#United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

[ausetkmt]

In addition to AI, the 10 Million Names Project is employing oral histories and archived documents to help identify 10 million enslaved people in pre- and post-colonial America.

When journalist Dorothy Tucker first learned about the 10 Million Names genealogical project, it helped amplify memories of long car journeys from Chicago to “Down South” in the 1960’s, where her mother’s family owned land.

The Mississippi property purchased by her great-grandfather George Trice in 1881 was special for several reasons. First, nobody’s really sure how a formerly enslaved man was able to purchase 160 acres, but Trice came up with the $800. And every time Tucker and her family drove down to Shannon, Mississippi each summer to visit relatives, it was more than just a vacation.

“I'd wake up in the morning and have breakfast at my aunt's house. I'd go a few feet down the road and have lunch at my great-aunt's house. And then I'd play outside at my cousin's house,” says Tucker, an award-winning investigative journalist with CBS2 WBBM-TV in Chicago. “It was that way all day long. Every house was owned by a relative. I thought everybody lived like this. I thought everybody had land and stuff that was theirs.”

Tucker finally got specific details about how and why that land was purchased during the final months of her term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists. In early 2023, NABJ Board Member Paula Madison, a retired NBC Universal executive, informed the group about an offshoot of the Georgetown Memory Project, the initiative that unearthed information about the 1838 sale of enslaved Africans to fund Georgetown University. The 10 Million Names Project was created to recover the names of an estimated 10 million men, women and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America between the 1500’s and 1865. By engaging with expert genealogists, cultural organizations, and family historians both Black and white, the initiative hopes to provide more African Americans with information that only formally began to be captured for their ancestors in the 1870 United States Census.

Up until that year, enslaved Africans and their descendants were only acknowledged as the property of their owners. If their existence was noted, it was in the form of sales documents or as catalogued property in civil records. Also, the relatives of enslavers often maintain troves of information about those purchased and sold off that would otherwise be completely lost.

(This database is helping to uncover the lost ancestry of enslaved African Americans.)

Much of the work will be dependent on oral histories passed down thru generations of families, and researchers of the 10 Million Names Project also hope that more white families will aid in the search by making familial records, like letters and pages from family bibles, available to them.

Tucker, who ended her term as NABJ president during that organization’s annual conference in August, revealed at the awards banquet in Birmingham, Alabama that she’d been able to learn more about her great grandfather’s real-estate ventures, through a collaboration between NABJ and the New England Historical Genealogical Society’s American Ancestors initiative.

The 10 Million Names Project was formally launched at the convention. Tucker considers it an especially timely parting gift to her journalistic colleagues. As societal divisions along racial lines widen, hate crimes continue, and attempts to ban books and curtail African American studies programs in schools and universities increase, strengthening historical knowledge is urgently important for Black Americans, Tucker says.

“I think that the ability to tell these stories and to know them is so critically important,” she says. “When you know your personal story, then as a journalist, it gives you the perspective to dig deeper when you're doing the next story, whether it’s about the school board or about Ukraine or the next elections. You know, these stories are all tools that are really good for all of us.”

How the initiative evolved

The man who is the catalyst for the Georgetown Memory Project and 10 Million Names says he’s never really been interested in investigating his own family tree.

“To me, genealogy was sort of like butterfly collecting,” says Richard Cellini, a faculty fellow at Harvard University and founding director of the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Remembrance Program. “It’s impressive because of the amount of effort invested into it. But I never quite understood the point.”

Cellini was born in 1963 in Central Pennsylvania to a Penn State University professor and homemaker mother. His Catholic upbringing steered him to Georgetown University and an eventual decade-long law career before pivoting toward the software and technology realm. In 2015, Cellini learned that his alma mater had formed a working group to explore the sale of 272 men, woman, and children in 1838 to rescue the university from bankruptcy. As a white American of European descent, he says he did not live with or know many Black people growing up, going to school or during his legal and technology careers, so the initiative opened a window in his mind.

When Georgetown President John DeGioia invited alumni to weigh in, Cellini wrote an email asking one simple question that had nothing to do with the university. He wanted to know, “What happened to the people?”

Cellini says a senior member of the working group wrote back to say that research had concluded that all of the enslaved men, women, and children had died fairly quickly after arriving in the swamps of Louisiana where they had been transported.

“And I remember just staring at that email, even though I didn't really know much about the history of slavery or African American history, and just thinking that just doesn't make any sense,” Cellini says. Curiosity drove him to form an independent research group, funded initially through his own credit card and then from other Georgetown alumni who eagerly offered financial backing. To date, the Georgetown Memory Project has fully identified 236 of the 272 enslaved people sold by the university's leaders. Of those identified through archival records, the project has verified more than 10,000 of their direct descendants.

“The 1838 slave sale at Georgetown brought home to me, again, they were real people with real families and real names,” Cellini says. “More than 50 percent of them were children. William was the youngest, and he was six months old. And Daniel was the oldest at 80. Len was sickly, and Stephen was lame. I mean, this is all from the original documentation. From that moment on, I just couldn't get it out of my head.”

The gathering of history

The genealogists and historians connected with the project suggest that the richest vein of information may well be in the oral histories they’ve already begun gathering through hundreds of interviews. They contain fascinating stories like the ones that Kendra Field’s grandmother Odevia Brown used to tell about her African American and Native American forebears in Oklahoma. When Field was in high school, she never really liked history classes, but she always loved her grandmother’s stories.

“It wasn't until I got to college that I realized, thanks to a wonderful professor, that my grandmother's stories were history,” Field says.  After the death of her father, Field began to travel back to those historically Black Oklahoma towns to explore her African American and Creek Indian heritage. Now in her career as a historian, author and professor at Tufts University, Field also has taken on the role of chief historian for 10 Million Names.

Technology, including the use of artificial intelligence programs, is allowing project investigators to do quicker, more efficient searches for information. Field says that can happen by identifying the location of plantation ledgers, advertisements, and receipts from auctions. “Particularly, there's been a lot of advancements made in optical character recognition, which allows researchers to identify names and handwritten records,” Field says. 

Prior to this, a researcher had to find the document, transcribe the information, and then pivot to another database to go deeper. But with the development of other genealogical data sets such as Enslaved.org, locating individuals and making connections becomes much easier. “So that means we can move closer to that 10 million much more quickly than we would have been able to even a decade ago,” Field says. Also, the collection at the Library of Congress, “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938” has yielded important clues from the estimated 2,300 people interviewed during that project.

(The search for lost slave ships led this diver on an extraordinary journey.)

Though identifying 10 million people who were never meant to be known as human beings may sound like a staggering task, the people behind the initiative believe it’s a totally attainable goal—even amidst all the current cultural and ideological turmoil in American society. That’s because, Cellini says, there are certain inalienable truths in this world.

“John Adams said that facts are stubborn things. You know, our Black brothers and sisters have always known their history and white people have always tried to prevent Black people from learning that history. What's new here is that white people are now trying to prevent other white people from learning this history.”

Cellini believes that Black Americans aren’t the only ones who want or need to know the full story. “It's white people who hunger for knowledge of that history, as well. It’s our duty to engage in determined resistance, to strike repeated blows for the truth. And nothing is more stubborn than facts.”

And like journalist Tucker, Cellini believes the search is infinitely for the benefit of the whole of society.

“The hard part isn't the finding,” Cellini says of the effort. “The hard part is the looking. But when we look, we find. And when we find, the whole world changes.”

