At UN, Some Leaders Demand Payments for Past Wrongs

 

At this year's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, several leaders voiced their approval of reparations.

They gave their support to a system of payments from countries with historical links to slavery and colonialism. Officials from South Africa, Cameroon, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Cuba and Malaysia urged the creation of a reparations system.

But large countries like the United States, Britain and Germany mainly did not comment about the issue.

Philip J. Pierre is the prime minister of Saint Lucia. He said, "Caribbean countries like ours, which were exploited and underdeveloped to finance the development of Europe, have put forward a case for reparations for slavery and native genocide." He added that he wanted the problem to be treated seriously and with urgency.

But reparations payments have not been among the issues discussed by major world powers.

U.S. President Joe Biden did not talk about reparations in his speech to the U.N. But earlier this year, the Biden administration said it supported studying reparations for Black Americans. The office of the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who is African American, did not comment on the recent reparations discussions to The Associated Press.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa did discuss the issue. He called the time of slavery "one of the darkest periods in the history of humankind."

Slavery in what would become the United States started more than 400 years ago in some of the British colonies. In the U.S., slavery was outlawed¹ during the U.S. Civil War which ended in 1865.

The debate about reparations has continued for many years. It has not gained much interest in the past 30 years. However, reparations have gained support in some cities and local governments since the 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Carla Ferstman is an international law expert who studies reparations at the University of Essex in Britain. She said the U.N. talks are a big step forward for the reparations movement around the world.

Reparations could come in many forms. There could be direct financial payments to individuals. Development aid could be offered to countries. Colonized² land, art and cultural objects could be returned. The correction of policies and laws that continue to discriminate³ could also be carried out. And apologies that include wiping away national heroes who are no longer in favor are other possibilities.

"One needs to be sensitive to what is important and how to best rectify⁴," Ferstman said.

The Durban Declaration against racism⁵

The latest discussions on reparations came as the U.N. honored the 2001 conference against racism in South Africa. It produced what is called the Durban Declaration.

Last week, a U.N. group approved a resolution that said there had been some progress on the issue. But it also said there had been a rise in discrimination and violence towards people of African ancestry⁶. Other groups facing mistreatment included refugees, the displaced, those with disabilities, the Roma in Europe, the young and the old.

The resolution said there should be a way for descendants to seek fair "reparation or satisfaction for any damage suffered." But the resolution stopped short of demanding that nations must pay reparations to countries their governments have harmed.

The United States, Britain and Germany were among several countries that did not attend the meeting honoring the Durban Declaration. The U.S. boycotted⁷ the meeting 20 years ago over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Germany's president, in his General Assembly address, also did not talk about reparations. But Germany is one of the few countries that have offered to pay money to make up for its past actions.

Earlier this year, Germany officially recognized the killing⁸ of tens of thousands of people in Namibia as genocide. It offered to provide 1.1 billion euros over 30 years for projects involving the people affected⁹. But Germany did not call the payments reparations.

Words in This Story

descendant — n. someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past

exploit — v. to use in a way that helps you unfairly

sensitive — adj. understanding the feelings of other people

rectify — v. to correct something that is wrong

1 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

2 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

3 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

4 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

5 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

6 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。