McKinney Declares US Effort to Split Blacks Fails:
Black Unity Strengthened by US, European Threats
Slavery, Apology for Slavery, Colonialism, and Reparations Remain Real Issues
that won't go away
September 6, 2001
(Washington, DC) The walkout of the United States Government was supposed to
weaken the resolve of the participants in the third United Nations World
Conference Against Racism (WCAR), begun August 31 and ending September 7 in
Durban, South Africa.
It hasn't. In fact, "US behavior during the WCAR, has been so obnoxious and
so transparent that it has served to strengthen the bonds between the world's
minorities, in particular, African Americans and Africans, in a way that
could never have been anticipated by the current Administration," stated
McKinney.
Historically, there have been countless efforts by the US to undermine
cooperation between African Americans and Africans as stated in National
Security Council (NSC) Memorandum Number 46, penned in 1978 by then National
Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brezezinski. This document outlines covert steps
to be taken in order to thwart cooperation by black organizations in the
United States and liberation movements on the African Continent.
As we look to Durban today, we see that the world's minorities have gathered
in an unprecedented effort to stand together with one intent in mind: to lay
their issues before an international audience. Although the immediate work
of the US delegation was to try to satisfy African concerns about colonialism
while sidestepping African and African American concerns about the slave
trade, an apology, and reparations. The US plan to mollify the Africans at
the expense of the African Americans backfired as these two groups have
unified in an effort to push the issues of reparations and slavery forward
even beyond WCAR.
In addition, seven Members of the US Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), led by
CBC Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, dissented from the position of the US
delegation by adopting the platform of African American non-governmental
organizations participating in the WCAR. "We will continue to stand firm
with our brothers and sisters on the Continent. Any effort to project
division is not true. In fact, the only thing that divides us from our
brothers on the Continent is the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and we're
together on the need for an apology and reparations for this crime against
humanity," stated McKinney.
While in Durban, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus announced
they are discussing the possiblity of holding their own "Conference Against
Racism in the United States in 2003."
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