Derfor historie

Forklar kort baggrunden for og indholdet i menneskerettighedserklæringen. Hvordan blev menneskerettighederne fortolket i sin samtid (inddrag forholdet til køn og hudfarve), og hvordan fortolkes de i dag?

Olympe de Gouges (født Marie Gouze) (1748-1793) var en fransk forfatter, feminist og aktivt medlem af foreningen ’de sortes venner’, der ønskede at afskaffe slaveriet. Siden 1780 erne havde De Gouges været en politisk aktiv forfatterinde, der skrev kritisk om slaveri, udbredt fattigdom og diskriminering af kvinder. De Gouges satte lighedstegn mellem enevælden som styreform og slaveriet som institution i samfundet. I 1788 blev hendes skuespil l’Esclavage des Noirs udgivet, hvilket er det første med sorte karakterer i hovedrollerne, der viste slavehandlen fra deres perspektiv. Hun endte med at blive henrettet under terrorregimet. Understående kilde er et uddrag fra hendes essay "Réflexions sur les hommes nègres" (februar 1788). Hun henvender sig her direkte til læseren med sin morale omkring slavespørgsmålet.

I have always been interested in the deplorable fate of the black race. I was just beginning to develop an understanding of the world, at that age when children hardly think about anything, when I saw a blacks for the first time. Seeing her made me wonder and ask questions about her color. People I asked did not satisfy my curiosity and my reason. They called those people brutes, cursed by Heaven. As I grew up, I clearly realized that it was force and prejudice that had condemned them to that horrible slavery, in which Nature plays no role, and for which the unjust and powerful interests of Whites are alone responsible. Convinced for a long time of this truth and troubled by their dreadful situation, I dealt with their story in the very first work I wrote. Several men had taken an interest in them and worked to lighten their burden; but none of them had thought of presenting them on stage in their costume and their color as I would have tried, if the Comédie Française had not been against it. Mirza had kept her native language, nothing was more touching; it added a lot to the interest of the play. All the experts agreed, except for the actors at the Comédie Française. But let us not talk about the reception of my play. Now I hand it over to the Public. Let us go back to the dreadful lot of the Negroes. When will we turn our attention to changing it, or at least to easing it? I know nothing about the Politics of Governments; but they are fair. Now the Law of Nature was never more apparent in them. People are equal everywhere. Fair kings do not want any slaves; they know that they possess obedient subjects, and France will not abandon the wretched in their suffering, ever since greed and ambition have inhabited the most remote islands.

(...)

These miserable souls would cultivate their fields no less if they were allotted more freedom and kindness. Is their fate not among the most cruel, and their labor the hardest, without having Whites inflict the most horrible punishments on them, and for the smallest fault? Some speak about changing their condition, 2 finding ways to ease it, without fearing that this race of men misuse a kind of freedom that remains subordinate. I understand nothing about Politics. Some predict that widespread freedom would make the Negro race as essential as the White race, and that after they have been allowed to be masters of their lives, they will be masters of their will, and able to raise their children at their side. They will be more exact and diligent in their work. Intolerance will not torment them anymore, and the right to rise up like others will make them wiser and more human. Deadly conspiracies will no longer have to be feared. They will cultivate freely their own land like the farmers in Europe and will not leave their fields to go to foreign Nations. Their freedom will lead some Negroes to desert their country, but much less than those who leave the French countryside. Young people hardly come of age with the requisite strength and courage, before they are on their way to Paris to take up the noble occupation of lackey or porter.

(...)

