A U.S. Boycott Must Not Stop this Show

South Africans protest the United States' stance on the upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism, to be held in Durban later this month (Photo: AFP).

It comes as no surprise that delegates in Geneva failed to reach a compromise on the thorny questions of the Middle East conflict and reparations for slavery and colonialism being on the agenda of the upcoming U.N. World Conference Against Racism in Durban [On Aug. 14, an official with the South African Foreign Ministry said the question of Zionism as racism would not be on the agenda. As of Aug. 15, it was still not clear whether the United States would attend—WPR].

Clearly the United States did not go into this preparatory meeting with an open mind. For two weeks the United States has been saying it will not participate in the conference unless these two issues are removed form the agenda. The United States also indicated that if it does not get its way, it is unlikely to contribute to financing the conference.

This means that South Africa, as the host, may pick up the entire tab—possibly more than ZAR100 million [US$12 million].

The United States' uncompromising approach clearly kills any prospect of finding common ground between delegates with opposing viewpoints.

It is to the eternal credit of African delegations, their Arab counterparts, and those from Islamic countries that they have refused to be bullied by the all-powerful Uncle Sam. It would have been a travesty of justice if African delegates had allowed the United States to use bully-boy tactics to get its way.

No matter what Africa's critics say, the Durban conference will be meaningless if reparations for slavery [and] colonialism are not on the agenda.

It is also a sad commentary on leaders like U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan who, being black, ought to have a better understanding of why Africans throughout the world are demanding an unqualified apology for slavery and colonialism. People of African descent would have expected Powell and Annan to be in the forefront of those campaigning for slavery to be a major topic at the conference.

Slavery was not only a crime against humanity and against our people. It was worse than the Jewish holocaust in Nazi Germany. Millions of our people perished in slave ships, were subjected to the most inhumane treatment by slave masters, and killed in their new countries.

Today, the United States and Western European countries are rich as a result of the slave trade and colonialism. People of African origin are right to demand an apology from the descendants of slave masters and they are right to call for reparations. The refusal by the United States and its allies to acknowledge their guilt is revealing, for it shows that, as in the past, they are not ready to accept Africans as equals.

If the United States and its allies are so arrogant and petty over a matter where their guilt is beyond question, can Africans trust them to lend a helping hand in making the New African Initiative succeed? The fight against racism, xenophobia and intolerance can be speedily resolved if rich countries like the United States contribute their enormous resources.

But these countries must not be allowed to hold this important conference [hostage]. If the United States [boycotts the conference], the show must go on, because racism is a bigger issue than even the most powerful country on earth.



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