. We have challenged their anti-democracy, and anti-equality views. But we have not hated them. We have given them the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and urged them that it was in their interest to accept human rights, democracy, and pluralism.

R.E.A.L. has done the same for the most committed white supremacists in America. When White Supremacists have come to threaten us, we have prayed for them. When White Supremacists have come to disrupt our public events, we did not offer an upraised fist, but like all, we offered an outstretched hand.

The idea that we can only offer an outretched hand to those we like and those like us, is not the the answer in working for human rights.

We need to talk. We need to listen. Especially to those who are different.

Our UNIVERSAL shared human rights are not simply just for those like us and those we like.

Our UNIVERSAL shared human rights are for everyone – especially those who are different.

We need to build a culture of human rights that can find a place to bring all of our fellow brothers and sisters in humanity together, to find solutions in peace, in dignity, in respect, in equality, and in human rights.

We are RESPONSIBLE for equality and liberty… beginning with our outstretched hand… especially when it is not popular, profitable, or “acceptable.”

Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.

The Civil War of American Christians Against Extremism – The Lessons for Muslims Today

Today, a Muslim friend asks the question to American Christians: “Christians, since you haven’t been able to get rid of these terrorists, how do expect Muslims to get rid of ISIS?” The posting is accompanied by a photograph of members of the Ku Klux Klan with an American flag. Having fought this battle against white supremacists for 40 years, I want to reply.

Yes, it is a fair question.

But let us be clear, we will never simply “get rid of” all terrorists. That is not the real challenge we face. When we are challenging ISIS, we not simply “getting rid of” some terrorists, we must challenge and defeat the extremist ideology that it represents, and its views that members of its hate movement are superior to other human beings. We are challenging the views that its ideology has a right to deny life, liberty, security, human rights, and human dignity, to those who have different views or a different religion than the ISIS supporters. We do not fight simply a “war on terror.” – We have a war on terrorist and anti-human rights IDEOLOGIES themselves.

The United States of America has had a long, bloody, and painful war against the anti-human rights and terrorist ideology of white supremacy.

This war started at the founding of the country in July 4, 1776, but it was postponed in the interests of fighting what we thought at the time was a greater enemy. The war against such extremist views did not go away, and it returned again to haunt the conscience of the nation, over and over, until it spilled out into a national Civil War, which ripped the nation apart between April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865.

The Civil War deaths in this battle on white supremacism resulted in the death of 214,938 soldiers and approximately 750,000 total U.S. deaths. Of the soldiers who died, 140,414 Union soldiers were killed, giving their lives in a national war against white supremacist slavery. The question is asked, “Christians, when will you get rid of white supremacist terrorists?” The answer can be partly found in Arlington National Cemetery where you can see the graves of the thousands who fought and died to stop such terrorism.

Let us also be clear, the Confederate States of America (CSA) army and its supporters also had many supporters who believed that they too were following a Christian path. But the Union American Christians could not accept such a contradiction of white supremacist slavery with the values of America, the freedoms the nation represented, and the contradiction of the majority of Americans who followed the Christian religion.

This was not just a Civil War of Americans.

It was also a Civil War of American Christians.

It is a historical guide to those fighting extremists among them, as to how to defy and challenge those who would use supremacism in their identity group and their values as a rationalization to persecute and oppress others.

In the secular United States of America, many would not immediately consider the American Civil War of the 19th century as a “Civil War of American Christians.” But this was a significant aspect of the American Civil War struggle, the Civil War between Christian defying white supremacy and those defending such an ideology to rationalize continued slavery of African-Americans. As history has shown, American Christians fought this war at great sacrifice and great bloodshed. But while the United States of America fought this Civil War as a secular nation, with people of all faiths involved, it would be naive especially in 1865, to not recognize that this was also a great American civil war in determining how Christian faith would be practiced in America, and what that American practice of Christian faith would and would not accept.

Most of the American Union soldiers fighting against the ideology of white supremacy were Christians, and the common rally song to defeat the white supremacist terrorists, was a song called the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The national battle hymn is clearly a Christian song. It concludes with the Christian exhortation to those fighting in the Civil War against white supremacy – “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.”

This Battle Hymn of the Republic was written by Julia Ward Howe, in Washington D.C., not far from where Freedom Plaza stands today, as she toured Union army camps with Reverend James Freeman Clarke and her husband. The song of American Christianity fighting against the injustice of white supremacist slavery is one of the most fundamental songs of patriotism tied to American’s national capital. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a national theme in fighting the CSA, and has remained the battle hymn in fighting white supremacy. It remains a standard patriotic song for all Americans and all branches of the U.S. Military Services.

So when the question is asked, when will Christians fight the white supremacist ideology of Ku Klux Klan terrorism, let us never forget that a nation rallied to do just that, and it even based its battle hymn on a Christian imperative to “make men free.” Americans, and certainly American Christians, changed as the result of that Civil War.

The Civil War against white supremacism was the 19th century “reformation” of the American practice of Christianity across the nation. But what Americans learned was that first Civil War was still not enough. We had to fight yet a second Civil War in the 20th century.

The aftermath of the Civil War against white supremacism led to uprising of CSA terrorist groups, chiefly one known as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which resulted in a series of Congressional civil rights acts, including the Civil Rights Act of 1871, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union army to victory over the CSA. The KKK was created and recognized as a terrorist organization to continue the white supremacist activities of the CSA after its defeat. A series of terrorist prosecutions against KKK members largely defeated the 19th century version of the organization, which would not appear again until the 20th century.

But once again a second Civil War had to be fought in the 20th century, after the all of the changes by the first Civil War had failed to take hold in every part of American society. We realized that fighting white supremacy slavery, defeating the CSA and its views, defeating and imprisoning the KKK, all of these were not enough until we took hold of the extremist ideology of white supremacy itself and we declared total national war on it – everywhere and in every form.

This is the heart of the lesson which America learned, and can offer the world, in defying and defeating extremist views. No victory can begin until the extremist ideology itself is recognized, identified, challenged, defied, disgraced, and defeated.

In the 20th century, there were still parts of America, where rampant white supremacist-based discrimination permeated society and even the law, including legalized segregation in parts of the nation. There were unrepentant supporters of the CSA that sought to reconstitute the KKK, and used the frustrations of difficulties in economic and social issues, and economic depression to try to extend their ideological reach to other parts of the nation.

The CSA-based KKK continued to disgrace American Christians with their attempts to hold white supremacist rallies around a burning cross. But in the 20th century, after the resounding victory against the CSA in the 19th century, largely by American Christians fighting against white supremacy, no major no Protestant Christian denomination officially endorsed the KKK, and it was denounced in Christian publications. However, a 20th century “Civil War” was required to continue to battle this white supremacist scourge, which included defying at some local levels those misguided Christians who continued to support white supremacy, requiring a renewed effort by American Christians and other Americans to challenge the ideology of white supremacy again. This 20th century “Civil War” also saw the white supremacist KKK attacking American Catholics, which ensured that most in the Catholic Christian faith would renounce the KKK organization.

The 20th century Civil War was a different kind of struggle, which still involved troops, but not in the way of the 19th century Civil War. It was instead, a broader, all encompassing “total war” on white supremacy by American Christian and other Americans, as a “Civil Rights movement.” While much of the social struggle started in the 1920s, it returned in the 1950s and in the 1960s, primarily between 1955 and 1968, when I personally began my own fight against white supremacy.

This movement began with a focus on defeating the last remnants of white supremacy in what were called “Jim Crow” laws that legalized segregation between African-Americans and whites in America. We fought this in our schools, in our public places, and in every part of our nation, as a total war against white supremacy. We fought in every part of this nation, in a total war to defeat the evil of white supremacy. Our Supreme Court issued a ruling in 1954 in the historic Brown v. Board of Education, which declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, where this battle against white supremacy of our schools was first waged, President Eisenhower had to call out the U.S. National Guard to protect African-American students and protect them. It would not be the last time our troops were needed to fight such white supremacy. Our National Guard, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, under President John F. Kennedy was also used to defy George Wallace in 1963, when he sought to refuse the desegregation of the University of Alabama.

