During the 1950’s the idea of “separate but equal” continued to be a prominent ideology in the United States, particularly in the Southern states. It was not until after World War II and the Cold War that international concerns provoked Americans to rethink about the domestic issues about human rights within the country. The United States had became the leader in preventing the spread of communism to parts of the world, but refused to realize that segregation and the denial of human rights made the United States existed. The United States was in a way hyprocrite to the causes it was fighting for. In Robert F. Williams’ book, Negroes with Guns, he addresses the international concerns that influenced the strategies pursued by Williams and other civil rights activists.
After the Cold War, the UN General Assembly created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by a committee chaired by Elanor Roosevelt. The document identified a series of rights that should be guranteed to everyone including “freedom of speech, religious toleration, and protection against arbitary governement”, and most importantly, “the right to an adequate standard of living and access to housing, education, and medical care” (Foner 909). The United States, which held a dominate role in the world to prevent the spread of …show more content…
The Canadians were even more symphathetic for him. They were willing to help Williams fight against the authories who were trying to return him “to the violence, brutality and racial oppression of the South” and even hired lawyers in Canada “to take immediate legal action in the event of” his arrest (104). Williams decided not to stay in Canada, but to flee to Cuba, where “ a Negro would be treated as a human being; where the race problem would be understood; and where people would not look upon me as a criminal, but as a victim”
After the Cold War, the UN General Assembly created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by a committee chaired by Elanor Roosevelt. The document identified a series of rights that should be guranteed to everyone including “freedom of speech, religious toleration, and protection against arbitary governement”, and most importantly, “the right to an adequate standard of living and access to housing, education, and medical care” (Foner 909). The United States, which held a dominate role in the world to prevent the spread of …show more content…
The Canadians were even more symphathetic for him. They were willing to help Williams fight against the authories who were trying to return him “to the violence, brutality and racial oppression of the South” and even hired lawyers in Canada “to take immediate legal action in the event of” his arrest (104). Williams decided not to stay in Canada, but to flee to Cuba, where “ a Negro would be treated as a human being; where the race problem would be understood; and where people would not look upon me as a criminal, but as a victim”