Renewed Call to End Discrimination

Today is the 50th anniversary of the famous speech by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King in which he declared that:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true  meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are  created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former  slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at  the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering  with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be  transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation  where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of  their character."

We have come a long way toward ending discrimination both domestically and internationally, but there is more work to be done.  This day of remembrance is a great opportunity to recommit ourselves to ending discrimination in all its forms.   Let us call on our governments to demonstrate their commitment by ratifying and implementing treaties that end discrimination, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  In the United States, we need the President to sign the Migrant Workers Convention and the Senate to give its consent to the Disabilities Convention and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

(cgb)