In a report outlining its observations and recommendations, a United Nations committee tasked with eliminating racism suggested that the United States provide reparations to the descendants of slaves and implement other measures to combat racism in America.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a United Nations treaty of which the United States is a signatory, is governed by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which issued the 16-page report advising the United States on how to combat racism.
According to the report, which references data on police-involved shootings and racial disparities in health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States should explore the option of providing reparations to the descendants of slaves. The committee added that they were aware of and support House Resolution 40, a bill submitted by Democrat Representative Shelia Jackson Lee in April of last year, which would provide $12 million in funding for an a reparations exploratory commission. The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, as the bill is known, would task the commission with delivering a report to Congress describing the manner of reparations that would be most beneficial to the African American community as well as a method that will be used to calculate just how much recompense is owed.
The U.N. racial discrimination committee took a stance on broader legislative trends, and cautioned against “the increase of legislation and legislative proposals that expressly prohibit public school instruction about racism, unconscious bias, discrimination, privilege and oppression.” In the United States, many of these concepts are recognized as Critical Race Theory.
The committee also urged the United States to develop a “national action plan” in order to combat racism, pass gun control legislation, and ban local law enforcement officers from carrying out limited immigration enforcement through program 287(g) which provides U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement oversight on the operations.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination comprises 18 experts selected by secret ballot from a pool of candidates each nominated by the parties to the treaty. Members serve for a four-year term and China currently holds the chair.
