Sunday, July 31, 2016

Looking Back at Slavery: UN Special Rapporteur and Michelle Obama

 

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention on July 25, Michelle Obama talked directly about the history of African American people in this country.  "That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves."  Our First Lady began a conversation that many thought would begin in 2009.  

On July 28, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, issued a Image1 statement assessing some of the challenges that the US faces.  In discussing race and racism in the US, Mr. Kiai noted that first the US must acknowledge the 400 years of slavery and post-slavery Jim Crow laws.  Mr. Kiai voiced what is most basic to finding understanding and resolution.  Without acknowledgement, solutions cannot be implemented.  Failure to acknowledge wrongs and the resulting suffering is the biggest obstacle to healing.

Mr. Kiai said "To be clear, the focus of my mission was not race or discrimination. My mandate concerns the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.  But it is impossible to discuss these rights without issues of racism pervading the discussions. Racism and the exclusion, persecution and marginalization that come with it, affect the enabling environment for the exercise of association and assembly rights."  

For decades, foreign observers have told us that race is one of, if not the biggest problem in our country.  We ignored the warnings and continued on with little effort to correct the systemic diminution and displacement of  African Americans.  Michelle Obama opened the discussion in a way that cannot be ignored or minimized.  It's on us to continue the conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/human_rights/2016/07/looking-back-at-slavery-un-special-rapporteur-and-michelle-obama.html

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