They were brought about in America by the Declaration of Independence and they should be protected. If you have been denied any or all of those rights, you can relate to why it’s important to teach others that we all have these rights. And we have a responsibility and duty to others to protect their rights and freedoms. We have the right to a fair and free world. We have the right to protection of our intellectual property, such as art or writing. We also have the right to rest from work and relax. We have the right to do a job for a fair wage and join a union should we so choose. The right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and childcare. We have the right to express ourselves.Įveryone has the right to public assembly. We have the right to own things and think freely. We all have the right to marriage and a family. Each of us has a right to belong to a country. We all have the right to privacy, to travel and go where we wish, and to seek a safe place to live. No one has the right to unfairly detain us. We all have the right to be treated fairly by the law. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety. We are all unique and allowed to have our own ideas. No matter where they fall in any of these areas, every American has the right to vote, get healthcare, have equal pay for equal work, have food security, and be treated with equality.

No one should be discriminated against for race, gender, age, orientation, religion, nationality, education, or mental or physical ability. I was well-intentioned, but I had to know better to do better.

I have always prided myself in being colorblind and not being a racist, but as I matured, I was shown that I did have some bias in my thinking. I was raised by a racist and a non-racist. The world is deeply entrenched in hate, and that’s not the way it was intended to be. It takes all of us working together to ensure that everyone has rights as a human being. Social justice is a problem that we should all care about.

All Kinds of People by Shelley Rotner