In 1944, holocaust survivor Raphael Lemkin coined genocide as “the destruction of a nation or an ethnic group.”
This sparked something in activists William Patterson and Paul Robeson. Seven years later, they stood in front of the United Nations (UN).
Having gathered hundreds of signatures, Patterson and Robeson petitioned for America to be held responsible for long-term genocide against Black people.
The petition was denied. Ironically Lemkin critiqued it, saying it “confused genocide with discrimination."
Patterson and Robeson suspected their petition would be dismissed due to America’s pull within the UN. But they wanted to hold America accountable for its violence.
Based on Lemkin’s response, their point was further made. At what point does long-term genocide of a people become so normalized that it’s accepted by the world as discrimination?
Long-term genocide is America’s culture. The genocide of our people in America began with enslavement and continues through police brutality and oppressives laws.
As we witness global genocide happening in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan, we must remember the root of all our oppression lies in capitalist, anti-Black, white supremacist systems of violence.
We’ve been battling genocide for generations. There’s power in knowing we’re still here. Our skin symbolizes revolution. There’s no place for genocide in our future. The time for all oppressed people to revolt is now.