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Members of the United Nations forum on people of African descent called for extra funding to support its advancement towards reparations for descendants of African slaves who were captured and trafficked across Transatlantic countries.
A Howard University law professor who was hand-picked by the U.S. State Department to represent the U.S. at the forum urged the U.N. to pour more money into their reparations efforts, according to Reuters.
"Back up your words with action," Justin Hansford said.
The remarks were during a session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Members of the United Nations forum on people of African descent called for extra funding to support its progress towards reparations for descendants of slaves who were captured and enslaved across Transatlantic countries. (YouTube Screenshot)
The U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, Desiree Cormier Smith, said the United States needs to address its "profound racial injustice".
"Although my country has never fully lived up to the values of freedom and equality for all, we have also never walked away from them - and that's largely thanks to civil society."
Per Reuters, U.N. General Secretary António Guterres said in a video message that racism stems from past enslavement of African people and colonialism and that reparations must address that issue today.
"There can be no real discussion about development without a discussion about reparations," said one of the members of PFPAD.
The U.N. General Assembly established the PFPAD on August 2nd, 2021 to act as "a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent," the U.N.’s website states.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to journalists on the sidelines of a summit on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lujain Jo)
The Transatlantic slave trade involved the kidnapping and trafficking of over 12 million African people across the Atlantic to North and South America – an effort known as the Middle Passage. Countries involved were the British, French, Spanish colonies that later became the United States.
These comments came after Guterres said that nations need to "overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination."
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Guterres has been calling for reparations for a few years, citing that the past laid the "foundations for a violent discrimination system based on White supremacy."
The remarks were delivered by the Chef de Cabinet, Earle Courtenay Rattray, on behalf of Guterres.
Furthermore, the U.N. released a report last year calling for countries to consider financial reparations and other measures as recourse for the enslavement of people of African descent.
The report by Guterres said no country has addressed the legacy of slavery that has occurred for more than 400 years.
Rev. Kevin C. Peterson, the founder of the New Democracy Coalition and the Faneuil Hall Race, delivered remarks at a press conference in Roxbury to announce a proposal on how the City of Boston should implement reparations. (Rev. Kevin C. Peterson)
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Similar calls for reparations have been gaining traction in the U.S., as measures are being introduced in state legislatures and being pushed by grassroots activists. Municipalities and states recently launched exploratory efforts on the matter, forming committees to examine the impact of slavery in order to calculate how compensation would be dispensed.
Reparations have also been proposed or are expected to be implemented in cities across California; Fulton County, Georgia; Shelby County, Tennessee; Boston; Detroit; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Durham, North Carolina.