meka23h ago
When I said that Serbia has no racism, I got comments that I'm racism denier and what not, mostly citing news about Serbs hating Roma. Unfortunately, we hate the people from Albania and Kosovo with the same passion, and they are the skin color as I am. I got all kinds of comments from pure hatred to "you're not right", like I wasn't born and live in Serbia to this date. On top of that, my grandmother was Roma/Gypsy so I should know what I'm talking about, right? But let's put all of that aside and just concentrate on the map in the picture. Let's even ignore the fact that when Serbia was part of Yugoslavia we formed the Non-Aligned Movement and helped African countries regain their freedom. Just look at the map! I rest my case!
Show threadLars21h ago

@meka The map misrepresents what the vote was about. The actual resolution was whether the transatlantic slave trade should be considered "the gravest crime against humanity".

That many countries reject that wording (especially Germany with the Holocaust!) is no surprise.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/25/un-votes-slave-trade-gravest-crime-against-humanity-reparatory-justice

UN votes to describe slave trade as ‘gravest crime against humanity’

Members call for reparatory justice as landmark resolution aims for ‘political recognition at the highest level’

The Guardian
Show threadLars

@meka If you want to see why the EU abstained, read the statement: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-explanation-vote-%E2%80%93-un-general-assembly-action-a80l48-declaration-trafficking-enslaved-africans_en

Framing this as "the EU won't condemn the transatlantic slave trade" is wrong. The concerns rest with the "gravest" framing; and with the call for reparations. Both of which are understandable and *not* fundamental issues with condemning slave trade.

Naturally a country that had close to zero involvement (?) historically has no trouble with calling for someone else to pay reparations.

EU Explanation of Vote – UN General Assembly: Action on A/80/L.48 - Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity

25 March 2026, New York – European Union Explanation of Vote (before the vote) delivered by Ms. Gabriella Michaelidou, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations, at the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly: Action on A/80/L.48 - Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity

EEAS
Mar 26 at 12:35amWeb
Show threadmeka21h ago

@luatic all other ex-YU countries also didn't have anything to do with slavery, yet they're not blue. Probably other countries share the same history, I'm just not historian and I will not claim anything I'm not sure about.

Anyway, my point is about racism in Serbia, which people had problem with. Or lack of it.

Show threadLars7h ago

@meka Whether a country is blue on that map has little meaning. It doesn't tell you anything about racism in a country.

I can't tell you how big of a problem racism is in Serbia or which forms it takes, but I can tell you that this map certainly does not "prove" your point.

(Also, my history is a little rusty, but if Serbia knows no racism, how do you explain what happened in Srebrenica ~30 years ago?)

Show threadmeka7h ago
@luatic etnical clensing, not racism
Show threadLars2h ago

@meka I mean, if you want to distinguish between "ethnicism" (based on ethnicity) and "racism" (based on skin color), you do you. Though be warned that you are then likely to be misunderstood, as common definitions of racism include discrimination based on ethnicity.

And the statement of "we have 'ethnicism' but no racism", even if true, isn't very strong, is it? It's pretty much the same problem of unjust discrimination based on an arbitrary, unchangeable characteristic.

Show threadmeka2h ago
@luatic as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnicity states that ethnicity includes religion, does it mean that changing religion also changes one's race?
Ethnicity - Wikipedia