A longtime champion of Pan-Africanism, Ghana is naturally leading the charge in a UN resolution to declare the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans as the "gravest crime against humanity" and to demand reparations. Guess which countries voted against us?
The U.S, Israel, and Argentina voted against the resolution, which explicitly linked slavery to today's anti-Blackness and the economic inequalities people of African descent are up against worldwide. It also calls for formal apologies, compensation, and reparatory justice for Black people. Twenty-seven member countries from the European Union and the United Kingdom abstained.
Their reasoning is nothing new. The U.S. condemned slavery but doesn't believe it owes us reparations because it wasn't illegal under international law at the time. Israel said that chattel slavery downplayed atrocities like the Holocaust, for which, ironically, survivors have received reparations.
We know what this is: anti-Blackness. Black labor built the Western world as we know it today. None of these countries would have the wealth that they do without our enslaved ancestors. Reparations advocates have long fought for reparations in America, and there have been some victories at the state and local levels.
Anti-Black people and policies won't change overnight, but that doesn't mean our work stops. Those who feel called to fight for reparations should continue, and those doing other work towards a Black liberation future must do the same. Each one of us has a role to play. What's yours?