Gene Cowan 🏳️🌈
Peter GleickThe United Nations General Assembly this week overwhelmingly backed a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity".
Three countries voted against it.
The US, Argentina, and Israel.
oscarfalcon"Three countries voted against it.
The US, Argentina, and Israel."
Big. Fucking. Surprise!
Ivan DjansazovIn US defense ... Maybe they think Hiroshima and Nagasaki were gravest.
divVerent@idjansazov @petergleick In a similar vein, Germany cannot have voted yes to that as they consider the Holocaust the gravest.
Although I agree with you, Germany paid reparations and now only have just beer and wursts, but US still have Guantanamo.
@idjansazov @petergleick And as far as I know beer and wurst is no crime against humanity.
I also have a general issue with the concept of reparations that late - it is wrong to punish people who have nothing to do with it anymore.
For the US it may be different though - I'd at least want everyone who flew a confederate flag in the last decade to pay reparations. They do deserve it.
I also have a general issue with the concept of reparations that late - it is wrong to punish people who have nothing to do with it anymore.
For the US it may be different though - I'd at least want everyone who flew a confederate flag in the last decade to pay reparations. They do deserve it.
That's what i meant. Contemporary Germany has nothing to do with these crimes and condemns them. They pay their dues.
I feel you about the reparations, but in this world the only tangible justice for crime you can get is money.
The sad thing is that Germany's history is world history and Germany has learned, changed and evolved (although not sure what are they doing with AfD ), USA not.
@petergleick @idjansazov I definitely do not like that they do not seem to be able to ban the AfD. Even if the problem is that not all AfD members are provably neonazis - can't they at least remove the "passive election right" from the known neonazis?
freeluna@petergleick it will be interesting to see how a financial amount is determined and who pays. With the Japanese Internment, there were clear records of the US government policies and records of the people who were interred and what they owned prior to internment. I imagine there may still be records of the slave trade and who was funding it, especially if involved royal houses or country governments. But it will be difficult to figure out how the payout would work.
Hans Bril@petergleick [...] 52 countries abstained, including the United Kingdom and EU member states.
Amir Khan@hans5524 @petergleick
Huh? Ok, this part shouldn’t be left out in the original post, Peter.
The fact that the core European slave-trading nations abstained from voting speaks volumes.
We still have a long ways to go…
Huh? Ok, this part shouldn’t be left out in the original post, Peter.
The fact that the core European slave-trading nations abstained from voting speaks volumes.
We still have a long ways to go…
Regendans@amirbkhan @hans5524 @petergleick According to a news outlet a Dutch minister said about the Dutch abstaining : First they do not like the financial aspect about paying money, second they don't like the title because for example (yes, "for example") the Holocaust was worse in their view (Note that the current Dutch economic trade with Israel is by far number one in Europe).
Quote from an article 25th of March 2026 in El Pais :
"In Africa, at least 12.5 million people were victims of trafficking and slavery over a period of 300 years."
That is 300 years of suffering with possibly ongoing racism as aftermath.
Flipper 🐬🏳️🌈@petergleick also: all the countries involved in the Atlantic slave trade abstained, hoping that it would deflect attention from them.
woollypigs@petergleick and 52 abstained, I would have thought this vote would have been a easy one to vote in. (Would like to see who these 52 are, I understand many are European)
Le personified devil@petergleick To me the weirdest part is who the reparations should go to, its not like the descendents of the slaves mainly live in africa. And this is being pushed by Ghana so I see clear intend of the reparations going to the countries of origin... When it should instead be going to current african americans because those are the actual descendents of the slaves.
This honestly feels like a bit of a money grab to me, especially considering the means like declaring it the gravest crime against humanity.
This honestly feels like a bit of a money grab to me, especially considering the means like declaring it the gravest crime against humanity.
Dino@petergleick it's not as simple as it sounds. Slave trade is still ongoing in some African countries and the middle East. The ancient peoples traded slaves for centuries, longer than the Americans and British did. Why aren't any of those a bigger crime?
Fenix@petergleick I think apologizing is nothing more than the right thing to do. But linking reparations directly to that goes too far for me, especially in this day and age when it’s no longer possible to distinguish between the source of the claim and what is right and wrong—certainly when it comes down to a matter of money.
@petergleick During World War II, my father was pulled off his bicycle and put to work as a forced laborer. He also lost his bicycle. In fact, he performed slave labor for the Germans. No reparations were ever paid, and his bicycle was never returned.