UNGA Resolution Recognizes Transatlantic Slave Trade as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity

On March 25, 2026, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/80/250, recognizing that the transatlantic slave trade was the gravest crime against humanity, citing its brutality and ongoing anti-Black racism in the West.

UNGA Resolution A/RES/80/250

The West’s reluctance to join the world in recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as a grave human rights violation can be understood by reviewing Alan Axelrod’s “Profiles in Folly,” a book that attempts to diagnose human decisions across history, especially those that seem nonsensical. Axelrod, a Ph.D holder from the University of Iowa, is a historian whose work revolves around borrowing lessons from historical events and applying them in leadership roles to avert avoidable failures. His work demonstrates that the greatest failures in history did not result from ignorance but rather from hubris, a lack of foresight, and a failure to appreciate uncomfortable truths. Notably, voices from the West know that slavery was evil but are unwilling to accept this uncomfortable truth, as it threatens their source of economic and political advantage over the past centuries. This failure to recognize uncomfortable truth, by failing to support a non-binding, hence largely symbolic, resolution A/RES/80/250, is unwise when weighed against Axelrod’s view, as it undermines the parties’ credibility and influence.

Notably, countries........

© New Eastern Outlook