Emory
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March 31, 2008
Soundbites
Youth vital part
of social justice
“Social justice in America and around the world depends on the fire of youth — the dreams of the young. We need the renewal of your spirit to propel society to new heights,” Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin told students and others in a keynote address March 24 that kicked off Emory’s Human Rights Week.
Franklin also acknowledged the good works of several former Emory students who played vital roles in the civil rights movement.
“Young people in the 1960s saw the possible and saw hope just like they found a way to continue to fight for justice, freedom and peace,” Franklin said. “In this new world order the youth must continue to do the possible when it seems impossible.” — Laura Sommer
Senator talks
energy, free trade
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson stressed the need for American energy independence and affirmed his support for free trade in a speech March 25.
“The Global Marketplace and the Environment” was part of the Halle Distinguished Fellow Program, sponsored by the Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning with the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce.
Regarding outsourcing, he said, “What’s being outsourced are the jobs of the 20th century, not the jobs of the 21st century.”
“We cannot become paranoid about doing business around the world,” he said, adding instead we should be opening doors and lowering obstacles to trade, not building barriers. — Leslie King
Guantanamo’s
impact on rights
“Collectively, the actions of the government are our actions,” Emory Law Visiting Professor Charles Swift said about the implications of the situation at Guantanamo Bay.
Swift joined Professor Johan Van der Vyver in a March 25 discussion during Emory’s Human Rights Week on Guantanamo’s impact on the broader spectrum of international human rights.
“For all the progress we’ve made, the debate seems to be moving in the wrong direction,” Swift said, explaining what he referred to as the “Guantanamo shuffle” — one step forward and three steps back. Van der Vyver added that he was “highly critical” of the United States for “trying to escape its liability under international humanitarian law” through their treatment of Guantanamo detainees. — Liz Chilla
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