Ask Emmett Till about that. Well, you can't, because he's dead. His (admitted -- boasted, really) murderer was acquitted in a trial by a jury of his peers. The

Ask Emmett Till about that. Well, you can't, because he's dead. His (admitted -- boasted, really) murderer was acquitted in a trial by a jury of his peers. The murderer's. None of Emmett's, of course. So, no. Democracy or something like is generally a prerequisite for the notion of rights to even have meaning. But it absolutely does not demand them. Each has to be fought for over many generations. You have to hope your democracy lasts long enough for that. Often enough a neighboring autocrat crushes it.