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Learn from the past, `stand united against racism' - UN chief

   A man holds a sign reading 'Slavery still Exists' in the United States.
   © Unsplash/Hermes Rivera
   A man holds a sign reading 'Slavery still Exists' in the United States.

   [65]Facebook [66]Twitter [67]Print [68]Email

Learn from the past, `stand united against racism' - UN chief

   25 March 2022 [69]Human Rights

   "Let us stand united against racism and together build societies based
   on dignity, equality and solidarity", the UN chief said on
   Friday, [70]International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery.

   For more than 400 years, over 15 million men, women and children became
   the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, in one of human
   history's darkest chapters.
   Tweet URL

   On #RememberSlavery Day we pay tribute to the millions of Africans who
   were torn from their homelands during the Transatlantic Slave
   Trade.People of African descent confront racial discrimination to this
   day.Let's #FightRacism & build societies based on equality.
   pic.twitter.com/8NxPtU6Bfh
   António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
   antonioguterres

   "There is much that we know about the transatlantic trade in enslaved
   Africans," [71]Secretary-General António Guterres [72]said in his
   message commemorating the day.

   He said it was a clear crime against humanity, pointing to the
   unprecedented scale of the human trafficking that took place, the
   degrading economic transactions involved, and "unspeakable" human
   rights violations.

Racist legacy lives on

   But, added the UN chief, "there is also much that we do not know, and
   today is a day we learn".

   Behind the facts and figures, he reminded that there are millions of
   human stories.

   "Stories of untold suffering and pain...of families and communities
   ripped apart but also stories of awe-inspiring courage and defiance
   against the cruelty of oppressors".

   While the world will never know every act of resistance - great or
   small - that slowly but surely triumphed over injustice, repression and
   enslavement, he maintained that those accounts are "crucial to our
   understanding of a past whose most pernicious and persistent legacy
   continues to blight our present: racism".

Stand in solidarity

   The International Day is a time to learn about and reflect on those
   stories and pay tribute to the millions of Africans who were torn from
   their homelands and communities, said Mr. Guterres, and "stand up in
   solidarity against racism everywhere."

`Discrimination, marginalization and exclusion'

   Today, people of African descent "continue to confront racial
   discrimination, marginalization and exclusion," he said.

   Political, economic and structural power imbalances that were rooted in
   colonial rule, enslavement and exploitation, continue today to deny
   equality of opportunity and justice.

   Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General urged everyone to stand up
   against racism today and every day.

   IFRAME:
   [73]/en/media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/KtQ4Zdrpej8&max_width=0&max
   _height=0&hash=_i0T7fRF9xZZqxgiKhY_9C8w21JUWMdAeFFvcbwNeqQ

   Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade - International
   Day of Remembrance 2022

`Eradicate the global scourge'

   In his message, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid underscored
   the need to "discuss the legacy of slavery," especially in the
   marginalization of persons of African descent, "who are still denied
   justice and equality".

   "Let's stand in solidarity, united against these inequalities," he
   said. "This dark chapter should never be whitewashed".

   Natalia Kanem, head of the UN agency dedicated to advancing sexual
   reproductive health and rights and ending gender-based violence,
   [74]UNFPA, said that while remembering the victims of enslavement and
   the centuries-long transatlantic trade, "let us unite to eradicate the
   global scourge of racism".
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   a topic.
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     * [78]International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and
       the Transatlantic Slave Trade

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[87]For equality, respect and dignity we must `speak as one' against racism:
Guterres

   18 March 2022
   [88]Human Rights

   Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and
   everyday life across all societies, the UN chief said on Friday at a
   dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that
   "normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence".
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[90]Bachelet: `We need to push back against hatred'

   26 January 2022
   [91]Human Rights

   UN High Commissioner for [92]Human
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   sites and antisemitic incidents reported in many countries.

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