But unlike the 19th century Civil War, the 20th century Civil Rights Movement was a total war led by the common men and women of America defying and defeating white supremacists. This included many churches, and the national leadership of the great African-American Christian leader Pastor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The struggle was long and tumultuous and in this civil war, there were still some recalcitrant local Christians who refused to accept the reformation of American Christian practices to ensure the equality of all people of all races.

But ultimately the forces of American Christian practice reformation achieved a significant victory and change in America, over white supremacy. Pastor King and those American Christians and other Americans who stood on the cause of equal civil rights for all prevailed. Segregation was defeated, laws were made to ensure equal voting protections and civil rights, and in state after state, city after city, the tide had changed in the 20th century Civil War.

The victories were not without costs, as Civil Rights activists were killed, by a new incarnation of the KKK. The criminals in the KKK committed atrocities, murders of Civil Rights activists, and even attacked and blew up Christian churches. In attacking churches across America, the “Christian” mask of their KKK anti-Christian views was now clear for all to see, and the nation rallied to defy the army of white supremacist hatred once again. We used every aspect at our disposal, our courts, our law enforcement, our federal law enforcement (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation), our schools, our newspapers, our churches, and people of all American faiths and conscience who marched and defied the evil of white supremacy.

For every march, rally, and public event which the world captured on film, there were millions of small “civil wars” taking place to end white supremacy in our homes, among families, among neighbors, at work, in public places, and among fellow citizens – who sought to remind America who and what we are. This fight was also a fight to seize and finally reform the practices of American Christianity to ensure equality for all, and was guided by the great Christian Pastor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Christian leader Dr. King led the greatest human rights rally in history on August 28, 1963 in Washington DC at the Lincoln Memorial, a memorial to remember the president who defied the white supremacy of the CSA in the 19th century Civil War. In Washington DC, nearby, what is today the Freedom Plaza, this Christian leader finished writing his speech, which he delivered at the Lincoln Memorial, and which would change the hearts of a nation and a generation. The speech was called “I have a dream.” (The speech is still there, buried in Freedom Plaza, today.)

It was a few years later that I began my own fight in this civil war for the American Christian faith and Civil Rights for all people. It was in August 1967 in the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, where I found myself as young boy, confronting the obscenity of a sign which read “white clientele only.” One can read or hear of these things, and shake your head in disgust, but to be faced with it, changes your outlook on the world, and the need to fight for change.

I was greatly discouraged from challenging this practice of racial segregation. But I could not and would not back down. I was an American Christian, I knew this was wrong, it was wrong as a Christian, it was wrong as an American, and most of all, it was wrong as a human being.

I began my fight as a child. So when I hear my adult Muslim brothers and sisters in humanity asking me, “when will Christians defeat KKK terrorists,” I will tell you, I have and many I know have, fought such white supremacists all of our lives. We viscerally understand first-hand the disgrace and shame that these white supremacists have brought to our nation and to American Christians. So we know how it feels very much. But I also know that you are never too weak, too powerless, too ineffective to fight.

If a child can rise up to defy extremists, you can too.

This begins with deciding you simply will not accept it anymore. I don’t mean that you don’t want to hear it, or you don’t agree with it, not something passive like that. No. I mean you decide, you will not ACCEPT it any longer. THAT moment is when you begin the fight.

As we all know, Christian leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. paid for his defiance to white supremacy with his life on April 4, 1968, stricken down by a white supremacist assassin’s bullet. 10 days before Easter Sunday. I remember his loss as if it were yesterday. Many remember his birthday and honor his success. I also remember the day he became a martyr to free American Christians from the white supremacist hate which slurred Christians who have given their lives to good in this nation and around the world.

Dr. King did not live to see his successes. But he foresaw it coming, he stated the day before he died on April 3, 1968, “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!” His last words as a Christian leader fighting white supremacy were “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!”

Yet some still believe that Christians have not struggled to defeat the evil of white supremacy.

It is an insult to injury in the never-ending attack by the evil of white supremacy that it too did not die on April 4, 1968, after it took the life of this great Christian leader.

Yet in the grief of those Christians who remember this leader, they too have to take their tiny feet, and try to walk in the massive footsteps of this great leader. We all are, of course, not sufficient to fill the shoes of such a great man, but we have the obligation as Americans, and for those who are Christians, yes, as Christians too, to soldier on.

We have continued the fight against white supremacy into the 21st century, and someone after I am gone will no doubt write about the continued civil war into the 22nd century too. There will always be hearts that hate. But unlike the views of some, my life has been shaped on the experience and personal knowledge, that, YES, you CAN change hearts. I thank God for that. Because while the scourge of white supremacy still exists, it is the exception, it is the rarity, and most of all, it is the SHAME in America. The reformation of American Christian practice on this matter is beginning to become complete on this.

That does not mean that there are not still white supremacy advocates who continue to challenge common decency, as well as the rag tag members of the CSA-inspired KKK, out of the 300 million plus Americans. But they are the vast exceptions.

In the 21st century, I created Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.). One of our first major events was on April 4, 2010, where we remembered the martyrdom of Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr. on the steps of the Washington Monument. On April 4, R.E.A.L. called for the freedom of those persecuted around the world, including African-Americans and people of color still facing pockets of discrimination, and calling for freedom of all people, including the end those religious minorities persecuted around the world, such as Pakistan Christians.

That same year, 2010, Washington DC faced yet another terrorist attack, this time on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which resulted in the death of an African-American security guard, which I had met in my visits there. This Washington DC terrorist attack spurred another of R.E.A.L.’s many campaigns for human rights, as we determined to defy such white supremacists inspired by such terrorism in our nation’s capital. As we have challenged more and more of the 21st century white supremacists, one thing is clear, they know that they are not welcome in Christianity. In the hundreds of battles that I have personally had with such white supremacists, it is very clear when we speak to them about their faith, most of them cannot accept the practice of Christianity with the hate of their extremist ideology.

Our God is marching on.

R.E.A.L. faced many threats from white supremacists as a result. I personally received many death threats. My family was affected (in ways I won’t discuss) by white supremacist attacks. As Americans and as Christians, we soldiered on. We defied white supremacist praise of terrorist attacks and calls for additional terrorism. We worked with the authorities to stop threats from materializing. We held protests in multiple states to challenge white supremacist groups. The white supremacists were not finished with me. They sought to slander me. They sought ruin me. They sought to attack me financially. They sought to bring legal action to stop me. But despite everything they tried, R.E.A.L. was not defeated.

R.E.A.L. carried on, on our own, without the help of any national group, because it was and is the RIGHT thing to do. We have challenged white supremacists for over 7 years now and we continue to do so today. We face contempt, we face hatred, we face mockery, and we continue to receive attacks. This website where you are reading this right now today has been a target of such attacks many, many times, including recently.

But we will soldier on. It is the right thing to do. It is the American thing to do. It is the Christian thing to do. Our struggle against the forces of white supremacy has not only been a cause for human rights, it is also a cause for Americans to help fulfill the mission of that great Christian leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to liberate all American Christian practices from such ideologies of hatred in every city, in every town, in every hamlet, and in every heart in America.

To the question “Christians, since you haven’t been able to get rid of these terrorists, how do expect Muslims to get rid of ISIS?,” the answer is by fighting against such evil every day of our lives. Yes, it is our job. Yes, it is our sacred RESPONSIBILITY. The answer is with ourselves.

How can we stop the forces of extremism and evil? By deciding that, we are obligated and responsible to defy their ideology and actions which would harm our fellow human beings.