[reasoningdaily]

Listen to this article hereIt may come as no surprise to Black people in North America that the United States’ closest European ally, the United Kingdom, has been accused of widespread, systemic discrimination against people of African descent.

After wrapping up a 10-day fact-finding mission on the treatment and experiences of Black people in the UK, a United Nations committee expressed “extreme concern” in a letter to the British government last week about its failure to address “structural, institutional, and systemic racism” against people of African descent.

“We have serious concerns about impunity and the failure to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system, deaths in police custody, ‘joint enterprise’ convictions and the dehumanising nature of the stop and (strip) search,” the working group said in a statement.

UN working group on people of African descent finds continued systemic racism in UK

Established a year after the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) is composed of five independent experts appointed on the basis of equatable geographic representation.

The group sent a 19-page summary of recommendations to the British government on Friday after speaking to hundreds of citizens throughout the country during a 10-day fact-finding mission.

Among the findings, the UN body discovered many Black elderly populations were made to feel like they don’t belong, school police officers regularly intimidated Black children, and the criminal justice system’s practices disproportionately targeted Black people.

What is the Windrush scandal?

Windrush refers to the people who arrived in the UK from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands between 1948 and 1971. The ship they sailed on was called the MV Empire Windrush, according to the BBC.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday in London, Dominique Day, one of the five members of the UN working group, said: “I’ve never visited a country before where there is a culture of fear pervading Black communities – relating to a range of asylum, residency, policing issues. An entire community experiences constant and ongoing human rights violations as a routine and normalized part of daily life.”

It’s unclear whether Day had ever visited the United States. 

British government denies systemic racism

For its part, the British government pushed back against the report’s findings.

“We strongly reject most of these findings,” a British government spokesperson said, per the Guardian.

“The report wrongly views people of African descent as a single homogeneous group and presents a superficial analysis of complex issues that fails to look at all possible causes of disparities, not just race. We are proud that the UK is an open, tolerant and welcoming country but this hard-earned global reputation is not properly reflected in this report.”

The denial of racism comes just eight years after the UK finished forcing taxpayers to pay the descendants of slave owners as a bribe for abolishing slavery nearly two centuries ago.

Meanwhile, officials said they had a “robust” discussion about the report with the UK equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.

As part of its fact-finding mission, the UN working group visited London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol. It spoke with senior government officials, local city council representatives, Metropolitan police and members of the Human Rights Commission.

The UN working group will present their full findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023.

[xtruss]

This historical photograph shows an enslaved African American family or families posing in front of a wooden house on a plantation in Hanover County, Virginia. Photograph By G.H. Houghton, Library of Congress

10 million Enslaved Americans' Names Are Missing From History. AI Is Helping Identify Them.

In addition to AI, the 10 Million Names Project is employing oral histories and archived documents to help identify 10 million enslaved people in pre- and post-colonial America.

— By Rachel Jones | August 31, 2023

When journalist Dorothy Tucker first learned about the 10 Million Names genealogical project, it helped amplify memories of long car journeys from Chicago to “Down South” in the 1960’s, where her mother’s family owned land.

The Mississippi property purchased by her great-grandfather George Trice in 1881 was special for several reasons. First, nobody’s really sure how a formerly enslaved man was able to purchase 160 acres, but Trice came up with the $800. And every time Tucker and her family drove down to Shannon, Mississippi each summer to visit relatives, it was more than just a vacation.

“I'd wake up in the morning and have breakfast at my aunt's house. I'd go a few feet down the road and have lunch at my great-aunt's house. And then I'd play outside at my cousin's house,” says Tucker, an award-winning investigative journalist with CBS2 WBBM-TV in Chicago. “It was that way all day long. Every house was owned by a relative. I thought everybody lived like this. I thought everybody had land and stuff that was theirs.”

Tucker finally got specific details about how and why that land was purchased during the final months of her term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists. In early 2023, NABJ Board Member Paula Madison, a retired NBC Universal executive, informed the group about an offshoot of the Georgetown Memory Project, the initiative that unearthed information about the 1838 sale of enslaved Africans to fund Georgetown University. The 10 Million Names Project was created to recover the names of an estimated 10 million men, women and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America between the 1500’s and 1865. By engaging with expert genealogists, cultural organizations, and family historians both Black and white, the initiative hopes to provide more African Americans with information that only formally began to be captured for their ancestors in the 1870 United States Census.

Up until that year, enslaved Africans and their descendants were only acknowledged as the property of their owners. If their existence was noted, it was in the form of sales documents or as catalogued property in civil records. Also, the relatives of enslavers often maintain troves of information about those purchased and sold off that would otherwise be completely lost.

Much of the work will be dependent on oral histories passed down thru generations of families, and researchers of the 10 Million Names Project also hope that more white families will aid in the search by making familial records, like letters and pages from family bibles, available to them.

Tucker, who ended her term as NABJ president during that organization’s annual conference in August, revealed at the awards banquet in Birmingham, Alabama that she���d been able to learn more about her great grandfather’s real-estate ventures, through a collaboration between NABJ and the New England Historical Genealogical Society’s American Ancestors initiative.

The 10 Million Names Project was formally launched at the convention. Tucker considers it an especially timely parting gift to her journalistic colleagues. As societal divisions along racial lines widen, hate crimes continue, and attempts to ban books and curtail African American studies programs in schools and universities increase, strengthening historical knowledge is urgently important for Black Americans, Tucker says.

“I think that the ability to tell these stories and to know them is so critically important,” she says. “When you know your personal story, then as a journalist, it gives you the perspective to dig deeper when you're doing the next story, whether it’s about the school board or about Ukraine or the next elections. You know, these stories are all tools that are really good for all of us.”

How the Initiative Evolved

The man who is the catalyst for the Georgetown Memory Project and 10 Million Names says he’s never really been interested in investigating his own family tree.

“To me, genealogy was sort of like butterfly collecting,” says Richard Cellini, a faculty fellow at Harvard University and founding director of the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Remembrance Program. “It’s impressive because of the amount of effort invested into it. But I never quite understood the point.”

Cellini was born in 1963 in Central Pennsylvania to a Penn State University professor and homemaker mother. His Catholic upbringing steered him to Georgetown University and an eventual decade-long law career before pivoting toward the software and technology realm. In 2015, Cellini learned that his alma mater had formed a working group to explore the sale of 272 men, woman, and children in 1838 to rescue the university from bankruptcy. As a white American of European descent, he says he did not live with or know many Black people growing up, going to school or during his legal and technology careers, so the initiative opened a window in his mind.

When Georgetown President John DeGioia invited alumni to weigh in, Cellini wrote an email asking one simple question that had nothing to do with the university. He wanted to know, “What happened to the people?”

Cellini says a senior member of the working group wrote back to say that research had concluded that all of the enslaved men, women, and children had died fairly quickly after arriving in the swamps of Louisiana where they had been transported.

“And I remember just staring at that email, even though I didn't really know much about the history of slavery or African American history, and just thinking that just doesn't make any sense,” Cellini says. Curiosity drove him to form an independent research group, funded initially through his own credit card and then from other Georgetown alumni who eagerly offered financial backing. To date, the Georgetown Memory Project has fully identified 236 of the 272 enslaved people sold by the university's leaders. Of those identified through archival records, the project has verified more than 10,000 of their direct descendants.

