The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
JANUARY 24, 1947
[Original version of the column. Text in red are tagged with <sic> (needs correction); text in purple are tagged with <orig> (needs regularization); and text in blue are tagged names of persons or organizations. View emended version]
NEW YORK, Thursday—I had a visit yesterday afternoon from labor leaders David Dubinsky and Matthew Woll, who came to see me about the human rights bill which they have presented to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. I explained to them the preliminaries that I thought the commission would have to go through, and the work which would have to be done by the secretariat, but I think it very valuable that such groups as the American Federation of Labor are taking an active interest in the achievement of human rights throughout the world.
It is natural, of course, that labor unions should be interested in human rights. And one of the things that I hope will evolve from any bill of this kind is the right of people to economic as well as political freedom. For instance, any discrimination as to race or religion in obtaining work at any level is a violation of economic human rights, from my point of view.
* * *
I was also visited by some other influential people who are hopeful that the International Refugee Organization will come into being and who are anxious to see it work as well as possible. However, they stressed to me again a situation of which I have heard a number of times lately. A certain directive from UNRRA, which seemed to have the backing of some of our military-government people, makes it possible to use a good deal of coercion on displaced persons in camps, in order to make them accept repatriation. Apparently there is a feeling that, in some cases, the result is almost forced repatriation. That is certainly not the intent of our government here.
* * *
I was surprised to learn, from these guests, of the fears of many of our local relief agencies on the subject of the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund. They feel that any appeal to individuals will hurt the money-raising of private organizations, and they feel no assurance that the set-up of the Children's Emergency Fund will use these agencies in carrying out the job of relief. This worries many of the agencies which have been working in the international field, primarily with children.
They recognize that the mass feeding which may need to be done in the course of the next year or two cannot be done solely by private agencies, but they do not want to be put out of business. This is a problem which the board of the Children's Emergency Fund will have to take up, and I am quite sure that some solution, satisfactory to all concerned, can be found.
The main problem is to keep the children of the world from starving and to provide them with medical care—and everyone wants to see that problem solved.
E. R.
(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1947, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR PART PROHIBITED.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Dubinsky, David, 1892-1982 [ index ]
American labor leader and founder of the American Labor Party
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Woll, Matthew, 1880-1956 [ index ]
American; Pres. of the International Photo-Engravers Union of North America (1906-1929); Vice Pres. of the Amer. Federation of Labor
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
Organizations
- American Federation of Labor [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives ] - International Refugee Organization [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ] - UNICEF [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ] - United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ] - United Nations. Commission on Human Rights [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ]
Geographic
- [ index ] New York (N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
- Charities
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST ] - Children
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST ] - Human rights
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST | US Nat. Archives | Other source ] - Hunger
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST ] - Labor unions
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST ] - Race discrimination
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST | US Nat. Archives | Other source ] - Refugees
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST | Other source ] - Repatriation
[ LC | Wikidata | FAST ]
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 24, 1947
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project
Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.
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