Off THEIR Minds: Do Mutants Have Human Rights?

Some say mutants are not humans. Find out what Kyle Higgins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Chris Burnham, Jim McCann, John Layman, James Tynion IV, Art Batlazar and Franco have to say.

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tupiaz

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Edited By tupiaz

Should they have human rights? Yes! Should they have mutant rights in like having right to use their mutant powers like they wish and to gain power? No.

Human rights yes

Mutant rights no.

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Beast_in_the_Shadows

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@ferro_vida: My point with dogs being wolves was to demonstrate how far a genotype can deviate without speciesation occurring. My second point was that even if mutants deviated so far that they did become a new species, they would still deserve the same rights that humans do as they share sentience.

I never implied that dogs get any such rights as they are not recognized as sentient beings. I suppose i should have said that the term "Human Rights" only works for us because as far as we know we are the only creatures with sentience to deserve said rights. In a universe with aliens, demons, self aware technology etc .. such a term doesn't work. Sentient Rights would be more appropriate.

However, were an argument to be mounted that "Human Rights" were solely for humans, then mutants would still be included as they are still genetically human, which was the bulk of my point. Tho in comics several "species" still fit in the category as human when you consider how many aliens demons and such had offspring with humans who themselves were fertile.

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PunyParker

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Ferro Vida

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lykopis

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@tupiaz said:

Should they have human rights? Yes! Should they have mutant rights in like having right to use their mutant powers like they wish and to gain power? No.

Human rights yes

Mutant rights no.

I kinda feel this way -- as in, human rights are universal to all humans (of which mutants are) In my mind, this was always the norm in the Marvel Universe however even in the real world, not all humans are afforded basic rights and this is reflected in comics as well.

The scary bit is if mutants believe there are a specific set of rights which should be afforded them above and beyond basic human rights. I don't argue mutants are homo-superior, but strictly in the biological sense which makes them unique and very different in terms of comparing mutants to ethnic prejudice. I have never been comfortable with the idea of historical racism in the real word and it mirroring prejudice towards mutants. I get and completely agree with some parallels being drawn but not all.

There is a very big difference which have a lot to do with comics' representation of humanity's prejudice towards mutants and that is the very real fear of what mutants care capable of.

They destroy cities.

Kill millions of people.

Capable of destroying Earth -- the Universe.

The same can be claimed with metahumans as well, but having an accident with gamma rays and just being born -- one is a lot more random and uncontrollable.

Just some thoughts -- I'm not married to them.

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molotovzav

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Edited By molotovzav

I have a B.A. in Political Science so forgive me for nerdjacking.

-"Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life." -Article 6.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

So, a) depends on what country, b) depends on if mutants are "human beings". c) might also depend on standing genosha would have with the UN, or mutant leaders would have with UN depending on if Genosha exists in some form. d) if in U.S. it only matters if you are a citizen of the US, the founding fathers could not of accounted for "race" in that way.

a) obviously due to if they ratified UN charters or if they have specific human rights laws.

b) Mutants aren't human beings under the definition that a human being is of homo sapiens. But could be a human being if you only consider them to be of the genus Homo. If you consider it the first, then no UN or countries law on human rights that defines human being as such would cover them. But if they only define human being as genus homo it would. (mutants being homo superior)

c)self explanatory, a country made of mutants with good relations with the UN would probably be able to pass more legislation in other countries protecting mutants.

d)natural born citizen clause: The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term "natural born" citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship "by birth" or "at birth", either by being born "in" the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizenship "at birth". Such term, however, would not include a person who was not a U.S. citizen by birth or at birth, and who was thus born an "alien" required to go through the legal process of naturalization to become a U.S. citizen.

So citizenship applies to people, not human beings they are not synonymous, the reason why I say this is in multiple countries and cultures media we refer to aliens as different "races" (true definition since all humans are one race), even in fantasy if all of the races are home to one planet they are still called people, just because they are elves doesn't make them "not a person". So for now people is defined as a human being but if we met someone who wasn't a homo sapien, they would still be a person under our definitions. Even in comics you see mutants referred to as people.

So the bill of rights would apply to mutants, I think that argument could even hold up to strict constitutionist even though they would fight it, oh well I think Chief Justice Roberts would take it that way and still apply precedent of people and citizens to mutants.

So there is no short answer since there are too many variables.

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kilon

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Edited By kilon
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of course they have rights like humans geeez. couldn't pick a better question or topic.

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fkk1984

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They do, as they are humans. The fact of having a mutation does not take them their condition of humans. Just like the albinos.

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mtrakos

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no they are not humans. Kill them all or send them to camps.

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Outside_85

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Edited By Outside_85

To the question, yes they do.

What do I think; that was probably the ugliest vest I have ever seen.

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Black_Arrow

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they should not have human rights if they call themselves homo superior or say that they are from another race.

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dcfox

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The better question is: do highly advanced artificial intelligence have human rights?

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DarkDay

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Edited By DarkDay

@ultra_beleco said:

@w0nd: Prejudice normally doesn't make sense dude. People simply fear what is uncommon, that the fact that humans born this ways, that means they will take over the world, Their neighbours, their children, they friends could be mutants.