“The 1838 slave sale at Georgetown brought home to me, again, they were real people with real families and real names,” Cellini says. “More than 50 percent of them were children. William was the youngest, and he was six months old. And Daniel was the oldest at 80. Len was sickly, and Stephen was lame. I mean, this is all from the original documentation. From that moment on, I just couldn't get it out of my head.”

The Gathering of History

The genealogists and historians connected with the project suggest that the richest vein of information may well be in the oral histories they’ve already begun gathering through hundreds of interviews. They contain fascinating stories like the ones that Kendra Field’s grandmother Odevia Brown used to tell about her African American and Native American forebears in Oklahoma. When Field was in high school, she never really liked history classes, but she always loved her grandmother’s stories.

“It wasn't until I got to college that I realized, thanks to a wonderful professor, that my grandmother's stories were history,” Field says. After the death of her father, Field began to travel back to those historically Black Oklahoma towns to explore her African American and Creek Indian heritage. Now in her career as a historian, author and professor at Tufts University, Field also has taken on the role of chief historian for 10 Million Names.

Technology, including the use of artificial intelligence programs, is allowing project investigators to do quicker, more efficient searches for information. Field says that can happen by identifying the location of plantation ledgers, advertisements, and receipts from auctions. “Particularly, there's been a lot of advancements made in optical character recognition, which allows researchers to identify names and handwritten records,” Field says.

Prior to this, a researcher had to find the document, transcribe the information, and then pivot to another database to go deeper. But with the development of other genealogical data sets such as Enslaved.org, locating individuals and making connections becomes much easier. “So that means we can move closer to that 10 million much more quickly than we would have been able to even a decade ago,” Field says. Also, the collection at the Library of Congress, “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938” has yielded important clues from the estimated 2,300 people interviewed during that project.

Though identifying 10 million people who were never meant to be known as human beings may sound like a staggering task, the people behind the initiative believe it’s a totally attainable goal—even amidst all the current cultural and ideological turmoil in American society. That’s because, Cellini says, there are certain inalienable truths in this world.

“John Adams said that facts are stubborn things. You know, our Black brothers and sisters have always known their history and white people have always tried to prevent Black people from learning that history. What's new here is that white people are now trying to prevent other white people from learning this history.”

Cellini believes that Black Americans aren’t the only ones who want or need to know the full story. “It's white people who hunger for knowledge of that history, as well. It’s our duty to engage in determined resistance, to strike repeated blows for the truth. And nothing is more stubborn than facts.”

And like journalist Tucker, Cellini believes the search is infinitely for the benefit of the whole of society.

“The hard part isn't the finding,” Cellini says of the effort. “The hard part is the looking. But when we look, we find. And when we find, the whole world changes.”

[jhamazamnews-blog]

Black people in UK 'living in fear' over racism, say UN experts | UK News

Black people in the UK are “living in fear” due to structural, institutional and systemic racism, according to a United Nations working group. The experts, who spent 10 days travelling across the UK, warned that people of African descent continue to encounter racial discrimination and erosion of their fundamental rights. It also highlighted “trauma” felt by people who are suffering racial…

[probablyasocialecologist]

"In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into conclusory findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent. 

The Report attacks the credibility of those working to mitigate and lessen institutional racism while denying the role of institutions, including educators and educational institutions, in the data on the expectations and aspirations of boys and girls of African descent. The Report cites dubious evidence to make claims that rationalize white supremacy by using the familiar arguments that have always justified racial hierarchy.

This attempt to normalize white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism is an unfortunate sidestepping of the opportunity to acknowledge the atrocities of the past and the contributions of all in order to move forward. That this report comes only six years after the British taxpayer finished paying reparations to nineteenth century enslavers, without any talk of reparations to those enslaved and exploited, is particularly telling."

[firelynxinbloom]

The United Nations has made a statement regarding the protests against racial inequality in the United States. It reads:

"The recent killing of George Floyd has shocked many in the world, but it is the lived reality of black people across the United States. The uprising nationally is a protest against systemic racism that produces state-sponsored racial violence, and licenses impunity for this violence. The uprising also reflects public frustration and protest against the many other glaring manifestations of systemic racism that have been impossible to ignore in the past months, including the racially disparate death rate and socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disparate and discriminatory enforcement of pandemic-related restrictions. This systemic racism is gendered. The protests the world is witnessing, are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people, and other people of color.

The response of the President of the United States to the protests at different junctures has included threatening more state violence using language directly associated with racial segregationists from the nation’s past, who worked hard to deny black people fundamental human rights. We are deeply concerned that the nation is on the brink of a militarized response that reenacts the injustices that have driven people to the streets to protest.

Expressions of solidarity—nationally and internationally—are important but they are not enough. Many in the United States and abroad are finally acknowledging that the problem is not a few bad apples, but instead the problem is the very way that economic, political and social life are structured in a country that prides itself in liberal democracy, and with the largest economy in the world. The true demonstration of whether Black lives do indeed matter remains to be seen in the steps that public authorities and private citizens take in response to the concrete demands that protestors are making. One example is nationwide calls to rollback staggering police and military budgets, and for reinvestment of those funds in healthcare, education, housing, pollution prevention and other social structures, especially in communities of color that have been impoverished and terrorized by discriminatory state intervention.

Reparative intervention for historical and contemporary racial injustice is urgent, and required by international human rights law. This is a time for action and not just talk, especially from those who need not fear for their lives or their livelihoods because of their race, colour, or ethnicity. Globally, people of African descent and others have had to live the truths of systemic racism, and the associated pain, often without meaningful recourse as they navigate their daily lives. International leaders that have spoken out in solidarity with protestors, and with black people in the United States should also take this opportunity to address structural forms of racial and ethnic injustice in their own nations, and within the international system itself.

UN experts:

E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

Ahmed Reid (Chair), Michal Balcerzak, Dominique Day, Sabelo Gumedze, and Ricardo A. Sunga III,Working Group of experts on people of African descent

Ikponwosa Ero, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism

Leigh Toomey (Chair-Rapporteur), Elina Steinerte (Vice-Chair), José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez, Sètondji Roland Adjovi, and Seong-Phil Hong,Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

Githu Muigai (Chair), Anita Ramasastry (Vice-chair), Surya Deva, Elżbieta Karska, and Dante Pesce, Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Rhona Smith, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia

Yao Agbetse, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic

Nourredine Amir (Chair), Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Tomás Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Saad Alfarargi, Special Rapporteur on the right to development

Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities

Kombou Boly Barry, Special Rapporteur on the right to education

David R. Boyd, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment

Agnès Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food

Yuefen LI, Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights

David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

Baskut Tuncak, Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes

Dainius Pūras, Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context

Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order

Obiora C. Okafor, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity

Alice Cruz, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members

Alioune Tine, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali

Chris Kwaja (Chair), Jelena Aparac, Lilian Bobea, Sorcha MacLeod, and Saeed Mokbil, Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination

Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons

Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967

Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Joe Cannataci, Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy

Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences

Isha Dyfan, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia

Aristide Nononsi, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan

Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism

Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

Fabian Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence

Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights

Dubravka Šimonovic, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences

Léo Heller, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation

Meskerem Geset Techane, Elizabeth Broderick (Chair), Alda Facio, Ivana Radačić, and Melissa Upreti (Vice Chair), Working Group on discrimination against women and girls

The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity."

