Black Lawyers - GW Bush, Goree Is & Reparations

Posted By: Amadi Ajamu
Date: Monday, 4 August 2003, at 1:10 p.m.

GEORGE W. BUSH, GOREE ISLAND AND REPARATIONS

We are lawyers and scholars who recognize the statement made by George W. Bush on July 8th at Goree Island as a factual and accurate acknowledgment of the legal basis for the U.S. to pay reparations to the descendants of the Transatlantic slave trade, when he admitted that, "slavery was one of the greatest crimes in history", and also admitted that it was enslaved, unpaid labor that created the "prosperity" of the United States.. Ironically, it was the US government's refusal to acknowledge this very fact that led the US delegation to walk out of the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa in 2001.

Reparations and the Importance of the International Arena

Over the past several years a combination of events - the grassroots movement, scholarly contributions, lawsuits, legislative resolutions, international meetings and resolutions - have forced the issue of reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans into the mainstream political agenda of the United States. But, of all these factors, those in the international arena have been key. It is in international fora, rather than in the domestic arena, where the US has chosen to to wage its struggle opposing reparations.

In 1998, the US delegation successfully defeated an attempt by the African Group to have the UN Commission on Human Rights adopt a resolution declaring "The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery A Crime Against Humanity."

In 2000, President Clinton, to avoid addressing the issues of slavery and reparations, refused to convene a national US conference to prepare for the 2001 UN World Conference against Racism.

In 2001, the US withdrew from the World Conference Against Racism rather than be associated with any final document that recognized slavery as a crime against humanity.

The World Conference adopted the Durban Declaration and Program of Action which recognized that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery were crimes against humanity. The Durban Declaration was a tremendous victory for African people worldwide in the struggle for reparations.

In 2003, at Goree Island, Mr. Bush finally uttered the truth. No matter how he phrased it, history is "human" history and thus a "greatest crime in history" is a crime against humanity. He quoted President John Adams who referred to slavery as "an evil of colossal magnitude." Furthermore Mr. Bush admitted that it was enslaved, unpaid labor that created the "prosperity" of the United States.

George W. Bush's Goree admission firmly places the United States within the ambit of international law on the issue of reparations. Crimes against Humanity have no statute of limitations. Victims of such crimes are undeniably due compensation. The history of Black existence, oppression and resistance since the end of the Civil War should have taught US society this lesson - i.e. that there can be no real racial reconciliation without restitution: (i) for the damage done and wealth stolen during slavery and (ii) for the enforced disadvantage that the "vestiges of slavery" have continued to place on the descendants of the original victims. In its recent decision in Lawrence v. Texas, the US Supreme Court looks to the law of the European Court of Human Rights, thereby acknowledging that, in a globalized world, the US must recognize a role for international law within US domestic law.
Mr. Bush's pronouncements will mean nothing if they do not spur us to increased work in all spheres of activity - the legal, the legislative, the academic and the grassroots - in the movement for reparations.

(Alphabetical) List in Formation: * Wendy Brown, Esq. Professor of Law at Tulane Law School

* Margaret Burnham, Associate Professor of Law Northeastern School of Law (for identification only)
* Joan Gibbs, Esq., General Counsel, Center for Law and Social Justice of Medgar Evers College, CUNY
* Lennox S Hinds, Esq., Vice-President; Permanent United Nations Representative; International Assciation of Democratic Lawyers, Professor Rutgers University
* Lionel Jean Baptiste, Esq., Jean-Baptiste and Associates, Illinois
* Gerald Lemelle, Esq., Deputy Executive Director, Advocacy, Amnesty International USA (for identification only)
* Hope Lewis, Esq., Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law (for identification only)
* National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL)
* Esmeralda Simmonds, Esq., Director, Center for Law and Social Justice of Medgar Evers College, CUNY
* Nkechi Taifa, Esq,. Adjunct Professor, Howard University School of Law
* Ron Walters, Professor University of Maryland
* Roger S. Wareham, Esq., International General Secretary International Association
Against Torture; Partner in Thomas, Wareham & Richards, LLP
* Robert Westley, Esq., Professor Tulane Law School
* Jeanne Woods, Esq., Professor, Loyola University School of Law, NOLA (for identification only)