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Quote by Mary Robinson

“If the Chinese business community takes the Declaration of Human Rights, core labor standards, and environmental standards seriously, the government of China will take them far more seriously, too.”

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Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson, born on May 21, 1944, is an esteemed Irish lawyer, diplomat, and human rights activist. She served as the President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997. Robinson is recognized for her advocacy on human rights and social justice issues both in Ireland and internationally. more

“The corporate sector per se is bottom-line oriented. It can be very corrupt and it is not very principled. That is why I don't think it is sufficient just to have voluntary codes of behavior. I am in favor of legislation which helps to ensure that there is an even playing field and rewards those who play by the rules.”

Thinking Play Helping Lines Fields Behavior Rewards Bottom Favors Corporate Code Sufficient Legislation Bottom Line Playing Fields Principled

Author:Mary Robinson

“What has changed since the collapse of Jim Crow has less to do with the basic structure of our society than with the language we use to justify it. In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. So we don't. Rather than rely on race, we use our criminal justice system to label people of color "criminals" and then engage in all the practices we supposedly left behind.”

“Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination - employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service - are suddenly legal.”

“As a criminal you have scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow. We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

Men America Black Rights Criminals Height Crow Alabama Castes Jim Crow

Author:Michelle Alexander

“For African American children, in particular, the odds are extremely high that they will have a parent or loved one, a relative, who has either spent time behind bars or who has acquired a criminal record and thus is part of the under-caste - the group of people who can be legally discriminated against for the rest of their lives. For many African American children, their fathers, and increasingly their mothers, are behind bars. It is very difficult for them to visit. Many people are held hundreds or even thousands of miles away from home.”

People Children Home Mother Father Parent Difficult Behinds Records Groups Particular Criminals Miles Bars African American Relative Loved Ones Odds Miles Away Castes Away From Home

Author:Michelle Alexander

Quote by Mary Robinson

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