[survivingcapitalism]

Given how the Government of Canada has issued apologies to other communities that were harmed in the past, the hesitation and refusal by Ottawa to make the recommended and demanded apology further illustrates how Black Canadians are not valued.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked when or if he would apologize for Canada’s history of the enslavement of African people, as recommended in the 2017 United Nations Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its Mission to Canada. His non-answer — “we will continue to work with the black community on the things we need to do” — is a common deflection by government leaders. These ‘duck and delay’ tactics are indicative of the state’s persistent historic disregard for Black life, and mirrors how Canadians steadfastly refuse to acknowledge racial slavery as part of their colonial origins, national consciousness and legacies within society and institutions.

The 17th, 18th, and 19th century empire building and colonizing project of the French and British regimes in the New World were rife with settler colonial violence that involved the theft of Indigenous lands and the exploitation of the labour of indigenous Africans through racial slavery. This was the origin of the territories we now call Canada.

African men, women, and children had been enslaved in colonial Canada since the early 17th century, first under French rule in northern New France (what’s now Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland, Québec, Ontario and southward to Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley).

The earliest record of African enslavement in colonial Canada was the sale of a young boy christened Olivier LeJeune in 1629. Indigenous people were the first enslaved racial group and formed the majority until the British victory in the Seven Years’ War in 1763. Following the secession of New France to Great Britain, Québec historian Marcel Trudel determined that out of approximately 4,200 slaves in New France and later British-colonized Quebec, about 2,700 were Indigenous people and approximately 1,450 were African people.

The security of the right to hold slaves was an important matter that received its own clause in the 1760 Articles of Capitulation, signed at the surrender of Montréal. Article XLVII confirmed that both African and Indigenous slaves would remain in their condition after the transition of power.

“The Negroes and panis of both sexes shall remain, in their quality of slaves, in the possession of the French and Canadians to whom they belong; they shall be at liberty to keep them in their service in the colony, or to sell them; and they may also continue to bring them up in the Roman Religion…”

[jj-lynn21]

Joe Biden’s speech Nov 7, 2020

My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken.They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for “We the People.”We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation -- 74 million.I am humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me.I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn’t see Red and Blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.For that is what America is about: The people. And that is what our Administration will be about.I sought this office to restore the soul of America. To rebuild the backbone of the nation -- the middle class. To make America respected around the world again and to unite us here at home.It is the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for this vision. And now the work of making this vision real is the task of our time.As I said many times before, I’m Jill’s husband. I would not be here without the love and tireless support of my wife, Jill, Hunter, Ashley, all of our grandchildren and their spouses, and all our family. They are my heart.Jill’s a mom -- a military mom -- and an educator. She has dedicated her life to education, but teaching isn’t just what she does -- it’s who she is. For America’s educators, this is a great day: You’re going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great First Lady.And I will be honored to be serving with a fantastic vice president -- Kamala Harris -- who will make history as the first woman, first Black woman, first woman of South Asian descent, and first daughter of immigrants ever elected to national office in this country.It’s long overdue, and we’re reminded tonight of all those who fought so hard for so many years to make this happen. But once again, America has bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice.Kamala, Doug -- like it or not -- you’re family. You’ve become honorary Bidens.To all those who volunteered, worked the polls, local election officials -- you deserve a special thanks from this nation. To my campaign team, to all the volunteers, to all those who gave so much of themselves to make this moment possible, I thank you for everything. And to all those who supported us: I am proud of the campaign we built and ran. I am proud of the coalition we built, the broadest and most diverse in history.Democrats and Republicans and Independents. Progressives, moderates and conservatives. Young and old. Urban, suburban and rural. Gay, straight, transgender. White. Latino. Asian. Native American.And especially for those moments when this campaign was at its lowest -- the African American community.I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that.And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself.But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric. To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again. To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season -- a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal.This is that time for America. A time to heal.Now that the campaign is over -- what is the people’s will? What is our mandate?I believe it is this: Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.The battle to control the virus. The battle to build prosperity. The battle to secure your family’s health care. The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country. The battle to save the climate. The battle to restore decency, defend democracy, and give everybody in this country a fair shot.Our work begins with getting COVID under control.We cannot repair our economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments -- hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us -- until we get this virus under control.On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021.That plan will be built on a bedrock of science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern. I will spare no effort -- or commitment -- to turn this pandemic around.I ran as a proud Democrat. I will now be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me -- as I will for those who did.Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end -- here and now.The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control. It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make.And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate.That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- to make that choice with me.America’s story is about the slow, yet steady widening of opportunity. Make no mistake: Too many dreams have been deferred for too long. We must make the promise of the country real for everybody -- no matter their race, their identity, their ethnicity, their faith.America has always been shaped by inflection points -- by moments in time where we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be.Lincoln in 1860 -- coming to save the Union. FDR in 1932 -- promising a beleaguered country a New Deal. JFK in 1960 -- pledging a New Frontier.And twelve years ago -- when Barack Obama made history -- and told us, “Yes, we can.”We stand again at an inflection point. We have the opportunity to defeat despair and to build a nation of prosperity and purpose. We can do it. I know we can.I’ve long talked about the battle for the soul of America. Now we must restore the soul of America.Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our better angels to prevail.Tonight, the whole world is watching. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe. And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: Possibilities.That in America everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.You see, I believe in the possibility of this country. We’re always looking ahead. Ahead to an America that’s freer and more just. Ahead to an America that creates jobs with dignity and respect. Ahead to an America that cures disease -- like cancer and Alzheimers. Ahead to an America that never leaves anyone behind. Ahead to an America that never gives up.This is a great nation. And we are a good people. This is the United States of America. And there has never been anything we haven’t been able to do when we’ve done it together.In the last days of the campaign, I’ve been thinking about a hymn that means a lot to me and to my family. It captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America.And I hope it can provide some comfort and solace to the more than 230,000 families who have lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year. My heart goes out to each and every one of you.“And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,Bear you on the breath of dawn,Make you to shine like the sun,And hold you in the palm of His Hand.”And now, together -- on eagle’s wings -- we embark on the work that God and history have called upon us to do.With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country -- and a thirst for justice -- let us be the nation that we know we can be.A nation united. A nation strengthened. A nation healed.God bless you. And may God protect our troops.

Joe Biden

[shaributcher029-blog]

The Oldest Returns Paying For Sells In America.

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[96thdayofrage]

What slavery reparations from the federal government could look like

May 12, 2021, 5:00 AM CDT / Updated May 13, 2021, 2:10 PM CDT

By P.R. Lockhart

After decades of work from activists pushing the issue, presidential candidates, Congress members, local governments and private institutions have debated whether and how the federal government should issue reparations for Black Americans who are descendants of slaves.

As the Biden administration promises to confront structural racism and inequality, a growing number of Democratic lawmakers have given their support to H.R. 40, a decades-old bill first introduced by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in 1989. The bill would create a commission to study slavery and discrimination in the United States and potential reparations proposals for restitution.

In April, H.R. 40 moved out of committee for the first time, potentially setting up a floor vote on the legislation.

Meanwhile, the ongoing reckoning with racial injustice and the health disparities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic have called further attention to the ways Black people have faced generations of systemic discrimination.

But with an issue so large and complex, proponents suggest a range of ways the U.S. could engage in reparations while opponents say the time for redress for slavery and the discrimination that followed has passed.

