President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi said that racism adapts and mutates to different times and contexts, but the breadth of its harm remains intact. Picture: Shelley Kjonstad.
Johannesburg – As South Africa was celebrating Human Rights Day, the international community joined in this commemoration of the 1960 massacre in Sharpeville, with the UN remembering the day through the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The Secretary-General of the UN António Guterres, said that racial discrimination continues to ruin lives, marginalise communities, and limit opportunities, preventing billions from achieving their full potential.
He said that as the world marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, it is still far from realizing universal equality in dignity and rights.
“We must turn the aspirations of the Universal Declaration into reality for all people,” he said, urging governments to adopt a comprehensive national action plan — including anti-discrimination legislation — to combat racism and racial discrimination by December. Moreover, businesses must take urgent steps to eliminate racial discrimination in their products, services, and workplaces.
President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi said that racism adapts and mutates to different times and contexts, but the breadth of its harm remains intact.
"Racism is like a Cadillac; there is a new model every year," he said.
While vice-chair of the committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, Verene Shepherd, said that systemic or structural racism impedes the advancement of marginalised populations, she warned that failure to hold perpetrators of police brutality accountable “carries the message of impunity and drives away trust in officials and institutions”.
New York City’s second black mayor Eric Adams said that he knew what it felt like to be rejected, but under his administration, New York City is leading the fight against racial discrimination, he said, pointing to the success of its Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the first of its kind in the nation.
“We must join hands from Cape Town to Queens,” he said.
Adams said that the international community should be inspired by leaders like Martin Luther King Jnr, and Nelson Mandela.
The Star
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