The United Nations General Assembly has voted to recognise the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”, a move advocates hope will pave the way for healing and justice.
The resolution - proposed by Ghana - called for this designation, while also urging UN member states to consider apologising for the slave trade and contributing to a reparations fund. It does not mention a specific amount of money.
The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against - the United States, Israel and Argentina.
Countries like the UK have long rejected calls to pay reparations, saying today’s institutions cannot be held responsible for past wrongs.
Slavery happened to whole peoples in multiple places. Rome enslaved peoples from all over europe. Slave traders from Europe and America didn’t introduce Africa to slavery. Africa was already fighting wars and enslaving each other across the entire continent. That is where the slave trade came from. They enslaved europeans if they got caught there. They had slaves to sell and Europeans found that they wanted to use them. It was a global problem and any peoples left in Africa are just as guilty of it as any European or American. Which is to say, not at all, because all of those people have been dead for two generations.