Kilde: Translating Slavery: Gender and Race in French Women's Writing 1783-1823, s. 239, Kent State University Press. Se Olympe de Gouges samlede værker i oversættelse fra fransk til engelsk på følgende side: www.olympedegouges.eu/index.php

I have always been interested in the deplorable fate of the black race. I was just beginning to develop an understanding of the world, at that age when children hardly think about anything, when I saw a blacks for the first time. Seeing her made me wonder and ask questions about her color. People I asked did not satisfy my curiosity and my reason. They called those people brutes, cursed by Heaven. As I grew up, I clearly realized that it was force and prejudice that had condemned them to that horrible slavery, in which Nature plays no role, and for which the unjust and powerful interests of Whites are alone responsible. Convinced for a long time of this truth and troubled by their dreadful situation, I dealt with their story in the very first work I wrote. Several men had taken an interest in them and worked to lighten their burden; but none of them had thought of presenting them on stage in their costume and their color as I would have tried, if the Comédie Française had not been against it. Mirza had kept her native language, nothing was more touching; it added a lot to the interest of the play. All the experts agreed, except for the actors at the Comédie Française. But let us not talk about the reception of my play. Now I hand it over to the Public. Let us go back to the dreadful lot of the Negroes. When will we turn our attention to changing it, or at least to easing it? I know nothing about the Politics of Governments; but they are fair. Now the Law of Nature was never more apparent in them. People are equal everywhere. Fair kings do not want any slaves; they know that they possess obedient subjects, and France will not abandon the wretched in their suffering, ever since greed and ambition have inhabited the most remote islands. Europeans, thirsting for blood and for this metal that greed calls gold, have made Nature change in these happy lands. Fathers have repudiated their children, sons have sacrificed their fathers, brothers have fought, and the defeated have been sold like cattle at the market. What am I saying? It has become a trade in the four corners of the world. Trading people! Heavens! And Nature does not quake! If they are animals, are we not also like them? How are the Whites different from this race? It is in the color . . . . Why do blonds not claim superiority over brunettes who bear a resemblance to Mulattos? Why is the Mulatto not superior to the Blacks? Like all the different types of animals, plants, and minerals that Nature has produced, people's color also varies. Why does not the day argue with the night, the sun with the moon, and the stars with the sky? Everything is different, and herein lies the beauty of Nature. Why then destroy its Work? Is mankind not its most beautiful masterpiece? Ottomans exploit Whites in the same way we exploit Blacks. We do not accuse them of being barbarian or inhuman, and we are equally cruel to people whose only means of resistance is their submissiveness. But when submissiveness once starts to flag, what results from the barbaric despotism of the Islanders and West Indians? Revolts of all kinds, carnage increased with the troops' force, poisonings, and any atrocities people can commit once they revolt. Is it not monstrous of Europeans, who have acquired vast plantations by exploiting others, to have Blacks flogged from morning to night? These miserable souls would cultivate their fields no less if they were allotted more freedom and kindness. Is their fate not among the most cruel, and their labor the hardest, without having Whites inflict the most horrible punishments on them, and for the smallest fault? Some speak about changing their condition, 2 finding ways to ease it, without fearing that this race of men misuse a kind of freedom that remains subordinate. I understand nothing about Politics. Some predict that widespread freedom would make the Negro race as essential as the White race, and that after they have been allowed to be masters of their lives, they will be masters of their will, and able to raise their children at their side. They will be more exact and diligent in their work. Intolerance will not torment them anymore, and the right to rise up like others will make them wiser and more human. Deadly conspiracies will no longer have to be feared. They will cultivate freely their own land like the farmers in Europe and will not leave their fields to go to foreign Nations. Their freedom will lead some Negroes to desert their country, but much less than those who leave the French countryside. Young people hardly come of age with the requisite strength and courage, before they are on their way to Paris to take up the noble occupation of lackey or porter. There are a hundred servants for one position, whereas our fields lack farmers. This freedom will produce a large number of idle, unhappy, and bad persons of any kind. May each nation set wise and salutary limits for its people; this is the art of Sovereigns and Republican States. My instincts could help, but I will keep myself from presenting my opinion, for I should be more knowledgeable and enlightened about the Politics of Governments. As I have said, I do not know anything about Politics, and I freely give my observations either good or bad. I, more than anyone, must be interested in the fate of these unfortunate blacks since it has been five years since I conceived a play based on their tragic History. (…)

Kilde: Translating Slavery: Gender and Race in French Women's Writing 1783-1823, s. 239, Kent State University Press. Se Olympe de Gouges samlede værker i oversættelse fra fransk til engelsk på følgende side: www.olympedegouges.eu/index.php

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