Demands for reparations have endured for more than a century

Calls for reparations for enslaved men and women — and later, their descendants — have been made in various forms since the end of the Civil War. But these demands have never been met by the federal government.

In 1865, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman ordered that land confiscated from Confederate landowners be divided up into 40-acre portions and distributed to newly emancipated Black families. Following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, however, the order granting “40 acres and a mule” was swiftly rescinded by new President Andrew Johnson. The majority of the land was returned to white landowners.

After the Civil War, formerly enslaved men and women also argued that their unpaid labor while in bondage entitled them to pensions. Their demands received resistance from the federal government, which accused prominent pension supporters of fraud and ignored pension bills brought up in Congress.

But as the federal government denied land and resources to formerly enslaved people, it created new pathways for land ownership for white Americans. For instance, the federal government passed the Homestead Act in 1862, granting 160-acre plots to applicants.

“Black families received no assets from the federal government while large numbers of white families received substantial assets as a starting point for building wealth in the United States” under the act, said William Darity, a professor of public policy at Duke University. Darity recently co-authored a book on reparations with folklorist Kirsten Mullen titled “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century.”

Darity added that calls for reparations are a “specific claim that is connected to the failure to provide the ancestors of today's living descendants who were deprived of the 40-acre land grants that they were promised.”

After the war and during the Reconstruction era, Black Southerners made political, social and economic progress, but these gains were quickly overturned. Discrimination was further entrenched through laws regulating every facet of Black life, including housing restrictions, legal segregation and racially motivated terrorism and lynchings.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Black Americans also continued to be denied opportunities to build wealth under federal programs that benefited white families and communities.

Under the GI Bill, for example, “mortgage and school tuition benefits extended to black soldiers were devalued due to state endorsed and enforced segregation,” law professor Adrienne Davis argued in a pro-reparations human rights brief published in 2000.

"There were far fewer places they could attend school or purchase housing," Davis wrote. "The schools they were able to attend and houses they were able to buy were less valuable because they were black institutions and neighborhoods, respectively, in an economy that valued whiteness."

Excluding domestic and farm workers from Social Security legislation effectively shut out 60 percent of Black people “across the U.S. and 75 percent in southern states who worked in these occupations,” according to policy think tank the Brookings Institution.

Experts argue that such omissions from federal policy have not been fully corrected and have been magnified by widening health, education, employment and housing disparities, as well as a lack of access to capital.

Collectively, these historical and current disadvantages have led reparations proponents to argue that while slavery is where denials of wealth and equal rights began, the cumulative effects of both slavery and systematic federal denials of opportunity that followed continue to impact the descendants of enslaved people in the present.

Experts disagree on what reparations should look like

In recent years, reparations have often been discussed alongside the racial wealth gap, or the difference between wealth held by white Americans compared to that of other races.

Research has found that the gap between white and Black Americans has not narrowed in recent decades. White households hold roughly 10 times more wealth than Black ones, similar to the gap in 1968. While Black Americans account for roughly 13 percent of the American population, they hold about 4 percent of America’s wealth. Experts note the gap is not due to a lack of education or effort but rather is due to a lack of capital and resources that have left Black individuals more vulnerable to economic shocks and made it difficult for Black families to build inheritable wealth over generations.

Darity and Mullen say closing this wealth gap should be a fundamental goal of a reparations program and should guide how such a program is structured. In their book, Darity and Mullen call for a system of reparations that primarily consists of direct financial payments made by the federal government to eligible Black Americans who had at least one ancestor enslaved in the United States.

Proposals for reparations programs have also been raised by reparations advocacy groups in recent decades. The National African American Reparations Commission, for example, has a 10-point reparations plan that includes calls for a national apology for slavery and subsequent discrimination; a repatriation program that would allow interested people to receive assistance when exercising their “right to return” to an African nation of their choice; affordable housing and education programs; and the preservation of Black monuments and sacred sites, with the proposals benefiting any person of African descent living in the US.

Other proposals, like one proposed by Andre Perry and Rashawn Ray for the Brookings Institution, would also specifically provide restitution to descendants with at least one ancestor enslaved in the U.S., coupling direct financial payment with plans for free college tuition, student loan forgiveness, grants for down payments and housing revitalization and grants for Black-owned businesses.

“Making the American Dream an equitable reality demands the same U.S. government that denied wealth to Blacks restore that deferred wealth through reparations to their descendants,” they wrote last year.

The variety of proposals show that even among supporters of reparations, there is some disagreement about what a full program should look like and what exactly should be described as “true reparations.”

“I think we would be doing ourselves a huge disservice if we were just talking about financial compensation alone,” said Dreisen Heath, a racial justice researcher with Human Rights Watch.

While Heath said she did support and see the value in direct financial payments, she added that money alone “is not going to fix if you were wrongly convicted in a racist legal system. That’s not going to fix your access to preventative health care. All of these other harms are connected to the racial wealth gap but are not exclusively defined by or can be relieved by financial compensation.”

Some local governments — most notably Evanston, Illinois, and Asheville, North Carolina — are also attempting to issue reparations for historical discrimination Black residents of these areas faced. These attempts have been praised by some proponents, who say the wide-ranging harms of slavery and subsequent discrimination requires a multipronged solution.

The intersection of Valley St and Eagle St. in Asheville, N.C. in 1968. City officials voted last year to issue a formal apology for slavery and give a commission discretion over how to provide new investments in black businesses and homeownership. Andrea Clark / North Carolina Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, N.C.

“Reparations efforts at multiple levels are necessary because the harms were on multiple levels — the institutional, at the state level and at the federal level,” Heath said. “Specific harms were committed and need to be remedied in a very specific way. There’s no blanket reparations program for a specific community.”

Still, critics of such programs, like Darity and Mullen, say municipal efforts are not significant enough in scale because of sheer municipal budget restrictions. They also say localized programs simply miss the point.

“We are seeing racial equity initiatives that are being touted as reparations programs,” Mullen said. “For us, a reparations program must center on eliminating the racial wealth gap, and putting people on committees and panels is not going to do that.”

H.R. 40 has also sparked debate among reparations proponents

Discussion of how to best conceptualize reparations has spilled over into debates over H.R. 40, which languished in a House subcommittee for more than three decades before being voted out of committee this year. While supporters of the legislation argue it is the best vehicle for better understanding the need for and possible avenues of providing reparations, Darity and Mullen say in its current form, the measure could ultimately do more harm than good.

“One of the problems with H.R. 40 is that it is not at all clear that it provides us with a direction towards eliminating the racial wealth gap,” Darity said. He added that the bill’s impacts are limited because it creates a commission rather than directly approving a reparations program.

Supporters of the bill, including members of pro-reparations advocacy groups like the National African American Reparations Commission and the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America counter that the bill would do more than simply study the evidence supporting reparations and is a crucial step toward providing reparative justice.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, the bill's main sponsor, and other congressional Democratic leaders have said they hope to move forward with a House floor vote on the bill this summer.

Still, reaction to the legislation not only reveals fundamental differences between reparations proponents but also shows there continues to be a vocal contingent of reparations critics who argue that a federal effort to provide redress for the harms of slavery and the decades of discrimination that followed is unnecessary. Critics say slavery happened too long ago and thus the harms are too old to be repaired. Others say the mere idea of reparations frames Black Americans as helpless.

“Reparation is divisive. It speaks to the fact that we are a hapless, hopeless race that never did anything but wait for white people to show up and help us — and it’s a falsehood,” Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, one of two Black Republicans in the House, said during debate on H.R. 40 in April. “It’s demeaning to my parents’ generation.”

