Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources. Edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006. 1 vol. 519 p. $115.00. ISBN1-4144-0320-8.

The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 includes "inalienable rights of all members of the human family" which includes "freedom, justice and peace in the world." The degree to which many citizens of the world lived safely over the past two centuries and live in peace at this time is described in eight sections: "Development of Human Rights," "Slavery and Genocide," "Imprisonment," "Health and Housing," "Labor and Working Conditions," "Civil and Political Rights," "Borders, Sovereignty and Culture" and "Education and Childhood." Within this are discussions of such issues as Roe vs. Wade and child prostitution in Brazil. Discussing human and civil rights is not easy, but these topics and subtopics within them are assigned to students for study. Many of the articles are about other countries because they are often seen as more likely to deny freedom, but "We, on Death Row," is focused on prisoners in U.S. jails. The 2005 article on "Undocumented Migrant Farm Workers" fits well with discussions of fences to keep out illegal aliens. Two photographs of Rosa Parks explain her contribution to the fall of segregation. Environmental disasters are represented by Woody Gutherie's "Dust Bowl" song, articles on the Los Angeles smog and the Valdez spill. To have primary sources to begin the discussion or debate will help students in their search for what is accurate and what needs to be checked in other sources.