UN Experts on Racism Highlight “Exhaustion” of Black Community in the US

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted on 05/05/2023 at 23:59update on 05/05/2023 at 23:59

UN experts specializing in racism highlighted Friday, May 5 “exhaustion” of the black community after a visit to the United States, where the legacy of slavery must be taken into account by the authorities “at all levels”, they say. For 12 days, the team of the “UN Independent Expert Mechanism to Promote Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Policing”, created after the death in 2020 of the Afro- American George Floydmet victims, representatives of civil society, the judicial system, police unions, federal or local officials, in Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York.

“In the United States, racial inequalities date back to the founding of the country. And there will be no quick fix. This requires an integrated approach at all levels of power”commented during a press conference one of the members of the team, Tracie Keesee. “It deserves more than a slogan and calls for a comprehensive and strong reform of leadership at all levels”she added, pointing out that “slavery and legal discrimination have left a deep legacy that is felt in the everyday lives of people of African descent“. So, “Even today, racial discrimination permeates encounters with law enforcement, from first contact to arrest, detention, conviction”she insisted.

“The Stress of Being Black”

And their talks brought to light “the exhaustion of the black community, an exhaustion of being black, (…) present in everyday life”. “Black police officers agreed with the community regarding this widespread burnout” related to “stress of being black in America”, underlined the expert. The team, which will prepare a more detailed report, welcomed in a statement “the various promising initiatives, including at State level, taken by the authorities to combat racial discrimination affecting populations of African origin”. But experts have underlined their feeling “urgency, and their moral responsibility, to echo the harrowing pain of the victims and their resounding calls for those responsible to be held to account”.

This mechanism was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2021, a year after the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer, to investigate accusations of racially motivated police violence around the world.