We have difficult days ahead. But we have faced difficult days before, we have faced heartbreak before, we have had our martyrs before. We did not extinguish our watch-fires, and the light of the truth did not blow out. The gale winds and forces of evil have tried their hardest, but the light of truth remains burning bright. In that light, we must find the courage of acting in faith to stop the supremacist views of those who believe they are entitled to superior rights than others, they are entitled to acts of hate against others, and that they are entitled to violence against others, who they view as inferior human beings. To anyone of faith, God did not make inferior human beings. If we don’t know where to start, let us start right there.

People of all faiths must reject those supremacist views that diminish and degrade our fellow human beings, who are different, as somehow inferior. We can never fight for justice without fighting for freedom. We can never achieve liberty for any group, without respecting equality for all groups. We must accept our responsibility to struggle for such equality and liberty, not just for those like us, but most importantly for those who are different than us. We show the courage of our convictions by consistency in this struggle.

We are all God’s people. We all deserve the opportunity to share in God’s promises. We cannot achieve this by expecting someone else to lead the way. We are the pathfinders to dignity, we are guides for hope, we are the beacons for justice. We have already have the map to righteousness; it is imprinted on our hearts and our souls. We only need to open ourselves to the truth and lead the way.

You will see, the watch-fires are waiting in camps of those fighting the same struggle around the world. You just need to decide to JOIN the battle with your whole heart, and never look back.

A Clarion Call for Passionate Defense of Human Rights in Defiance of Extremists

As I once stated in a human rights speech at Freedom Plaza, “compassion begins with passion.” You cannot show that you truly care about our shared universal human rights, if you cannot show your feelings and passion for your fellow human beings and their challenges. If you are passionate about human rights, then you cannot be “patient” as you watch your brothers and sisters in humanity being persecuted, oppressed, attacked, and murdered.

There is a time and a place for equanimity, patience, and a reserved manner, and there is also a time and a place for a passionate defense of the rights, dignity, and security for our fellow human beings. There is a time when we must provide leadership on the truths we hold self-evident for all.

Our real leaders understand this, because they understand what is at stake by those who deny and attack our shared universal human rights. Our real leaders are not necessarily institutional, political, government leaders or administrators in our nations. We must make certain the voices of real leaders of human rights, dignity, and security are heard, amidst the passive voices that will invariably shrug their shoulders at the challenges to our shared human rights.

Let us be clear – the enemies of our shared universal human rights are never inconsequential to the security of the world. The enemies of our shared universal human rights are always an insidious cancer to the human race whose growth must be aggressively blocked and whose threat must be removed.

Some also believe that our passion for human rights should only apply for selected identity groups that we care about. Universal human rights are universal. The most fundamental value in our shared universal human rights is Equality. This is the truly shared common cause around which we must rally.

So we must also be equally passionate in our human rights defiance to anti-human rights extremists, who believe they can threaten, bully, and commit violence against others in denial of their human rights, because they believe they have superior rights over others. The enemies of our shared universal human rights despise the word “equality.” It is their primary objection to our common cause of shared human rights.

Equality is truly the keystone of the human rights struggle, which holds all of the other causes together as one struggle. The importance of equality in our human rights is forgotten by the apathetic, when they believe we do not need to passionately challenge all of the enemies of human rights.

Equality.

In the United States of America, we have been blessed with a history that this is not merely just another word in our language.

Equality.

It is so much more than just another word. It is a desperate whisper. It is a cry against injustice. It is a prayer. It is call to action. It is a shout of defiance. But whatever it may mean to you, to people in America and around the world, Equality is not just another word. Equality is not something we could dispassionately care less about, because it applies to all of us – everywhere – just like our shared universal human rights.

To those who have seen brothers and sisters of every identity stand together in a common cause of our shared universal human rights, they know that without Equality, we cannot have Liberty. They know without Equality and Liberty, we cannot have shared universal human rights.

Of all of our shared universal human rights, Equality is what anti-human rights extremists want to steal away from humanity. As it is the keystone of our shared universal human rights, so it is also the common target of the extremist enemies of human rights. The enemies of human rights don’t simply dislike equality; they hate Equality. They seek to destroy Equality and subjugate people of various identity groups, based on their race, their religion, their nationality, or other identity, and force them to submit to a tyranny.

So when we passionately challenge the enemies of our shared human rights and Equality, we must be prepared to defy all such enemies. Most importantly, we must never allow our passion in defying such enemies of human rights to allow us to become tyrants ourselves. We must always remember our struggle for human rights is for shared human rights for all of humanity.

To those who do not view anti-human rights extremists as a threat to passionately oppose, often they decide that they can choose that only some anti-human rights extremists matter, and that other enemies of human rights do not. This is not a support for our shared universal human rights. We must passionately reject all enemies of human rights, as the common cause of the human race.

In addition, there are also those who believe that people around the world have no choice but to live under a tyranny of those who seek their total submission and denial of their universal human rights. They believe they should surrender to what they believe will not change, and that the best thing to do is simply make the best of the current circumstances. They also believe that it is not worth giving much attention to anti-human extremist groups, because they believe eventually such groups will fail of their own overreaching ambitions, without much reaction by free people.

The people of the world may wonder how some free people can be so dispassionately calculated and cold-hearted about enemies of human rights, especially American free people. America brings a history both of natural defiance against anti-human rights oppression, as well as a deep-seated desire by its immigrants to “start anew” somewhere else and get a “fresh start” at life, and release concerns about “the old world.” Especially between foreign wars, Americans often resort back to a policy of “isolationism” as a response to great sacrifices. Passion is exhausting.

But when we come back to the keystone of human rights — Equality, we then have a different message to those who would watch the oppression of and violence against our fellow human beings with detachment and equanimity.

America did not defeat the tyrants that oppressed them by a dispassionate hope that eventually someday things would change on their own. They stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” In America, the weary, the detached, and the dispassionate may find comfort in isolationism from the world and from our societal responsibilities, but we can never be Americans without a zealous commitment to the most important of the truths we hold self-evident — EQUALITY.

Equality is the great motivating force to remind the American people, who and what they are, and why in the great words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

In the exhaustion of the difficult efforts for human rights, it is easy to get discouraged and weary. It is easy to lose hope for change. But I have been blessed in my lifetime with the opportunity to see great things happen. I have been blessed to live in a time in the United States of America, where I have seen American change from a nation where public racial segregation and oppression was openly tolerated in some place to where we have come to an African-American president elected twice. This is what I have seen with my eyes and experienced in my own short lifetime. The struggle for our shared human rights, especially for our sisters in America, is still truly an ongoing battle which is far, far, far from being won. But I can tell you a fact, not an opinion. CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. We CAN positively change the world in support of our shared universal human rights. It is not just wishful thinking. It can be done.

We have seen such human rights CHANGE. I urge the world to remember this history and to act to find ways to promote such change in challenging the current enemies of human rights and equality.

But we did NOT achieve CHANGE by being passive and unconcerned about the actions of anti-human rights extremists. We did not achieve change through dispassionate equanimity to the anti-human rights extremists who sought to subjugate others. We did not change the thinking of a generation by quietly expecting the extremist enemies of human rights would just go away by themselves, and relinquish their stranglehold on the human rights, dignity, and security of the oppressed.

We did not achieve any victories of change by making excuses for and rationalizing away the actions and the ideology of the enemies of human rights.

In achieving the victories of change, we did not retreat to isolationism from human rights. We did not shrug our shoulders at the abuses of the extremists. To the victims of such extremists, we did not only extend our sympathies and prayers, but we also extended our protection as well as our passionate outrage and defiance against the extremist enemies of human rights.

To the enemies of human rights, we not only recognized and defended the rights of others, but also we challenged and rejected the wrongs that extremists applied to our fellow human beings. We did not defend those victimized by the enemies of our human rights through relativist surrender. We judged their actions based on a consistent application of our shared universal human rights for all. This judgment between right and wrong was passionately communicated in every aspect of our society: our leaders, media, schools, houses of worship, institutions, and public gatherings.

