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dom” and “democracy” were not quite the same as the American definitions. The Soviets wanted to make sure each country decided whether a specific human right had been violated, as opposed to allowing other countries or an international body to make that decision. The Soviets also wanted to make sure that employment, education, and health care were included as basic human rights. In the view of the Soviets, these rights were just as important as political rights. Negotiations were long, arduous, and tense. The Soviets proved difficult at nearly every turn and blasted the United States for its institutional racial discrimination against African Americans. In the end, compromises were reached, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN in 1948. The UDHR was intended to guide the actions of the United Nations and its member countries, providing an out- line of basic human rights. Although it was not legally bind- ing, the declaration was historic nonetheless, even though it lacked specifics such as recognizing minority rights. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” Article 1 began. “They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” The UDHR then outlined various rights, including rights to life, liberty, and property. People should not be arrested without just cause or be tortured as they had been during World War II. People had the right to think freely and express themselves. Religious freedom was also a basic right. The document was idealistic, yet many nations em- braced its goals. Its principles would guide other UN agen- cies as they worked to protect workers, women, children, and refugees. Countries invoked its language to protest racism and colonialism. At the same time, human rights abuses against minorities and women continued through the decades following. Enforcing human rights was often very difficult: it usually took a multination effort, as many countries resisted the very idea of an outside entity having a say in their internal affairs.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Eleanor Roosevelt, Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. — From a 1958 speech to the United Nations marking the

tenth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND CHANGING SOCIAL STRUCTURES