![\"Rodney](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/01\/Taubira_eh_h.jpg\")
Americans, Europeans and others must set examples in respecting human rights and ethical behavior, she said. Respect for the rule of law can be restored, but \u201cwe can only do it if we keep the dialogue among people going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taubira spoke in French, with an English translation available for guests who needed it. Nominated for an honorary doctorate of laws and human rights by the 51ÁÔÆæ Department of French, Italian and Comparative Literature, she was recognized for embracing the role of a public intellectual and for her commitment to the values of liberty and equality for all. She received the degree at a special ceremony because she could not attend the December commencement.<\/p>\n
Provost Johannes Britz introduced Taubira as an \u201cuncommonly deserving candidate\u201d who \u201chas been a leading advocate for the most marginal and vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in 1952 in French Guiana, Taubira was the first woman elected as Guiana\u2019s deputy to the French National Assembly. She served four consecutive terms from 1992 to 2012, when French President Fran\u00e7ois Hollande appointed her Minister of Justice. She held that position until she resigned in protest of his proposal to strip certain convicted terrorists of their French citizenship.<\/p>\n
France has been the site of two major terrorist attacks. A multi-day terror spree that started at the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine left 17 victims and three terrorists dead in January 2015. In November, 129 people died in multiple attacks in Paris.<\/p>\n
Taubira urged her audience to ask themselves, \u201cwhat do we know about this rage that inhabits certain people and makes them destroy, kill people they don\u2019t even know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to understand it,\u201d she continued, \u201cand come back to reason that has to feed moral rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taubira rose to national prominence in 1999, when she introduced a bill that became the Taubira Law, which challenges the French state to address its role in the slave trade and slavery. During her tenure as Minister of Justice, Taubira undertook the overhaul of France\u2019s penal system, focusing on alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders. She is regarded as a leading champion of France\u2019s \u201cmarriage for all\u201d act, which legalized same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer political engagement embodies an outstanding commitment and dedication to principles the 51ÁÔÆæ community holds dear: the struggle for human rights, human dignity and equal rights for all,\u201d said Sarah Davies Cordova, a professor of French who helped coordinate Taubira\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
Taubira said she was honored to be recognized for her human rights work in the United States, where the Quakers set an early example for equality between men and women and the U.S. Constitution provided a model for France\u2019s bill of rights, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.<\/p>\n
She also said it was an honor to be at 51ÁÔÆæ, where \u201cthe quality of its teaching staff shines\u201d and students from around the world are welcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I have this consciousness of where I am,\u201d she said, \u201cand I am profoundly honored by this distinction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
51ÁÔÆæ awarded former French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira an honorary doctorate in recognition of her role of as a public intellectual and her commitment to human rights, liberty and equality for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":486,"featured_media":28402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[127,128],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[158,159],"class_list":["post-28391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-arts-humanities","section-humanities","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-letters-science","uwmnews-feed-humanities"],"yoast_head":"\n