UN resolution calls for reparations for ‘gravest crime’ of transatlantic slave trade

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning the transatlantic slave trade that occurred between the 16th and 19th centuries and also urged reparations for it “as a concrete step toward remedying historical wrongs.” The resolution was led by Ghana and received 123 votes in support and 3 against. An additional 52 countries abstained from voting. Argentina, Israel, and the United States were the three countries that voted against the resolution. 

The U.N. resolution condemned “the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade as the most inhumane and enduring injustice against humanity.” Among its most prominent grievances listed was recognizing that the “trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity by reason of the definitive break in world history, scale, duration, systemic nature, brutality and enduring consequences that continue to structure