My Turn: Bringing peace and social justice to our classrooms
Published: 3/8/2021 7:00:16 AM
On June 26, 1945, in San Francisco, 50 nations ratified the charter that created the United Nations. The U.S. Senate later voted 89 to 2 to accept it. On Dec. 10, 1948, representatives from those 50 countries voted on the approval of the 30 Articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), much of which is based on America’s Bill of Rights.
Why a UDHR? After WWII, which led to the slaughter of millions of soldiers and innocent civilians, including six million Jews and others such as Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled, and political prisoners, the people of the world had seen enough and resolved to establish a new world organization to address issues centering on war, poverty, racism and human rights. Hence, the birth of both the United Nations and the UDHR which is not legally binding upon any of the signatory nations.