North American Faith Leaders Meet with UN Experts on Racial Issues

By Ulysses Burley, MD, Columnist

The United Nations proclaimed 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent, citing the need to “strengthen national, regional and international cooperation in relation to the full enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights by people of African descent, and their full and equal participation in all aspects of society.” As such, the UN has convened a Working Group on People of African Descent, as well as a Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance to examine the global landscape through dialogue and surveillance with and among member states and NGOs with consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Last month, the Rev. Pierce was joined by the AME Church’s Ecumenical Officer, Bishop Frank Madison Reid, III, and other faith leaders for meetings at the UN New York Headquarters organized by The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to further the dialogue on racial justice issues with UN experts. From 29-31 October, this diverse cohort of clergy, lay, and academic Christian leaders met with Achiume Tendayi, UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, as well as three members of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, namely Micahl Balcerzak, chair, Ahmed Reid, and Dominique Day.
The goal of this convening was to expand the conversation to cover issues specific to the North American context with specific focus on the intersectionality between racism and sexism, migration and populist discourse, mass incarceration and mass criminalization, poverty and limited access to education and healthcare, #BlackLivesMatter, police profiling and brutality, and the all-encompassing legacy of slavery. It was concluded that the National Council of Churches of Christ USA, in collaboration with the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, will coordinate efforts in identifying issues that will feed our stakeholder’s report to the UN to be submitted in summer 2019 in view of the 2020 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the USA. Likewise, an official request for a visit and review of the USA by the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism will be made for the year 2021 at the earliest.

For more information from the WCC or the UN on racism and afrophobia in North America, download here: https://seafile.ecucenter.org/d/9146086073c148ed955b/