The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

In our country the term “right” is a powerful thing. If something is a right, then it is the whole purpose of our country–of any decent country–to protect it. In that case, the definition of rights matters very much. To help us understand the foundation of our rights, we should consider what is said in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

According to America’s Founders, a right is a claim that a person may rightfully make against someone who would deprive him of what is his own. If you own something, like your car, then you have a right to it. If someone takes it from you, then you have a legitimate claim against that person. He owes you back your car; he has a duty to give it back–or rather not to take it from you in the first place.

A “natural right” doesn’t have to be acquired, like buying a car. You own it by birth, by your nature as a human being. Natural rights belong to all people, in all times and places. Whenever they are taken from us, we are deprived of something that is naturally our own, something that cannot belong to another.

The Declaration of Independence says, “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men . . .” Three rights are named specifically: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life and liberty belong to us at birth because every person is born free, and he remains free unless someone deprives him of that freedom. A person may only rightfully be deprived of his life or liberty if he neglects his duty to recognize the rights of others. A criminal who steals or kills may justly be deprived of his liberty, or even his life.

The Declaration also speaks of a right to the “pursuit of happiness.” No one can have a right to happiness itself. Happiness is an achievement. It encompasses the…more