In the American national judgment on white supremacism, whether it was by the 100,000 American Union soldiers who died fighting to end it during the Civil War, or it was through the total war of ideas against white supremacism during what is known as the “Civil Rights era,” this judgment against extremists was not a racial attack on white Americans, but it was a total clarion call for change to reject the supremacist views of extremists. But we fearlessly judged what was right and wrong, based on our shared universal human rights for all. As the American people know all too well, that struggle never ends, and such passionate defiance against anti-human rights extremists must never be relaxed.

Most importantly, we were NOT patient, despite the endless pleas for “patience,” “understanding,” “culture,” and “incremental change,” which mostly apologists for white supremacists sought to spread as a countermessage in the “war of ideas” during the “Civil Rights era.” As Americans are all too painfully aware, when it comes to defying the extremist enemies of human rights, patience is not a virtue, but only allows anti-human rights persecution to find new ways and places to arise again and again.

This is the model that I have seen in my life which works to achieve CHANGE in human rights. It is a model that requires a passionate challenge to anti-human rights extremists that are given no excuse, no rationale, no justification, and no escape from the judgment of a society which stands for justice and equally shared universal human rights.

So too in today’s world, as the extremist enemies of human rights seek a total war on our equality, liberty, human rights, human dignity, and security, so we must call for a new clarion call of total defiance of the ideology and actions of today’s enemies of human rights. We must not allow the voices of relativism, defeatism, and cowardice to win the day. If we believe in our shared universal human rights, then we must take the stand that those that seek the destruction of such shared universal human rights bring a common cause to rally all of humanity.

To do so, we need to bring out the greatest agent of human rights to our common defense, the keystone of our shared human rights: EQUALITY. We must call for the EQUAL universal human rights for all people in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we must defy those enemies of human rights, from any extremist ideology which seeks the persecution and oppression of our brothers and sisters in humanity. Of all of the ideas in the world, the one that the enemies of human rights can least tolerate and accept is equality of human rights. Therefore, such equality of human rights must be the spearhead of our campaign to defy and challenge the extremist causes.

To the extremist calls of terrorism, violence, and subjugation of our fellow human beings, let them know the enemies of human rights know that we will reject, defy, and condemn their ideologies of hatred and violence. As we approach the anniversary this week of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us passionately and defiantly make a statement to all of the anti-human rights extremist groups — we will not submit, and we will defend our EQUAL universal human rights for all.

We will be passionately Responsible for Equality and Liberty.

Human Rights and the Difficult Path of Peace and Justice

When we see people persecuted by others, what is the right response? If we support our shared Universal Human Rights, we must be consistent in our respect for this for all people, including those who are persecuted and the identity groups that persecutors belong to.

The most important equation in human rights is that Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right.

The basic concept applies to any of those where we have such conflict between rights, safety, tolerance, and justice.

We cannot improve the rights of African-Americans by calling for violence against whites. We cannot help women in the world get their just role as equal partners in society by spreading hate against men. We cannot respect gay rights by seeking the destruction of religious houses of worship which reject homosexuality. These are broad examples, but of course, they apply to any group dynamics where such conflicts exist.

This may seem to be a convenient philosophy of pacifism, for those whose identity group is not in dire jeopardy. It is easy to call for such moral balance, when it is not your family’s life, your friends’ lives being threatened. When you are not on the front line of a war against your people, many will rightly question your morality and your right to respect a human right process based on peace. After all, some may say, “what did even your Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. achieve?” “Was he not killed too?” they might ask? “Did his peaceful approach solve the human rights problem in America?” These are fair and reasonable questions in simply a logical argument.

It is hard to be exposed to such grave injustices and see violence against your neighbors and even your loved ones and not call for a forceful response. Some would even view it as essential for self-preservation. It is understandable that frustrated individuals would want to form their own groups and take action to change the behavior of persecutors. But to those who take the path of force and violence, they need to understand the cost of that path.

There will always be those who will rationalize violence and hate as a method to “fight for human rights.” They will make what they consider to be logical arguments, and they may even present factual evidence that without such violent activity others will suffer even worse. They will state that “militant” behavior has long been the basis for freedom in the world, and is necessary for human rights. Around the world, they will point out to the American justice system (as flawed as it is) does not exist in many parts of the world, and using the efforts of human rights activists in America is unfair comparison to the struggles of people in other parts of the world. They will state if they don’t use force, they have no chance for justice.

Frustrated people understandably give earnest attention to such messages. They do not want to wait another year, another decade for halting human rights campaigns for freedom, while their families suffer. There is only so much patience, so much tolerance, that one can have, as it will be argued. Perhaps something more is needed, some will say. Heads will nod at the logic of such arguments.

But human rights and human rights campaigns are not based simply on logic. If that were the case, any tyrant with skilled debaters can readily argue for and against human rights using logical arguments as it suited their needs.

Human rights are primarily based on our EMPATHY for one another as fellow human beings, and the connection that our hearts have to one another. When we hear the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” it is not just our minds that were in unison on this – it is our hearts, our conscience, and our empathy for one another as brothers and sisters in humanity. This empathy for our fellow human beings goes to the very essence of every human rights campaign. Hearts Matter. We must reach hearts, and even change hearts to truly succeed.

We need to learn to cherish and honor our hearts as much as we cherish our minds, for it is in our hearts that the greatest hope for humanity truly lies.

“Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” speaks to us beyond any argument of logic, beyond debater, because we simply know that this is RIGHT. Our empathy provides a moral compass to guide us to this true path for human rights.

We need to LISTEN to that MORAL COMPASS. There may be a cacophony of many words, many voices, many sounds of destruction, many sounds of injustice that we hear in the world. But as the seas of life turn stormy, we must grasp and hold tight to that MORAL COMPASS to guide us through the tragedies and difficulties our human family must face.

Our MORAL COMPASS will keep us on the right path of human rights for all. We can not defeat persecution by becoming persecutors. We can not defy hatred by promoting hatred of others. We can not stop unjust violence by seeking a path of violence ourselves.

We support human rights against persecuted because it is UNJUST – not simply to our laws, not simply to some rules, but most of all because it unjust to our HEARTS AND SOULS.

We gain public support to challenge such persecution because much of the world truly does have an inherent rejection for injustice towards our fellow human beings – no matter what their race, religion, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation, or other identity.

We believe this because our shared universal human rights are for one human family, who are all our brothers and sisters in humanity — even when we reject and denounce the actions of extremists among them. If we have human rights campaigns based on our hearts, we cannot and we MUST NOT spread hate and violence against our fellow human beings, even those who persecute us.

We believe this because it is not simply in our laws or in minds, but most of all in our HEARTS – that we know together – we must be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Why We Must “Change Hearts” on Human Rights

In a human rights campaign in the United States of America, the question is being raised should we bother to try to “change hearts” on issues such as racial supremacist hatred and persecution? This question goes to the very root of our stand on our shared universal human rights for persecuted people in nations around the world.

The volunteer human rights group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) holds the position that not only can we “change hearts” regarding persecuted people, but also that we MUST “change hearts” and reach the conscience of the majority public source of persecution – whether it is white Americans or it is any other majority group around the world. R.E.A.L. believes that practical steps for concrete change by legislation and resources cement these “changed hearts.”

But if we think we can simply “legislate” an end to hate and discrimination – history shows us that we are missing the most important part of the struggle, which is the struggle for the hearts and conscience of our fellow human beings. If we no longer believe that we can “change the hearts” of those who persecute against our fellow human beings in America or anywhere in the world, we need to ask ourselves – are those the cowardly half-measures that we would want to hear, if our identity group was being persecuted? Is this all that we would want done for us, if we were persecuted?

We need to remember that first and foremost – our shared universal human rights begins with our hearts.

