The United States is considered the melting pot of the Western world. It is home to many different cultures. People from all parts of the world have chosen to live among others. They can either assimilate within cultures; Italian-Americans or maintain their own culture; Greeks. With such diverse cultures represented, it is hard to imagine individuals being denied their basic human rights. In other parts of the world, humans are tortured, raped and killed. These human rights violations are protected under the guise of tradition or culture. Cultural rights are reinforced by the idea that only people belonging to a particular society can moderate their own culture. This is called cultural relativism. Although cultural relativism asserts that cultures cannot be judged by outside societies, individual human rights should trump cultural rights. Cultural relativists promote the right of cultures to dictate what is morally accepted within their own society. Cultural relativism is defined as the view that an action is morally right if one's culture approves of it (Vaughn). This ideology is formed to prevent ethnocentrism, or the belief that one culture is superior to another. Although in theory this seems plausible, it does little to promote understanding of different cultures. Since society makes the laws that dictate and protect its own people, universal laws of protection cannot be enforced. Cultural rights are important in that they protect individual cultures against majority states and communities. (Donnelly 219). If there were no cultural rights, small cultures would cease to exist with their traditions and beliefs. Tradition could therefore be a facade for persistent prejudices middle of paper...... ant, fundamental human rights are inalienable and universal. These rights cannot be ignored for traditions or customs. Works Cited Abusharaf, Rogaia Mustafa, ed. Female circumcision. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. Ball, Olivia, and Paul Gready. The practical guide to human rights. Oxford: New Internationalist Publications Ltd, 2006. Donnelly, Jack. Universal human rights in theory and practice. 2nd. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 2003. Jones, Adam, ed. Gendercide and Genocide. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2004. Phillip. “Human rights”. 2008. Oxford Reference Online. September 4, 2011. The Desert Flower. Real. Sherry Horman. 2009.The Stoning of Soraya. Real. Cyrus Nowrasteh. Perf. Mojan Marno. 2008. Vaughn, Lewis. Doing ethics. 2nd. Castle House: WW Norton & Company Ltd., 2008.