The United States should consider reparations to African-American descendants of slavery, establish a national human rights commission and publicly acknowledge that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity, a United Nations working group said Friday.
The Nations The Benefitted The Most From Enslaving African People
http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/10/01/nations-that-benefited-the-most-from-enslaving-african-people/3/
USA
According to Harpers magazine (November 2000), the United States stole an estimated $100 trillion for 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and 1865, with a compounded interest of 6 percent.
England
Between 1761 and 1808, British traders hauled 1,428,000 African captives across the Atlantic and pocketed $96.5 million about $13 billion in value today from selling them as slaves.
France
With over 1,600,000 enslaved Africans transported to the West Indies, France was clearly a major player in the trade. Its slave ports were a major contributor to the countrys economic advancements in the 18th century. Many of its cities on the west coast, such as Nantes, Lorient, La Rochelle, and Bordeaux, built their wealth through the major profits of triangular slave trade.
Netherlands
Slave labor created vast sources of wealth for the Dutch in the form of precious metals, sugar, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and cotton and other goods, and helped to fund the creation of Amsterdams beautiful and famous canals and city center.
Portugal
Portugal was the first of all European countries to become involved in the Atlantic slave trade. From the 15th to 19th century, the Portuguese exported 4.5 million Africans as slaves to the Americas, making it Europes largest trafficker of human beings.
Spain
Starting in 1492, Spain was the first European country to colonize the New World, where they established an economic monopoly in the territories of Florida and other parts of North America, Mexico, Trinidad, Cuba and other Caribbean islands. The native populations of these colonies were mostly dying from disease or enslavement, so the Spanish were forced to increasingly rely on African slave labor to run their colonies.
another post on this topic
http://www.democraticunderground.com/118736992
The UN's intent is positive. I'm glad they are looking at it. But if we are looking at Reparations and statements of Apology -
1. There are five other countries that they are letting get away with ten kinds of murder. I don't care about their financial issues now, their instability, their focus on thir colonialist behavior in Africa, Asia and the old New World, their refugees from Africa and the Middle East etc etc. Dodge, deflect, defer - IF they are allowed to Deny the blood and misery on their OWN hands at the UN.
2. They in their high and mighty we are so above it all approach aren't understanding what will really help black Americans when any discussions of Reparations for American inflicted oppression should start. We need to start in the 20 th century.
If we start there - then again they are forced to hold a mirror up to themselves - From their causing the Rwandan genocide, to the Rape of Nanking, to 11 million Jews, Gypsies, Gays, "undesirables" in Europe etc etc to their ignoring Apartheid , etc etc.
Start when it matters or don't start at all. And we all know this is just grand standing. No country will ever come to the rescue of black Americans.
We are on our own here. Nice symbolic gesture but - they won't help us.