U.S. Votes No on UN Measure Calling Slavery ‘Gravest Crime’

Key Points:

• The United States, along with Israel and Argentina, voted against a Ghana-led UN resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations, while over 120 nations supported the measure.
• The nonbinding resolution urges formal apologies, compensation, and reparatory justice for people of African descent, explicitly linking historical slavery to ongoing anti-Black racism and economic inequality.
• U.S. Ambassador Dan Negrea opposed the resolution on legal grounds, stating the U.S. does not recognize reparations for historical wrongs not illegal under international law at the time, and defended former President Trump’s record on Black Americans.
• Ghana’s President John Mahama emphasized the resolution as a safeguard against forgetting slavery and racism, contrasting with U.S. reluctance amid domestic debates over teaching these topics in schools.
• Black reparations advocates in the U.S. view the vote as indicative of a gap between rhetoric on racial justice and concrete reparations efforts, noting declining political support despite ongoing local initiatives.