black-led nation in
other members of the UNIA believe
PRIMARY SOURCE: DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
66 Be it Resolved, That the Negro people of the world.
protest against the
wrongs and injustices they are suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and
state what they deem their fair and just rights, as well as the treatment
they
propose to demand of all men in the future.
We complain:
1. That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are black men accorded equa
on the contrary, are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to
treatment with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances
, but
3. That European nations have parcelled out among them and taken possession of
nearly all of the continent of Africa, and the natives are compelled to
surrender
human beings for no other reason than their race and color.
their lands to aliens and are treated in most instances like slaves
the handicaps and difficulties surrounding it, and to push forward to a higher and
In order to encourage our race all over the world and to stimulate it to overcome
1. Be it known to all men that whereas all men are created equal and entitled to the
grander destiny, we demand and insist on the following Declaration of Rights
:
elected representatives of the Negro peoples
of the world
, invoking the aid of the
rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the
duly
just and Almighty God, do declare all men, women and children of our blood
throughout the world free denizens
,
and do claim them as free
citizens of Africa,
the Motherland of all Negroes.
3. That we believe the Negro, like any other race, should be governed by the ethics
of civilization, and therefore should not be deprived of any of those rights
or
privileges common to other human
beings.
45. Be it further resolved, That we as a race of people declare the League of
Nations null
and void as
far
as
the
Negro
is
concerned, in that it seeks to deprive
Negroes of their liberty.
54. We want all men to know that we shall maintain and contend for the freedom
and equality of every man, woman and child of our race, with our
lives, our fortunes
and our sacred honor.
These rights we believe to be justly ours and proper for the protection of the Negro
race at large..."
Source-UNIA Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World,
New York, August 13, 1920
Chapter

How is this document structured? Why do you think the UNIA chose to structure the document in this way?