c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ As President Clinton proclaimed the promotion of human rights a”central pillar”of U.S. foreign policy, a new survey said three of four Americans believe the founding fathers would be disappointed by the degree of human rights problems here.

The survey, released Wednesday (Dec. 10), said Americans give the nation a”C to C-“overall grade on human rights. More than half of all Americans listed police brutality, racism, poverty and discrimination against gays and working women as the nation’s leading human rights problems. Efforts to fight racism, provide affordable health care and”respecting one another”received”C-“grades in the survey.”The results are particularly shocking given the current solid economic conditions”in the United States, said pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted the survey for Human Rights U.S.A., a Washington-based umbrella agency for several human rights groups.”Only in a relative sense to some other nations are human rights in the United States superior.” The survey was released on the 49th anniversary of the United Nations-approved Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document detailing basic rights described as inherent to the dignity of all people. The list _ proclaimed by the U.N. as basic to”freedom, justice and peace in the world”_ includes cultural, legal, social, political, civil and religious rights.

Similar activities to draw attention to the declaration were held in several nations. In Iran, where he was attending an Islamic leaders conference, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said”one cannot pick and choose among human rights, ignoring some while insisting on others. Only as rights equally applied can they be rights universally accepted.” On Tuesday (Dec. 9) in New York, Clinton said human rights are at the core of U.S. foreign policy _ a claim challenged by critics who say economic, security and other considerations often take precedence over human rights in White House policies.”As long as America is determined to stand for human rights, then free people all around the world will choose to stand with America,”Clinton said.

However, Lyn Beth Neylon, director of Human Rights U.S.A., said Clinton’s comments on foreign policy ignored domestic human rights problems.”To hold yourself out as a model and only concentrate on the things you do well is a little misleading,”Neylon said at the Washington news conference where the survey was released.

She noted that although the vast majority of Americans are unfamiliar with the U.N. human rights declaration, 49 percent of those polled said the United States had failed to live up to most or all of the document once a brief description of it was read to them.

According to the survey, 63 percent of Americans believe the poor face the greatest discrimination. Next come the disabled (61 percent), the elderly (54 percent), gays and lesbians (51 percent) and Native Americans (50 percent).

Sixty-eight percent said police brutality was the most serious human rights problem in the United States. Racism came next with 66 percent, followed by discrimination against homosexuals (56 percent), poverty (53 percent) and unequal pay for women (51 percent).

While 41 percent of all Americans agreed that African-Americans”usually”face discrimination, 70 percent of blacks surveyed said African-Americans face widespread discrimination. Seventy-five percent of blacks said they personally had experienced discrimination because of their race.

Thirty-eight percent of all Americans said Latinos usually face discrimination, while 42 percent of Latinos said they face widespread discrimination as a group. Sixty-three percent of Latinos said they personally had been the victims of racial discrimination.

Whites are the only group believed by a substantial majority of Americans (63 percent) to be treated fairly. Nineteen percent said whites are discriminated against, but 31 percent of blacks and 22 percent of Latinos believe whites”receive too many special advantages.” Ten percent of those surveyed said they had experienced discrimination because of their religious beliefs. Fourteen percent of blacks said they had experienced religious discrimination, although the survey did not explain the nature of the discrimination.

The poll of 1,004 adults was conducted in November and has a 3.2 percent margin of error.

A separate survey of 205 11th and 12th graders found that 42 percent believe their age group faces widespread discrimination _ although only 20 percent of adults agreed. The teen survey had a 7.1 percent margin of error.

Human Rights U.S.A. is a collaborative effort of Amnesty International USA, Atlanta’s Center for Human Rights Education, Partners in Human Rights Education-University of Minnesota Human Rights Center/Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and Street Law, Inc., a Washington legal rights organization. Human Rights U.S.A. plans to use the survey results as a teaching tool in community and public school programs in Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Antonio and St. Louis.

Edward L. O’Brien, Street Law co-director, said human rights education in U.S. schools lags and is generally taught only in conjunction with Nazi efforts to eradicate Jews and others during World War II.”We need to do more if human rights are to be practices and not just preached,”he said.

MJP END RIFKIN