Experts argue the focus shouldn’t be on whether reparations are divisive but if they are necessary, saying Black American descendants of enslaved people have a valid claim for redress and restitution.

“There hasn’t been this amount of stalling for reparations for Japanese Americans, or around the appropriation for restitution for 9/11 victims, or continued support for Holocaust survivors in the U.S.,” Heath said. “Reparation is only seen as a bad word when we’re talking about repair and restitution for Black people.”

Ultimately, supporters argue the need for reparations should not be judged based on how popular the issue is publicly but instead should be looked at as a necessary correction for the moral, political and economic failures that have been created by federal policy at the expense of Black Americans.

Darity argued that even if detailed reparations measures are not politically feasible in Congress now, it is important that “the footprints must be put in place” for future efforts.

“If you think about the generational relationship to enslavement, you find that it doesn’t really feel all that long ago,” Darity said of efforts to frame reparations as solely focused on the past. “But what’s more important is that the effects of the period of enslavement are still felt and still embodied in the kinds of consequences for Black lives today.”

[heavyarethecrowns]

People that have married in Royal Families since 1800 Spam

Netherlands

Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg

Prince Claus of the Netherlands, was the husband of Queen Beatrix, and the Prince Consort of the Netherlands from Beatrix's ascension in 1980 until his death in 2002.

Claus was born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg, on his family's estate, Schloss Dötzingen, near Hitzacker, Germany on 6 September 1926.

His parents were Claus Felix von Amsberg and Baroness Gösta von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen. His father, a member of the untitled German nobility, operated a large farm in Tanganyika (formerly German East Africa) from 1928 until World War II.

From 1938 Claus and his six sisters grew up on their maternal grandparents' manor in Lower Saxony; he attended the Friderico-Francisceum-Gymnasium in Bad Doberan from 1933 to 1936 and a boarding school in Tanganyika from 1936 to 1938.

Claus was a member of the Nazi youth organisations as Deutsches Jungvolk and the Hitler Youth (membership in both was mandatory for all fit members of his generation). From 1938 until 1942, he attended the Baltenschule Misdroy. In 1944, he was conscripted into the German Wehrmacht, becoming a soldier in the German 90th Panzergrenadier Division in Italy in March 1945.

He was taken prisoner of war by the American forces at Meran before taking part in any fighting. After his repatriation, he finished school in Lüneburg and studied law in Hamburg. He then joined the German diplomatic corps and worked in Santo Domingo and Ivory Coast.

In the 1960s, he was transferred to Bonn. Claus met Princess Beatrix for the first time on New Year's Eve 1962 in Bad Driburg at a dinner hosted by the count von Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff who was a distant relative of both of them. They met again at the wedding-eve party of Princess Tatjana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, in the summer of 1964.

With memories of German oppression still very strong 20 years after the war, sections of the Dutch population were unhappy that Beatrix's fiancé was a German and former member of the Hitler Youth. Nonetheless, Queen Juliana gave the engagement her blessing after giving serious thought to canceling it. The engagement was approved by the States-General a necessary step for Beatrix to remain heiress to the throne in 1965. He was granted Dutch citizenship later that year and changed the spellings of his names to Dutch. The pair were married on 10 March 1966.

Their wedding day saw violent protests, most notably by the anarchist-artist group Provo. They included such memorable slogans as "Claus, 'raus!" (Claus, get out!) and "Mijn fiets terug" (Give me back my bike), a reference to the memory of occupying German soldiers confiscating Dutch bicycles. A smoke bomb was thrown at the wedding carriage by a group of Provos. For a time, it was thought that Beatrix would be the last monarch of the Netherlands.

However, over time, Claus became accepted by the public, so much so that during the last part of his life he was considered by some to be the most popular member of the Royal Family. This change in Dutch opinion was brought about by Claus's strong motivation to contribute to public causes (especially Third World development, on which he was considered an expert), his sincere modesty and his candor (within but sometimes on the edge of royal protocol). The public also sympathised with Claus for his efforts to give meaning to his life beyond the restrictions that Dutch law imposed on the Royal Family's freedom of speech and action. However, these restrictions were gradually loosened; Claus was even appointed as senior staff member at the Department of Developing Aid, albeit in an advisory role.

One example of his attitude toward protocol was the "Declaration of the Tie". In 1998, after presenting the annual Prince Claus Awards to three African fashion designers, Claus told "workers of all nations to unite and cast away the new shackles they have voluntarily cast upon themselves", meaning the necktie, that "snake around my neck," and encouraged the audience to "venture into open-collar paradise". He then removed his tie and threw it on the floor.

In 2001, when on Dutch television he announced the marriage of his son Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta, an Argentine woman of Spanish and Italian descent, Prince Claus referred to himself as more a citizen of the world than anything else.

Claus suffered various health problems, such as depression, cancer and Parkinson's disease. He died of complications of Pneumonia and Parkinsons at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 6 October 2002 after a long illness, aged 76. He died less than 4 months after the birth of his first grandchild. He was interred in the Royal Family's tomb in Delft on 15 October. It was the first full state funeral since Queen Wilhelmina's in 1962.

[corpusgreatchancellor]

UN Experts Condemn UK Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report | CORPUS GREAT SOVEREIGN RIGHTS CHANCELLERY, CHAMBERS, INSTITUTES, FELLOWSHIP, FOUNDATION, ACADEMY, TRUST & MEDIA

UN Experts Condemn UK Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report | CORPUS GREAT SOVEREIGN RIGHTS CHANCELLERY, CHAMBERS, INSTITUTES, FELLOWSHIP, FOUNDATION, ACADEMY, TRUST & MEDIA

This statement is issued by independent experts* of the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Geneva (19 April 2021) The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent categorically rejects and condemns the analysis and findings of the recently published report by the UK’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which, among other conclusions, claim that…

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/04/19/race-report-commissioned-by-government-an-attempt-to-normalise-white-supremacy-un-human-rights-experts-claim/

Race report commissioned by government an attempt to 'normalise white supremacy', UN human rights experts claim

Human rights experts from the United Nations have alleged that a government-commissioned race report tried to “normalise white supremacy”.

The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent said it “categorically rejects and condemns” the findings of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

The report, which was published last month, said racism remained a “real force” but Britain was no longer a country where the “system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities”.

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The Data Dive: What does the race report say?

Commission chairman Dr Tony Sewell said it had found no evidence of “institutional racism”.

And its report criticised the way the term has been used, saying it should not be applied as a “catch-all” phrase for any microaggression.

But the UN’s human rights experts laid into the report, saying in a statement released by the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner: “In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into conclusory findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent.”

They urged the government to reject the findings, adding: “The report cites dubious evidence to make claims that rationalise white supremacy by using the familiar arguments that have always justified racial hierarchy.

“This attempt to normalise white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism is an unfortunate sidestepping of the opportunity to acknowledge the atrocities of the past and the contributions of all in order to move forward.”

The commission’s report attracted criticism when it was published, including accusations that it was “putting a positive spin on slavery and empire”.

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Race report accused of ‘downplaying racism’

In the foreword, Dr Sewell said a teaching resource should look at the influence of the UK during its empire period and how “Britishness influenced the Commonwealth” and how local communities influenced “modern Britain”.