Our Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) begins with reaching out to the world “conscience” of our fellow human beings, which has been outraged by the “disregard and contempt for human rights” resulting “in barbarous acts.”

In this UDHR and the world’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the world nations speak of a “human family,” they promote “universal respect,” and address the essential nature of respecting the “inherent dignity” of one another as human beings.

The founding declaration of the United States of America itself begins with a call for a “respect to the opinions of mankind,” and rights for equality, life, and liberty that it promotes, including the “pursuit of happiness.” This is more than unfeeling call for governmental change. This is based on compassion. This is based on respect for each other as human beings.

Human beings use our reason and our knowledge to guide our daily, routine actions, as do societies within our human family. But coherency in our society calls for more than simply cold reason and pragmatism, it also calls for a conscience, for respect, for dignity, and even for the happiness of our fellow human beings, and in the United States, for all of our fellow Americans.

Our shared universal rights depend on the compassion of our conscience to understand that our fellow human beings are unique, special, and have value – not for what they can do – but simply for who they are as our brothers and sisters in humanity.

Too frequently, the calls to seek widespread change in the persecution of minority groups (race, religion, ethnic group, gender, other identity groups) are readily dismissed by leading politicians. Too many politicians believe human rights groups, such as the Black Lives Matter group, should only protest to target the achievement of specific changing of laws or resources, rather than seeking to “change hearts” for those who have hatred against such persecuted groups.

The pragmatist politicians can tell us “I don’t believe you change hearts.” These politicians we need to set our expectations lower – to get the persecuted group more political power, more economic capability, more educational opportunities, a greater public voice. Then the political argument goes, if we achieve all of these things together – then we don’t need to “change hearts,” because we will have changed laws, resources, and systems that make “a real difference.”

The intent is no doubt to offer “pragmatic advice” to persecuted minorities to come away with some incremental accomplishment in decades of struggle against those majority identity groups persecuting them. But in America, it is nothing short of astounding that political leaders would ask African-Americans to set their expectations lower, after literally centuries of African-American patience in seeking equal treatment and justice in the United States.

When we try to simply legislate all of our human rights issues away, what is the result?

What happens when we don’t make our human rights goals to “change hearts” on an equal footing with seeking to “change laws”? Throughout the world, we see halting, inconsistent change. We see persecuted minorities constantly hitting “walls” or “ceilings” where they are not permitted, not accepted, and not tolerated – because there are areas where our legislation and our laws had not been clever enough to challenge systemic persecution yet.

Our persecuted minorities are then told, well, shouldn’t you be “glad with the progress you have,” after all things are “not as bad as they used to be.” From the majorities, our legislators and public make such comments without any embarrassment or shame. We create new laws to combat human rights abuses, but deceive ourselves that we don’t have to do the hard work of still challenging the consciences and the hearts of our fellow human beings.

We really do not build human rights simply through infrastructure and grants. We really do not build human rights simply through legislation and rules. Majorities may deceive themselves that such “practical” changes are all that we need, but the truth is that these only succeed where we have already gotten the hearts of our fellow human beings to change.

This issue of conscience and human rights may have been brought up in America, but this is a global issue, and it affects global minorities persecuted around the world, such as: Pakistan Christians, Rohingya Muslims, ethnic minorities in Darfur, Falun Dafa in China, and many, many other groups. This global issue affects all persecuted people of different races, religions, ethnic groups, and identity groups. Do we believe that these human rights abuses will be solved by a few laws, and not concern ourselves with changing hearts?

This global issue of conscience especially affects the persecuted WOMEN of the world. Although women are half of the world’s population, they continue to have less rights than men, and women continue to face such walls and ceilings in their lives around the world. Do we really think we can simply legislate these abuses against women away? Do we believe that ending the persecution of women does not require also changing hearts?

We don’t have to look around the world to see if an approach to legislating human rights is sufficient. The history of African-Americans in the United States of America provides a clear precedent and an example of the challenges we face when we think we can change laws, but not hearts. Changing laws and changing resources are clearly NOT ENOUGH – we can and we MUST change the hearts and awaken the conscience of the majority. The argument for persecuted minorities to “be patient” and seek “incremental progress” can really be taken to the point of absurdity. Surely Americans should know this.

A slave shows his scars from being whipped, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1863. (Source: Blakeslee Collection photograph) — An African-American slave shows his scars from being whipped, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1863. (Source: Blakeslee Collection photograph)

150 years ago, the United States of America legislated the END of the abomination of slavery of African-Americans. This massive legal change was announced in the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) by President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln – the executive of the United States of America – declared in a proclamation that “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.” This was then legally defined in the U.S. Constitution in Amendment XIII (December 6, 1865), which stated “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Surely such commanding and unambiguous legislation, after the death of 400,000 U.S patriotic Union soldiers who lost their lives fighting Confederates who sought to preserve “the institution of slavery,” should have been sufficient for any reasonable and rational mind, yes?

American Patriot Union Soldiers Gave Their Lives to Fight White Supremacy Slavery (Shiloh Cemetery)

But sadly, even that was not enough legislation against white supremacy. The American people had to issue another Constitutional Amendment XIV to stop ensure citizenship of African-Americans born in the nation: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This was followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Then the American people had to issue yet another Constitutional Amendment XV to guarantee African-Americans the right to vote (February 3, 1870). African-American women had to wait to have the right to vote guaranteed for them, along with all other American women, another 50 years after that, until August 26, 1920, when the government certified the ratification of Constitutional Amendment XIX, which granted women the right to vote. In between these, the first Civil Rights Act of 1871 was created to help stop white supremacy terrorist persecution against African-Americans.

Still, as students of American history know, even 95 years ago, a massive Civil War, and three Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were not enough. We still had not sought to primarily “change hearts.” In Washington DC, during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson (March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921), racial segregation was being practiced throughout federal government office buildings, and in too many parts of the nation, racial segregation was common.

Those who decided to find ways around the laws for equality still did so. In many states, they enacted “Jim Crow” laws to prevent African-Americans from voting and other parts of life in American until 1965. They were challenged by court cases, and finally by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But yet, this still was not enough, because even with all laws in place, America needed yet another Civil Rights Act of 1968 , which included the Fair Housing Act, as well as laws to legislate against actions by Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy terrorists who would seek to prevent violence against persecuted minorities in federal protected activities, under 18 U.S. Code § 245 – Federally protected activities.

(NOTE: when R.E.A.L. recently contacted the Ferguson police chief on the legal protections on the Civil Rights Act of 1968, 18 U.S. Code § 245 Federally Protected Activities, the chief was not educated on this – 47 years later – and had no idea these laws existed.)

After the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other political leaders of that time, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, that generation of Americans certainly would like to believe that by the time of the 1968 Civil Rights Act — four Constitutional Amendments and five major Civil Rights Acts later — that we had legislated an end to white supremacy public discrimination against African-Americans. If just “changing the laws” were all we needed to do, then surely we had that done by 1968, 47 years ago. But history has shown us, without a doubt, that just changing the laws, and not changing hearts, has never been enough.

Many Americans, myself included, have searing and visceral memories of the shock and shame to see segrationists seek to have separate housing and restaurants to keep “whites” and “blacks” apart. My own hand tightens into a fist of frustration as I remember the shameful signs that read “White Clientele Only,” which I saw with my own eyes, in America. As small children, our young voices of conscience cried out in those days, as they must still today, when we are responsible adults who can make a difference. The dream of many Americans — that the routine respect and dignity of African-Americans as fellow citizens could be achieved in our lifetimes — has been clearly shattered when we see the atrocious behavior over the past year.

White Supremacy Business Sign Common in Parts of America in 1960s

Repeatedly in the past year, Americans have seen MILITARY VEHICLES IN OUR STREETS used against our OWN CITIZENS calling for the rights of African-Americans, as the African-American public rightly has had enough of “patience.” The outrageous behavior by those extremists in law enforcement has been a disgrace to our nation as we have seen case after case of such intolerable behavior.

