pages: SocialServiceHumanRelationsBoard/2008-05-22.pdf, 2
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SocialServiceHumanRelationsBoard | 2008-05-22 | 2 | Regular Minutes of the SSHRB, May 22, 2008 Meeting Page 2 Villareal - I agree with Franz that what we should work as a community to ensure that we adhere to the Human Rights charter. Yet within context of our purpose as a Board, I don't know how influential we can be. I think that bringing this conversation to a more local level programmatically and discussing what can we do in Alameda becomes more of our focal point and more realistic. I need to frame this in a more actionable perspective. Franz - We need to remember that the people we interact with in Wuxi have no more power than we have to change their country's stance in relationship to human rights. We say "its not me', well "its not them' either. Soglin - To the extent we want to make a public statement, I think its not to another government, but rather to Alamedans. I think the message to Alamedans is that we don't agree with everything China does in relation to human rights, just as we don't agree with any actions our government may take to violate human rights. I agree with Henry that there are enough human right violations and social service issues to work with to keep us busy. We need to choose where we can have the most impact. Nielsen - I wonder if our role as government through Alamedans Together Against Hate (ATAH) is the way to approach this, focused on compassion, with actions for purpose of awareness and education. Franz - If we have concerns about others we must at the same time name concerns about ourselves. For example, ATAH assumes hate in Alameda and we can't take hate out of the name because we know its real. Chen - We are lucky to have our human rights protected, each one of 250 countries, is being protected. Franz - Our rights are not being protected under the Patriot Act you could disappear, you are just lucky it hasn't happened. We are a democracy but we are a capitalistic country for power. If you want to find power, look for money. Elections are bought and sold. Nielsen - We are far from perfect, but when I think of our actions, so much of our work through ATAH and Assessment and Awareness workgroups has been focused on building compassion and understanding events at the forums hosted with the College of Alameda and the "In the Mix" mixed race conference. There are initiatives are part of the fabric of our community and the city supports enable us to prepare them the best they can. As a next step, I can see giving fact sheets to City Council that highlights each of the areas of the UN Human Rights Charter and how our initiatives address each of the areas. Also, there are organizations that quantify social response for businesses. I wonder if we could use the models for any business partnership we make. The expectation is out there Soglin - In our dealings with the China delegation, I think a conversation about human rights should come more organically. We could say this is what we do, rather than saying this is what you should do. Franz - China is an emerging nation. It has taken a long time to recognize African Americans as human beings and it has only been 50 years since the Japanese internment. Soglin - Less for same sex marriage. | SocialServiceHumanRelationsBoard/2008-05-22.pdf |