He added: “There is a new story about the Caribbean experience which speaks to the slave period not only being about profit and suffering but how culturally African people transformed themselves into a remodelled African/Britain.”

In response to the criticism at the time, the commission said suggestions it would downplay the atrocities of slavery was “as absurd as it is offensive”.

And one of its authors, space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, said people criticising the report were being “insulting” and taking it out of context.

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Race report ‘more about politics than policy’

The UN experts also hit out at what it said was the report’s “mythical representation of enslavement is an attempt to sanitise the history of the trade in enslaved Africans”.

They urged the government to make sure there is an “accurate reflection of historical facts”, adding: “The distortion and falsification of these historic facts may license further racism, the promotion of negative racial stereotypes, and racial discrimination.”

Sky News has contacted the government for a response to the UN’s criticism.

Source

[things2mustdo]

Mike Laws, Columbia Journalism Review, June 16, 2020

At the Columbia Journalism Review, we capitalize Black, and not white, when referring to racial groups. Black is an ethnic designation; white merely describes the skin color of people who can, usually without much difficulty, trace their ethnic origins back to a handful of European countries.

In deciding on a styling, fusspot grammarians and addled copy editors generally fall back on a pair of considerations. The first is broad adherence to a general rule—like, say, the Chicago Manual of Style’s (§8.38) edict that “Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized.” (Though Chicago still generally mandates lowercasing both black and white, it does include the proviso that the rule can be suspended if “a particular author or publisher prefers otherwise.”) The second thing we look for is attestation. In this case, it’s instructive to turn not to the largely lilywhite mainstream press (nor to the style guides that govern their renderings), but to writers of color and to alternative stylebooks. The Diversity Style Guide (2019), produced by Rachele Kanigel in consultation with some fifty journalists and experts, takes it as a given that Black ought to be capitalized. Sarah Glover, a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists, wrote in a recent piece for the New York Amsterdam News, a historically Black weekly, that “capitalizing the ‘B’ in Black should become standard use to describe people, culture, art and communities.” After all, she pointed out, “We already capitalize Asian, Hispanic, African American and Native American.”

And, as my CJR colleague Alexandria Neason told me recently, “I view the term Black as both a recognition of an ethnic identity in the States that doesn’t rely on hyphenated Americanness (and is more accurate than African American, which suggests recent ties to the continent) and is also transnational and inclusive of our Caribbean [and] Central/South American siblings.” To capitalize Black, in her view, is to acknowledge that slavery “deliberately stripped” people forcibly shipped overseas “of all other ethnic/national ties.” She added, “African American is not wrong, and some prefer it, but if we are going to capitalize Asian and South Asian and Indigenous, for example, groups that include myriad ethnic identities united by shared race and geography and, to some degree, culture, then we also have to capitalize Black.”

If capping the B strikes you as in part a project of reclamation, well, it is. {snip}

Per this understanding, it is a kind of orthographic injustice to lowercase the B: to do so is to perpetuate the iniquity of an institution that uprooted people from the most ethnically diverse place on the planet, systematically obliterating any and all distinctions regarding ethnicity and culture. When people identify with specific terms of the African diaspora, we defer to those; in the absence of the identifiable ethnicities slavery stole from those it subjugated, Black can be a preferred ethnic designation for some descendants. (For a pop-culture consideration of this question, see the “Juneteenth” episode of Atlanta, in which a woke white husband asks Donald Glover’s character what part of “the motherland” he’s from, hazarding a guess that the answer might be “southeastern Bantu.” Glover responds, dryly, “I don’t know. See, this spooky thing called slavery happened and my entire ethnic identity was erased.”)

If capping the B strikes you as in part a project of reclamation, well, it is. As The Diversity Style Guide notes,

There are various historical, social and political reasons why one might prefer to identify as Black. The term has historically connected people of African descent around the world and was revived during the Black Power Movement.… Black and then African American replaced older terms such as Colored and Negro imposed by others. Self-identification might reflect feelings about origin, affiliation, colonialism, enslavement and cultural dispossession.

That argument persuaded CJR to change its style (in defiance of a piece published on our site a few years earlier). Glover, in her article, called on the Associated Press stylebook (“the bible for working journalists”) to update its entry. Given the timing, after the killing of George Floyd and in light of a global reckoning with race relations, I’d be surprised if the AP didn’t take heed, and soon. In the meantime—and in what is surely a sign of evolving American attitudes on the topic—USA Today has announced that it will be adopting the cap-B Black across its network, which includes the flagship paper and “more than 260 local news organizations.” (The man responsible for issuing the editorial fiat, Michael McCarter, was named managing editor of standards, ethics, and inclusion exactly one day before making the call.)

This all makes for a good start, but it will mean nothing if white Americans don’t make an effort to understand the whys and wherefores—which is to say, the history that delivered us to this precise point in time. That, of course, will be a taller order than simply asking them to capitalize one little letter.

Editors Note: This piece has been updated for clarity. An earlier version included an explanation that was off-base. We appreciate the feedback, have revised the language, and will continue to discuss this subject internally.

[khalilhumam]

Brutal murders in Guyana seen as ‘continuation of earlier ethnic upheavals’

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/brutal-murders-in-guyana-seen-as-continuation-of-earlier-ethnic-upheavals/

Brutal murders in Guyana seen as ‘continuation of earlier ethnic upheavals’

“The country's “electoral saga […] precipitated this tragic event”

The two cousins, Joel and Isaiah Henry, who were killed in a brutal attack on September 6, in the community of Cotton Tree, located southeast of Georgetown, Guyana, on the west bank of the Berbice River. Screenshot taken from a news report posted to YouTube by HGPTV.