With the advent of new technologies for citizens to readily record and share such injustices, the American public has now had its eyes opened to a seamy persecution of African-Americans throughout our nation by those extremists who claim they have “the right” to do so by their law enforcement authority, which our representative democracies have given them. Once again, we have seen that our legislation has not changed hearts, even by those who claim to serve justice.

Shooting of Walter Scott by White Police Officer Michael Slager - Charged with Murder (Source YouTube) — Shooting of African-American Walter Scott by White Police Officer Michael Slager – Charged with Murder (Source YouTube)

And the response by our government leadership to these disgraceful acts? “We need another law.” Really? You mean the four other Constitutional Amendments, the five Civil Rights Acts, and all of the endless individual laws that have flowed out of these acts, really are not enough? Or maybe we could start actually enforcing some of the laws we currently have? Maybe we could provide some national leadership and national government outrage at those in authority who abuse the laws we have now.

Instead, the next response by our federal government has been yet even more of the same regulatory incrementalism. After Ferguson, Missouri was burning last summer after persecution of African-Americans, and several other cases of unarmed African-Americans were killed by police, the “answer” was that our police would start to wear body cameras, and this would stop police brutality, and would stop extremists in law enforcement from killing African-Americans in the street. But even while this was only slightly implemented, we have also seen this summer, that regulatory solution still wouldn’t make a difference. The problem is you can have all the laws and all the technology you want. But if your police don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, and if your leaders have no intention of seeking to change the hearts of those who seek hatred against those in another identity group – then all the stopgap measures won’t work.

While wearing a camera, a police officer at the University of Cincinnati recently shot an unarmed African-American man Sam Dubose at a traffic stop and killed him in his automobile. We know – the nation (and the world) saw this all recorded on video. The police officer was not stopped or even slowed by his body camera to make judgments that would respect the life and human dignity of Sam Dubose – the only difference was that he was caught. But many others are “caught,” and nothing happens.

Sam Dubose Shot on July 19, 2015 by University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing, who will Charged with Murder

We see videos of such atrocities against African-Americans all the time. Too frequently, we have seen white police extremists beating, degrading, and killing African-American men, women, and children: Sam Dubose, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Eric Harris, Natasha McKenna. The white supremacist terrorist attack in Charleston, South Carolina resulted in the murder of nine African-Americans: Rev. Clement Pinkney, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Twanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson.

Nine African-Americans Murdered in Terrorist Attack on Charleston Church by Nazi/Confederate Dylann Roof

But such white supremacist terrorism is only the tip of the history of such terrorist persecution in America. Terrorist plot after terrorist plot has taken place with African-Americans and African-American churches and houses of worship targeted by white supremacists, including a bomb plot to kill 2,000 in a Martin Luther King, Jr. march, and a plot to murder over 100 African-Americans in church and to assassinate Barack Obama. African-American churches have regularly been the targets of arson and harassment with racist symbols.

Confederate Stormfront Members Support for White Supremacist Terrorists

Once again, our government leaders and politicians think “regulation” will solve this problem. But how many new regulations will it take? How many more laws will it take? What type of “resources” and “infrastructure” do we need to stop the human rights ethnic cleansing of African-Americans in this nation? What is going to TAKE for patriotic Americans to say ENOUGH?

Our politicians tell people to “be patient” and don’t try to “change hearts,” but “change laws.” But we already have many, many laws. We don’t have a shortage of laws at all. We have a shortage of conscience and hearts that respect African-Americans as human beings. That is the honest, painful truth, not a pleasant one for the politician, but one that patriotic Americans must face and address.

Sam Dubose's mother Audrey Dubose — Sam Dubose’s mother Audrey Dubose

But for 239 years, African-Americans have been suffering from persecution in one form after another in the United States. We believed that “legislation” would work start solving this problem 150 years ago. Then we believed “legislation” would work to solve this problem 95 years ago, then 45 years ago, etc., etc.

Honestly, how many CENTURIES do our American political leaders REALLY expect African-Americans to be “patient”? How much irreversible damage to a nation, it’s trust and respect for one another, and its commitment to a shared culture and laws, is done by a policy which believes we really only make “change” by changing LAWS? Certainly, we must challenge the HEARTS and CONSCIENCE of majority of white Americans to defy the ideology of white supremacy, which is at the root of all of these human rights atrocities and systemic persecution!

If the past year of well-publicized atrocities by extremists in law enforcement and white supremacy terrorists against African-Americans hasn’t been horrifying for white American political leaders, what exactly will it take to make them realize that a policy of “more of the same” – is simply enough? We cannot effectively change our laws and change our societies, until we CHANGE OUR HEARTS.

History shows that real change and real support for our shared universal human rights begins with our commitment to our conscience to the hearts of our fellow men and women – of all identity groups. Changing hearts matters, when we seek to end persecution and oppression. No new law, rule, or institution can solidly stand through time, if we don’t first do the hard work of reaching the conscience, the integrity, and the hearts of those who must follow and respect such societal changes.

We would want the “golden rule” to be used for us. We should do unto others as we would have others do unto us. If our society’s conscience and hearts don’t understand this, we need to change enough consciences and hearts to ensure that human rights changes have a lasting effect.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to Audience (Source: Charlotte News-Observer Video Screenshot)

We know that changing hearts, for persecuted people anywhere and everywhere in the world, is the most important step to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

November 27, 1962 – Initial “I Have a Dream” Speech – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

November 27, 1962 – Initial “I Have a Dream” Speech – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Booker T. Washington High School, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
(Before the August 28, 1963 March on Washington)

“So my friends of Rocky Mount, I have a dream tonight. It is a dream rooted deep in the American Dream.
I have a dream that one day down in Sasser County Georgia, where they burned two churches down a few weeks ago because Negroes wanted to register and vote, one day, right down there little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk the streets as brothers and sisters.
I have a dream that one day right here in Rocky Mount North Carolina that sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood, knowing that of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the Earth.
I have a dream.
That one day men all over this nation will recognize that all men were created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
I have a dream tonight.
One day the words of Amos will become real: let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, every valley shall be exulted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
Crooked places will be made straight, the rough places will be made strange, the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, men will do unto others as they would have done unto them.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, my little daughters and my two sons will grow up in a world not conscious of the color of their skin but only conscious of the fact that they are members of the human race.
I have a dream tonight.”

Reportedly to be available in digital form in the Fall of 2015

Charlotte News-Observer: Origin of the Dream: Excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Rocky Mount Speech

Charlotte News-Observer: Shaking history’s dust off King’s 1962 Rocky Mount speech
Daily Mail: Earliest discovered recording of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech reveals Declaration of Independence reference may have been added later

Why “Their” Struggle is “Our” Struggle

When we work to ensure fairness of rights and dignity for groups of people outside of our own personal identity group, there are times when persecuted groups will question our role in working for “their” freedom.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) uses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as our baseline on shared universal human rights. What this clearly points out is that we do not work for the rights, equality, liberty, dignity, and security of any one group, but for all people. Whatever the group, their struggle is our struggle. An attack on their shared human rights is an attack on our shared human rights.

During times of high tension during persecution, it is easy for those of us in groups that get persecuted to forget. It is easy to believe that someone else will not understand, and that only ones who care and have any right to speak to defend our human rights are members of our group. That is a natural, emotional reaction, which people of compassion will understand. But the only to defeat persecution is to stand together, one way or another, providing solidarity in whatever way we can. Those who believe they are empowered to persecute and oppress one group will not stop there; they will always move on to persecute others.

Solidarity in our shared universal human rights is our greatest means to combat the persecution of our fellow human beings in America and around the world.

We can – because we must. Together.

In the hard times and the easy times. All the time.

