The United States owes Black Americans reparations for slavery, according to a recent United Nations report.
The Sept. 26 report, entitled “Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to the United States of America,” stated that the United States has yet to pay its dues for the years of “racial terrorism” that has been enacted against Black people during, and by result of, slavery.
The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent presented their report to the United Nations Human Rights Council; the report highlighted the nearly 250 years of slavery and the drastic effects it still has on the role of Black people in the America.
“Lynching was a form of racial terrorism that has contributed to a legacy of racial inequality that the United States must address,” the report stated in part. “Thousands of people of African descent were killed in violent public acts of racial control and domination and the perpetrators were never held accountable.”
According to The Washington Post, during the panel the UN highlighted links between continuing injustice related to Black citizenry in America and slavery. They payed special attention to the recent treatment of racially charged police shootings. The UN commented on America’s “impunity for state violence,” which they said created a human rights crisis that requires immediate attention within the country.
“Despite substantial changes since the end of the enforcement of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, ideology ensuring the domination of one group over another, continues to negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of African Americans today,” the panel said in a statement. “The dangerous ideology of White supremacy inhibits social cohesion amongst the US population.”
The report details ways in which reparations might be paid toward descendants of slaves. Such measures could come in the form of educational opportunities, psychological rehabilitation, health initiatives, debt cancellation or even a formal apology.