The UN General Assembly adopted a text 1 sponsored by Ghana, on behalf of the Group of African States, proclaiming the African slave trade as: "the most serious crime against humanity". John Dramani Mahama, on this International Day for the Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, considered that the adoption of this text constitutes " a bulwark against forgetting" and aims to "affirm the truth and pave the way towards healing and restorative justice" 2 .
This text, interestingly enough, passed with 123 votes but was rejected by three countries: the United States, Israel, and Argentina. These votes against are not surprising. The United States built a large part of its wealth on slavery and has no intention of critically examining its past, which included both genocide against Indigenous peoples and the exploitation of slave labor. As for Israel, its position is both about aligning itself with the United States and about building its own system based on replacement colonialism. Regarding Argentina, one could speak of pure and simple mimicry of the United States.
Remarkably, all European countries, including France, and all countries that actively participated in and profited from the African slave trade, with the notable exceptions of Belarus and Russia, abstained.
Remarkably, all European countries, including France, and all countries that actively participated in and profited from the African slave trade, with the notable exceptions of Belarus and Russia, abstained.
The justification for this abstention rests on the idea that the condemnation of the African slave trade cannot be considered the most serious crime against humanity because it is impossible to establish a hierarchy of crimes. This argument, repeated ad nauseam by the media , is clearly a smokescreen to avoid revealing the conscious and self-serving role of our triumphant bourgeoisie, a significant portion of which, particularly in the ports, built its fortune on the slave trade.
Clearly, the bourgeoisie has a hard time coming to terms with its slave-owning and colonial past!
Clearly, the bourgeoisie has a hard time coming to terms with its slave-owning and colonial past!