That is what it means to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights - Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) — Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

The Confederate Flag and The Law

More of the public continues to call for the swift end of official and institutional activities promoting the Confederate flag and symbols of hate, which have disgraced the great United States of America for too long. Patriotic Americans condemn the Confederate symbol of white supremacy racism and its promotion of human slavery, because it is an offense to our nation, to our support for shared human rights, and to the equality and dignity of African-Americans and all of our fellow Americans.

But is it more than simply offensive and degrading to African-Americans and American patriots? Patriots and public activists must examine how such official promotion of Confederate flags and symbols conflicts with the Constitution of the United States, and determine what we need to do in terms of the actions of public citizens, including citizens’ arrests, and class action lawsuits, in the event that government officials continue to fail to enforce the law. We need more than passionate views and statements; we need passionate action on behalf of this great nation.

Is the government display and honoring of the Confederate flag and Confederate symbols legal? An examination of the white supremacist Confederate cause to enslave, degrade, and intimidate African-Americans, as well as an examination of the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws clearly indicate that official and public honoring of Confederate flag and symbols is not simply disgusting, it is clearly against the law.

Many Americans have ignored this question, because of widespread misunderstanding over the true intent of the law and the criminal message of the white supremacist Confederate States of America (CSA) “culture,” as well as because of the mistaken belief that the Confederate enemy threat to this nation ended with the formal ending of the Civil War 150 years ago. As we have seen, the Confederate cause of white supremacist hatred, intimidation, and violence continues to this day.

The flag and symbols of the Confederate States of America were specifically associated with a promotion of white supremacy and the contemptible practice of human slavery. Many Americans simply view this as shameful and disgusting. But a careful examination of our Constitution and federal law shows that such institutional white supremacist intimidation is more than simply disgraceful; it is against the law – it is criminal.

To understand this, we need to dismiss with the nonsense that the Confederates were fighting some courageous war for “states’ rights,” but rather they sought to create an unyielding institution to degrade, deny human rights and dignity, kill, and abuse African-Americans based on their goals in defense of human slavery of African-Americans. This can be seen by an examination of the Confederate’s own words on their views, goals, and objectives.

In the Confederate States of America’s own Constitution, the Confederates, who declared open treasonous insurrection and rebellion on the United States government and its Constitution, created a “mirror constitution” of their own, except that in that document of shame, the Confederates openly promoted the use of human slavery. The perverted Confederate Constitution called for laws defending the “institution of negro slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States” (CSA Const. Article IV, Section 3(3)), “denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves,” (CSA Const. Article IV, Section 2(1)) and calling for Confederate Congressional control over the business of “slavery” from any states outside of the CSA. (CSA Const. Article IV, Sections 9(1) and 9(2))

The Confederates did not view African-Americans as human beings, only as property. The Confederates sought to enforce this twisted view in defiance of all natural law into an institution, states, regulations, and even their own “Constitution.” So for the Confederates, the right of white supremacist’s free travel became the right to travel “with their slaves and other property.” (CSA Const. Article IV, Section 2(1))

The Confederate States of America’s individual states declarations of secession define their goals as seeking to protect their white supremacist institution of human slavery. As described in the individual secession statements, the Confederates viewed that “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery” (Mississippi), in defense of “African slavery” (Georgia), defending a white supremacist culture of “slaveholding States of the South” (South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia), and “that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity” (Texas). The mission and values of the Confederate States were to defend only white supremacist governance, viewing “the African race…as an inferior and dependent race” (Texas), rejecting “negro equality” (South Carolina), rejecting “political equality between the white and negro races” (Texas). The Confederates viewed African-Americans “beneficial and tolerable” only as slaves who were “an inferior and dependent race” (Texas).

What government official, military individual, court, law enforcement individual, or any person representing any part of the United States of America should be legally allowed to promote the symbols and flags of such criminal and despicable positions? How could we allow anyone in a position of government of any type to “honor” and commemorate such institutionally criminal views and values? How can the government enforce its obligations under the U.S. Constitution and U.S. law, while allowing this “honoring” of Confederate flags and symbols?

The Constitution of the United States has been amended to be crystal clear that such despicable actions and institutional oppression against African-Americans were against all national law. It was changed consciously and deliberately and in full knowledge of the actions of the Confederates so that Americans could state, regarding this African-American Holocaust, “Never Again.” U.S Constitution Amendment 13 (ratified December 6, 1865) stated that slavery was not permitted in the United States. Amendment 15 (ratified February 3, 1870) stated that the “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 law states that it is a federal crime (18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2)) to “by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone …by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin.”

The United States federal law makes it a CRIME for such white supremacist intimidation to interfere with lawful participation in “speech or peaceful assembly,” voting, “participating in or enjoying any benefit, service, privilege, program, facility, or activity provided or administered by the United States,” “applying for or enjoying employment,” enjoying any federal government or state benefit or service, attending college, using any public goods, services, facilities or accommodations (from foods, restaurants, gasoline, theaters, restaurants, etc.), traveling by any means, serving on a court, and many other activities.

The intent of this U.S. federal law and the amendments to the Constitution in the light of the white supremacist Confederate insurrection and rebellion was to make it clear that such racist activity was CRIMINAL, not simply deplorable. The intent is clear that the changes to law were enable CRIMINAL PROSECUTION of such white supremacists denying basic human rights, not simply to shake our heads in disgust and dismay.

So in view of these aspects of the U.S. Constitution and federal law, why would it be legal for government and government-funded institutions to display such symbols of white supremacist hate to create a “culture” of intimidation in our government offices, in public places, in colleges, in restaurants, and in other public places where federal law specifically makes it a CRIME to intimidate people from using? In fact, it is clear that the law of the land intended to criminalize such actions by government agencies and institutions intimidating African-Americans in public places.

It is against the law for our government agencies to create such a culture of intimidation against African-Americans in government offices and facilities with Confederate flags and monuments to such white supremacy. Our United States Congress should know that it cannot legally permit the South Carolina Confederate flag or any symbols of the white supremacist Confederacy in any Congressional or government buildings to create an atmosphere of intimidation to American people they represent. It is against the law for the government of South Carolina to fly this Confederate white supremacist flag on capital and public grounds.

It is against the law for the United States military and armed forces to create a culture of intimidation against African-Americans by honoring the white supremacist Confederate flag, their treasonous leaders, and military leaders, including “honoring” of such Confederate leaders in government military institutions.

It is against the law for state government agencies to have issued and still issue “Confederate license plates” to create a culture of intimidation against African-Americans and contempt for the law on our highways and public places.

It is against the law for any college, including the Citadel, to display such Confederate flags and symbols of white supremacist intimidation against African-American in violation of this law.

It is against the law for African-Americans to be intimated and forced to attend schools and educational institutions with names honoring white supremacist Confederate leaders, with intimidating white supremacist Confederate flags and statues at such educational institutions. The law clearly shows this applies to any university, school, or educational institution.

It is against the law for parks and other public places to promote this white supremacist Confederate flag and symbols to intimidate the African-American public from the use of these parks and public institutions, and to intimidate their public speech or peaceful assembly in such areas. It is against the law for our park administrations to sell, promote, and honor white supremacist Confederate flags, monuments, and other items to intimidate African-Americans from using such facilities, and to license commercial vendors to sell such white supremacist Confederate items, as well.

Regarding highways, travel, and “any facility of interstate commerce,” it is against the law for government organizations and institutions to designate names of such public facilities based on white supremacist Confederate leaders and to adorn them with Confederate white supremacist monuments to intimidate African-Americans from using such facilities of interstate commerce. The “Jefferson Davis Highway,” named after the notorious Confederate white supremacist leader, is in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and California; this includes direct avenues of interstate commerce in clear violation of federal law. Furthermore, the Federal Highway Administration maintains a friendly “history” of this disgraceful abuse of our interstate commerce, named after a white supremacist leader who led the campaign to kill 400,000 American soldiers and enslave at least hundreds of thousands of African-Americans.

