CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Omissions on a Cruel Trade: The Neglected Role of African Slavers

The Old Plantation, watercolor attributed to John Rose, possibly painted 1785–1795 in the Beaufort District of South Carolina – Public Domain

Last month, the United Nations General Assembly was unimpeachably correct in condemning the hideous practice of slavery in a resolution endorsed by 123 votes.  Those voting either against the resolution (Argentina, Israel and the United States) or choosing to abstain (52 in all) did, nonetheless, demonstrate why grave breaches of human rights can never be extricated from the political and historical context of their perpetration.  Importantly, such resolutions are always relevant for what they omit, susceptible to trends and pressures of the moment.

The resolution emphasised “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 the lives of all people through racialized regimes of labour, property and capital.”  It also called on Member States “to engage in inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including a full and formal apology, measures of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, guarantees of non-repetition and changes to laws, programmes and services to address racism and systemic discrimination”.

The question of reparatory justice for victims and descendants of the slave trade, most notably in its monetary sense, remains thorny.  In September 2025, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated that justice in this regard had to be expansive in nature, including “reparations in various forms”.  “To be truly effective, this approach must squarely consider the web of links between the past and the present – at the individual and societal levels, in all areas of life – in order to dismantle unjust structures and systems designed and shaped by the past.”

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report released that same month enumerates some features of reparatory justice, among them pursuing public dialogue; reviewing educational........

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