If I know that the reason a "monster" exist is an accident of science I can be scared but I can understand but another complete different thing is understand that mutants are humans, but somehow enhanced, that they are not made by magic or laboratories, that they were not send by the devil.

So what are mutants? Next step of evolution? Are they going to kill us all? Are all of them dangerous? How can I know who is mutant and who is not?

People's fear doesn't came from the fact they have super powers but the fact they are different yet, they are as human as anyone else. =/

Tell me. In a world with terrorists, bandits, drug dealers, crazy politicians why would people fear homossexuals? or people from different races? different religions?

I agree with you for the most part though I'd say that the super powers aren't completely unrelated to the fear that people have toward mutants, as I've given this argument wings before. The scariest thing about mutants isn't that they are super human or rather it isn't that they are some sort of deities come down from the skies that are unknowable. If they were, I think they'd be less scary to the populace. Look at Thor and Asgard or God only knows how many alien species that visit Marvel Earth. People are worried about them sure, but they aren't scared in the same way that mutants inspire.

The thing is though that everyone knows mutants pretty well. They're you, me, anyone. They are human, be it for better or for worst. And the truth is that both of those are true. People are great and people are horrible we've come to accept this as a prerequisite of the human condition but with mutants they are us with super human power and personal authority behind them that unlike most of the Marvel U can't be traced or countered (or fixed unless you count the times that the "mutant cure" exists as a plot point).

I'd put it this way, the populace is fine with Steve Rodgers being strong enough to punch though steel or fast enough to dodge bullets. He's an American hero. In people's minds he can do no wrong. He leads the Avengers and because he's in charge then those guys can't possibly be any less heroic than he is. But it's a little different when the guy giving your girl the eye across the bar is capable of tearing you in half with his bare hands. I think for most of the populace super heroes are sort of a wonder, oddity, and something that seems pretty far removed from their everyday lives and then mutants became a thing.

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w0nd

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@ultra_beleco: Yeah you are right. I was simply looking at it as "they have powers, so lets fear them" but like you said prejudice doesn't make sense in general.

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Mandrewgora

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Damnit Tony! I was in the background of one of the shots, but never got a chance to see you.

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Bruiser

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@beast_in_the_shadows

I like what you said about all sentient beings having equal rights. I assume most would classify only humans as sentient, but I would take it a step further than most in my belief all animals, regardless of species, should be entitled certain rights.

I think the biggest flaw with this argument is that of "human rights", assuming that rights need to be given only to "humans". If mutants are a separate species, I don't think that should deny them rights, just as I don't think Lockheed or Louis (a cat my family adopted) can be denied rights. For any being that possesses consciousness, sentience, and thus the ability to have motivations, perceptions, intentions, etc., I believe rights should be given. The opportunities relevant to the rights of those beings may differ - for example, dogs don't need the right to public education, nor do mutant healers need the right to free health care. But the argument of "human rights" assumes that humans are superior to all other animal species, that because we are the apex predator, we have rights and others don't. This is why I love the X-men mythology - it challenges the notion of superiority and hierarchy, by suggesting a being more powerful than us humans.

I don't mean to just focus on the rights of nonhuman animals, but that was to illustrate the concept of supposed superiority as it relates to rights. We can also look more specifically in the animal kingdom to strictly focus on humans. If mutants are humans, then they should be granted the same rights. But I personally do not believe species should determine which rights are given, just like I don't believe it should be determined by race, sex, or sexual orientation.

Just my beliefs. :)

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hart7668

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Edited By hart7668

In order to answer this question correctly, "human rights" must be defined. If it's a question of 'whether or not actions considered immoral against other non-superpowered humans would be considered immoral against mutants' then the answer is a vehement YES. If you want to get into particulars with how rights affiliated with citizenship applies, then look no further than Superman: guy was literally born off-planet and is not a human yet, until he revoked it, was considered an American citizen by the American government.

For those who want to argue that mutants aren't human, consider this: all humans on this planet share 99% of all their DNA. The so-called 'X-gene' is simply something else to put on a Punnet Square. I'm sure Scott Summers still shares roughly 99% of his DNA with the rest of us.

House of M was NOTan exercise in "giving mutants human rights." House of M was showing what would happen if mutants (I don't even really like using the term because it insinuates a specie difference) were the majority while "standard" humans were the minority. What I found interesting was that beings like Ms. Marvel were still considered "human" despite having powers. Of course, that reality was urged on by Pietro, which were based off of the ideal of the mutant supremacist Magneto, so consider the source. The Avengers and X-men were mulling over the question of whether to kill Scarlet Witch or not because of the danger she presented to the current reality. The fact that they were mulling about it and didn't just fly off the handle to kill her meant that they already considered it potentially immoral to simply kill her - she had basic, inalienable, human rights. The most dangerous mutant in the world had basic human rights in consideration. I rest my case.

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BRAZEKOOL

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Edited By BRAZEKOOL

I think if this happened in the real world, mutants would be granted human rights. There'd be war strait away if anything else happened.

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