In addition to all of these other laws, our U.S. Constitution has another legal obligation to enforce, specifically to all those in any government, under U.S. Constitution Amendment 14, Section 3, which states: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

We have seen numerous terrorist attacks on our nation, associated with those allied to the “insurrection” and “rebellion” by the Confederate white supremacist movement. This does not include only the Confederate terrorist attack in Charleston by Dylann Roof, but also other recent attacks by Confederate terrorist Wade Michael Page in Wisconsin, the terrorist shooting of African American churches in Tennessee by Confederate terrorists Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman, and the plot by such Confederate terrorists to kill 102 African Americans in an attack on a church, as well as an attack on then Senator Barack Obama.

The idea that the Confederate enemy threat ended with the legal end of the Civil War is a misguided and incomplete view of history. The reality is that Confederate enemies chose to use other tactics to promote their policies and views of white supremacy against Americans, including terrorist tactics of insurgent warfare. This enemy is very much still alive in this nation.

So in view of all of these facts and the law of the land, it is clearly against the U.S. Constitution and against the law for members of our government who “hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State” to give “aid or comfort to the enemies” of our nation and those enemies who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” This legal standard clearly applies to those members of our federal, state, or local government who would honor, promote, and praise such Confederate white supremacy symbols and leaders, giving “aid” and “comfort” to a very real enemy that still exists among us today.

When we start with an understanding of RIGHT AND WRONG, and we are educated on THE LAW, it is not difficult to see the many, many violations of the law by institutions seeking to create a culture of public intimidation against African-Americans in this nation.

I grew up as a child seeing the rawness of this white supremacy hatred and sickness in our nation. I vividly recall a visit to Virginia Beach, Virginia, asking my father what a sign meant that was in front of a hotel there that read “White Clientele Only.” My father went on to tell me how he learned of how his African-American co-workers would be intimidated and denied the rights to eat in public places that were also viewed as exclusive for “white clientele only.” I saw the disgrace of the white supremacy hate against Americans directly with my own eyes. I saw the contempt of Confederates for our nation, as they tore down an American flag that my father had in Virginia.

We have come far from those dark, horrible days, but we have not come far enough. We have changed much, but we have not changed enough. Most of all, we have enforced the law, but we have not enforced the law enough, and it is PAST TIME for our REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT and OUR RESPONSIBILITY to get the law of the land enforced against the Confederate white supremacist movement in this nation.

This is a call to action directly to the U.S. Department of Justice, to the U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on this epidemic of criminal behavior by those “giving aid” to Confederate white supremacists, as well as a direct call for action by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta. This is not just the responsibility of protesters and activists, this is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TOO – we are looking for your leadership to enforce the law of the land. But while we seek our Department of Justice to act, this does not reduce OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT one bit – we are responsible for awakening our government, our institutions, and our businesses to ENFORCE THE LAW. If they cannot act swiftly through our calls for justice, then our calls for Class Action Lawsuits and other actions to ensure justice are required.

Today, in Charleston, South Carolina, an American patriot, Brittany “Bree” Newsome, took down the Confederate flag of white supremacy over the Charleston capitol grounds. She was arrested for the misdemeanor of defacing a monument, and a campaign of “#FreeBree” has been started. But who has broken THE LAW? Clearly, the law has been broken by the South Carolina government, and Bree Newsome’s actions were truly to ENFORCE THE LAW OF THE LAND, which is being broken by such government representatives. Bree Newsome was making a CITIZEN’S ARREST against the criminal symbol of Confederate white supremacist intimidation and hate being illegally honored on the public grounds at the Charleston capital.

After 150 years, it is truly past time for Americans to find the courage to enforce our laws.

If our representative government and our great nation is afraid and unwilling to enforce THE LAW in these blatant issues of honoring and promoting such white supremacist Confederate symbols, especially when such Confederates commit acts of terrorism on this nation, then let us not be such incredible hypocrites when we judge other nations who fail to act on extremists in their midst. Our support for the law, for our universal human rights and dignity is not simply a goal for the rest world, it is an imperative for the United States of America.

Some will want to debate this as a matter of “free speech” versus “civil rights” as if this was some philosophical matter detached from the urgent needs for safety, rights, dignity, and equality of Americans today. Some will want to argue this as a matter of “history” versus “legalities,” when the history they want to ignore is the enslavement, oppression, and mass murder of African Americans. The history they want to ignore is the hundreds of thousands of American patriots who died to fight such slavery. The history they want to ignore is the white supremacist contempt for human rights and dignity and the mutilation of our nation’s soul by the white supremacist atrocities, which we continue to see today.

But at some point, the American people must take a stand to show we understand the difference between right and wrong, that we have respect for the laws of this land and the human rights of this world, and we will not let that crimes committed by Americans in the past define us as Americans and as nation – today or in the future.

Some things are worth fighting for. In Arlington National Cemetery and in graves around this nation, 400,000 American patriot soldiers, including freed African-American slaves and many patriotic white Americans – GAVE THEIR LIVES and DIED – to defend our Union and to defy the cause of white supremacist HUMAN SLAVERY. When our children, the world, and each other see America, we must remember that.

We must remember, when faced with terrible wrongs, we can and we must have the courage to do what is RIGHT.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It has been stated in contexts around the world, as it should. But let us not forget that it was written from by Dr King while he was in the Birmingham, Alabama jail to urge Americans to work for justice everywhere throughout this great nation. We must heed these words today, and end the criminal injustice of the Confederate white supremacist intimidation in our public places.

We need to remind the enemies of this nation. We need to remind those whose twisted values would honor white supremacy. We need to remind those who are fighting for democracy in foreign lands. We need to remind our children, who are looking for our leadership in this hour of decision. But most of all, we need to look to each other, eye to eye, hand to hand, heart to heart, in every race, religion, gender, and identity group, that makes up this great, integrated, and diverse nation of America.

We need to look to one another and remind ourselves, not just of our rights, but also of our RESPONSIBILITY… as WE ARE – the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This isn’t someone else’s fight. This isn’t someone else’s problem. This is our RESPONSIBILITY – to defy the enemies of our nation and the enemies of our human rights. It is our responsibility to continue to work to make this nation the land of the free and the home of the brave.

It is our RESPONSIBILITY for American Equality and Liberty – for all.

The Broken Tree and the Butterfly Garden

We once had a grand tree in front of our home.
It was the source of many years of enjoyment and comfort.
It was a haven for birds and wild creatures.
During holidays, I would decorate it for the neighborhood.

It faced many terrible storms. It had bowed before. But one unyielding heavy weight of a snowstorm was too much. I woke to find broken over my car. I picked up the limbs and pulled it away, and I had no choice but to saw away at the pieces of what was left of my friend the grand tree into pieces. I was saddened at its loss all winter. In the spring, we tried to bring a small piece of it back. There was a small shoot of the tree’s remnant in the roots that we tried to bring back, and we built braces to help it grow. But it too could not survive the struggle of time.

Our grand tree was now gone for good. For years, we left it a dark place, which we mulched over, to conceal its loss. It was a source of daily regret and bitterness as I looked at where it had once been.

But eventually we decided to rebuild. So on the place where the grand tree once stood, we now built a butterfly garden, with all types of tall flowers, and places for the birds to celebrate once again. The butterfly garden stands now where the broken tree was. I still remember the broken tree, but most will not, and our new neighbors and visitors will only remember the butterfly garden.

The butterfly garden is a haven for birds and wild creatures, including our friendly squirrels and rabbits who visit our home. It is a place of joy for the neighborhood.

We can struggle and defy many challenges, but we cannot defy the march of time. We have no choice but to move on with time.

We can wring our hands over the broken trees in our lives, and endlessly try to bring them back. Or we can move forward and build the butterfly gardens where they once stood, and create new ways for joy and comfort in our lives and in the lives of others.