Like many other regional territories, Guyana's politics have historically been race-based — a reality that was on display during the country's recent election impasse, in which the incumbent government, predominantly appealing to Afro-Guyanese voters, was accused of trying to rig the results in its favour. Although the dust has settled and the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP), which has a primarily Indo-Guyanese support base, has taken office, many pressing issues are still being painted with the broad brush of race — from the arrest of Clairmont Mingo, the election officer accused of fraud in the election process to the gruesome murder of two Black youth who were found chopped to death on September 6. Joel and Isaiah Henry, who were cousins, were allegedly killed by an Indo-Guyanese farm owner whose coconuts they were picking. Seven people have since been arrested. Ever since the details of the double murder have come to light, villagers from the boys’ community have been calling for justice and staging protests by blocking roads and setting debris on fire. Guyana's home affairs minister, Robeson Benn, criticised statements from “leading political persons” and “agitators” who were alluding that the attack on the boys was racially motivated. By September 8, several civil society groups noted that the killings have exacerbated the country's already charged political race relations, and called on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), which works in the interest of racial harmony and justice, to help ease mounting racial tensions. Pointing to “the mental racial violence that is being perpetrated on social media,” the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G), established under the previous administration under the auspices of the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent, called the murders “another manifestation of the festering division, ethnic strife and utter contempt for the lives of those from other ethnic groups.” The Society for African Guyanese Empowerment (SAGE) put a political and racial spin on the murders, saying the attack emphasised “the need to rally and defend African Guyanese against aggression by the newly installed PPP government.” The very next day, September 9, Haresh Singh, the 17-year-old grandson of one of the murder suspects, also died after being found with head injuries and chop wounds. In a separate incident, Chatterpaul Harripaul, 34, fired his shotgun toward a crowd of protestors, who retaliated by beating him to death. The country's newly installed president, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has called all four deaths “barbaric” and said the violent protests had “nothing to do with standing up for justice.” The president, as well as other political players, criticised the divisive statements of the country's opposition leader, Joseph Harmon, who framed the incident not as “a struggle between the races,” but as “a struggle against oppression […] a struggle against fraudulent government.” The opposition's politicisation of the issue, according to Home Affairs Minister Benn, is exacerbating the situation with the protests and compromising security in the area of West Berbice, where most of the unrest is taking place. Meanwhile, organisations like the Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana (MYO) have spoken out against the murders, and the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has approached the country's United Nations resident coordinator to ask that international forensic experts help with the murder investigations. The acrimony that has come to the surface after the double murder and its resultant revenge killings is uncomfortably reminiscent of the country's history of race-based violence. In a statement, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) noted that “the prevailing poisonous political atmosphere has penetrated the society to the point where public trust in an impartial investigation is virtually non-existent.” In calling for racial reconciliation, the GHRA made the point that “both sides are quick to see [the murders] as a continuation of earlier ethnic upheavals” and that the country's “electoral saga […] precipitated this tragic event.” Guyana, perched on the edge of a major economic windfall thanks to the discovery of oil and gas reserves, cannot afford the kind of racially motivated violence it saw in the 1960s when the United States played an active role in keeping Indo-Guyanese politician Cheddi Jagan, who had Marxist leanings, out of office. Hundreds of people were killed and many who were spared fled the country, resulting in a massive brain drain, economic and social instability. The mushrooming tensions between the country's two main ethnic groups intensified under the rule of the People’s National Congress, led by Forbes Burnham from 1964 until his death in 1985. Burnham often used state-sanctioned violence to quell dissent, the most infamous example of which was the murder of Black political activist Walter Rodney, although Indo-Guyanese routinely experienced discrimination during his tenure. Racial tensions once more resulted in violence in the early 2000s when 400-plus citizens, most of them Black, died at the hands of criminal gangs linked to the two main political parties and allegedly supported by security forces.

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco

[newyorkprelawland-blog]

2020 Coronavirus, A New Era of Discrimination

By Spencer Brooke Hayes, University at Albany, SUNY Class of 2021

May 22, 2020

The novel Coronavirus has turned the entire world into pandemonium as we continue to struggle to find how to cure and prevent the spread. The surge of the pandemic has left every country like a turtle on its back unable to turnover. The prevalence of discrimination is on the rise as communities’ target groups of minorities, blaming them for the massive worldwide spread. Also, with social injustices, not only are minorities facing blame but also discrimination by their countries’ inability to provide for a safe environment and preventative care.

While the coronavirus is not linked directly to specific races or ethnic groups, because of impartialities in healthcare policies and living conditions, the less fortunate suffer the consequences. According to the International Human Rights Law, more specifically, the International Covenant on Economics, Social, and Cultural Rights, humans have the right to the “highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” and governments are obligated to ensure the “prevention, treatment and control of epidemics…”[1]. [Link Directly to United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights https://ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx]. Under this Law, healthcare clinics and hospitals must be equipped to treat the masses successfully, be accessible for every human without the risk of discrimination, affordable for everyone to receive treatment, and scientifically/medically/culturally appropriate1. Restrictions to address the threatening of national life can only be approved if they are not discriminatory and are necessary for the health of the state1. With this understanding of International Human Rights Law in mind, the following are several areas of concern when it comes to the handling of the Coronavirus in nations.

To start, a major area of concern is that individuals do not have the accessibility to information on the virus and the necessary steps that need to be taken to ensure safety and disease control1. In tandem with this, are also concerns of the right to the freedom of expression with reporters and whistleblowers being persecuted for sharing information1. In China, for instance, journalists were imprisoned for providing the public with material on the virus and the doctor who released the news about the virus was detained by the government1. Thailand had a similar situation where the government was withholding medical supplies to the public and whistleblowers faced lawsuits for releasing that information1.

Another area of concern is that civilians are unable to obtain medical care for other illnesses because of heavily enforced quarantines and healthcare workers are not protected from the virus properly. The quarantines and lockdowns in countries, like China, have restricted individuals from the right to movement resulting in civilians dying from other illnesses and diseases that were left untreated1. Those who are on the frontlines lack the resources to maintain a hygienic environment to keep themselves and others safe from the spread1. In a 2019, it was reported that 896 million people go to clinics that do not have filtered water and 1.5 billion individuals seek treatment at clinics that do not have sanitation systems1. In accordance with the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights, “governments must create conditions that minimize the risk of occupational accidents and diseases”1. This is not being fulfilled in several countries that have Coronavirus cases. For instance, in Venezuela, their healthcare system is collapsed due to the corruption in the government1. Hungary lacks the resources and money to combat the virus. Women and girls face a large disparage in their healthcare. As quarantine has restricted access to healthcare, women are unable to seek prenatal care and family planning services1. Prisons are another place where individuals are unable to minimize risk because of the close quarters and overcrowding1.

Coronavirus has resulted in discrimination within society as people look for someone who is blameworthiness. In Guangzhou, China, African Americans face great injustices as the Chinese authorities are mandating that they stay quarantined with monitoring and enforced Coronavirus testing[2]. African Americans are being evicted from their apartments with no evidence as to why except that they fear that they are carriers2. On top of having no home, hospitals and restaurants refuse to provide services leaving them to have no one to go to for help2. In America, African Americans are also facing increased discrimination as they are not able to receive affordable healthcare[3]. The United Nations reports, “The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent said that structural discrimination could worsen inequalities surrounding access to healthcare and treatment, which could lead to rise in disease and death rates among people of African descent”3. It is also important to recognize how there are a disproportionate number of African Americans in the service industries which are considered essential during the shut-down due to Coronavirus3. Even with this high proportion, these workers do not have the necessary amount of sanitation methods and/or preventative mechanisms such as masks and gloves to protect them from the virus3. So how do we fix this? The National Action Plan Against Racial Discrimination has been adopted by many countries to ensure that racism and discrimination has been combatted[4]. Through expansive education, public methods of expanding messages, and most importantly, increased policing4.

Discrimination against Asians has been on over drive as people blame them for the spread of the disease, as it did stem from China. Increased protection of these individuals needs to be addressed as they are in great danger of racism4. As the United Nations Secretary General states, “the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering”4.

The coronavirus controls the health and most importantly, the fear, of humans worldwide. In combating it, it is important that we, as a society, address the disparages that are becoming increasing evident in different racial, ethnic and religious groups.  

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Spencer Brooke Hayes is current graduate student at the Rockefeller College, University at Albany studying International Affairs. Graduated from the University of Connecticut, Storrs in 2019 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy with a concentration in International Relations.

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[1]Human Rights Watch. 2020. “Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response”. Human Rights Watch. March 19. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/19/human-rights-dimensions-covid-19-responses

[2]Human Rights Watch. 2020. “China: COVID-19 Discrimination Against Africans; Forced Quarantines, Evictions, Refused Services in Guangzhou”. Human Rights Watch. May 5. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/05/china-covid-19-discrimination-against-africans

[3]United Nations Human Rights. 2020. “Rights experts warn against discrimination in COVID-19 response”. United Nations Human Rights. April 6. https://news.UN.org/en/story/2020/04/1061122

[4]Human Rights Watch. 2020. “COVID-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide; National Action Plans Needed to Counter Intolerance”. Human Rights Watch. May 12. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia