THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
H I S T O R Y N O T E S
A PLEA FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
AT THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISMBy Dr. R. S. Sridhar (alias) Iniyan Elango
Posted by RUNOKO RASHIDI
Dear friend,
I recently witnessed the program “The Awful Truth” made by the radical satirist Michael Moore in Channel Four of Britain. In one episode of his program he correctly featured the hypocrisy of a particular German car company (BMW) in refusing to compensate a Jewish holocaust survivor who was used as a slave labourer during the Nazi era. But on witnessing this program I was suddenly struck by the sheer hypocrisy of something I witnessed at the United Nations.
I was a delegate at the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the first preparatory committee for the World Conference against Racism during March, April and May of this year in Geneva, Switzerland.
During the preparatory committee sessions for the World Conference against Racism, the western group of nations without any singular exception, vehemently opposed even the inclusion of the topic of “compensation to victims of racism” for academic discussion in the agenda of the World Conference against Racism.
The unashamed stand of the western group of nations found unabashed support from Israel and Poland, two nations that are home to people who were witness to the most horrifying Nazi crimes against humanity. The western stand was motivated by their intention to offset any claims for reparations that may be made by the Native Americans or African American descendants of former slaves in the United States. But whatever may be the political compulsions of the Western group of nations, should they stoop so law to deny the delegates of the World Conference against Racism even their basic freedom of expression to address the issue of compensation to victims of racism in a conference that is essentially academic in nature ?
The surviving relatives of Jewish, Gypsy or others who had been exploited as slave labour or killed in Nazi concentration camps certainly deserve compensation for their victimization and I felt very happy when many of the Jewish victims of Nazi slave labour successfully claimed compensation in recent times. I was also aghast at the indifference and irresponsibility of German companies that refuse to compensate the families of Jewish people victimised as slave labour (as rightfully highlighted by Michael Moore in his program). By the same yardstick, victims of racist slave labour exploitation such as descendants of former African slaves in America who have become a permanent underclass because of their slave, landless and dehumanised origins should deserve reparations or special compensatory programs to uplift their lot. Similarly Native American people, millions of whom were summarily executed in the past centuries certainly deserve reparations as the Jewish people who were killed in Nazi concentration camps.
Some people tend to dismiss the claims for reparations made by African Americans and Native Americans saying that many of them have attained a middle class status and some of them even an affluent status. This is an immoral argument because the present financial status of the descendants of holocaust victims or Nazi slave labourers did not figure as a factor in their claims for claiming compensation from the state of Germany and from various German companies. Similarly the present situation of some of the African Americans and Native Americans should not be a factor that should deter the United States Government from addressing the issue of reparations, SINCE MOST OF THE AFRICAN AMERICANS AND ALMOST ALL OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS ARE STILL PRISONERS OF THEIR HISTORICAL PAST THAT DEPRIVED THEM OF THEIR HUMANITY AND DENIED THEM OF ANY CRUTCHES THAT WOULD HAVE MADE THEM WALK AS HUMAN BEINGS WITH DIGNITY.
The most important aspect of the slave experience is the stripping the African slaves of their humanity and forcing them to live and breed as animals without any cultural, psychological or spiritual structures of life. The slaves were made to mate and breed as animals. Therefore when such a people were liberated from slavery they carried on and passed on their dehumanised psyche, because the American state did not make any reparations or any other kind of conscious effort to help the African Americans to regain the humanity they lost which would have enabled them to live on par with white Americans culturally, spiritually, socially, economically and psychologically. But on the other hand, the African Americans were persecuted with segregation, lynchings and isolation from the mainstream of American society. Even though they were desegregated since the sixties, African Americans were constantly subjected to abuse, discrimination and exploitation in every walk of American society.
African American people as descendants of a dehumanised sub-society within the United States mainstream society, deserve a special program of structural reparation in the form of subsidised college and graduate education to all African Americans who seek it, medical care in all its forms to all African American people paid for by the state and financial compensations which will enable them to build institutions that will integrate the sense of humanity and dignity that was taken away from them. Just harping on affirmative action in universities and jobs to a people, majority of whom have no means of access to get to college or basic medical care is not enough. Policies to uplift African Americans and Native Americans should take the form of structural reparation.
But the basic point of this appeal is not just to express support for reparations to African and Native Americans. It is mainly to highlight the need for discussing the general issue of compensation to victims of racism in any part of the World at the World Conference against Racism scheduled at South Africa next year.
I understand the sovereign right of the United States Government and the Western group of nations to refuse claims of reparations from African American and Native American groups on grounds of their domestic policy. But what I cannot understand is their opposition at the United Nations to allow even a basic freedom of expression for addressing the issue of compensation to victims of racism in a World conference that is essentially academic in nature. The stand of the Western group of nations is made more stranger by the fact that the concept of suing for compensations by victims of racism is now a recognised legal tradition in most of the so called “secular western nations”. Then why is this opposition to even an academic discussion of this concept in a UN sponsored World Conference against Racism and that too from countries where suing for compensation is one of the cornerstones of the legal profession ?
What was more shocking was the support of Israel and Poland to the stand of the Western group of nations against allowing discussion of compensation to victims of racism. This stand of Israel directly contradicts its support for the claims of compensation made by the survivors and relatives of Jewish victims of slave labour and murder in Nazi ruled areas of Europe during World War II. I became speechless when I heard the lady representing Israel take the floor to support the Western group of nations to oppose the inclusion of the very topic of “compensation to victims of racism” in the agenda of the World Conference against racism ! How can Israel of all nations be against even a verbal or academic discussion of the issue of compensation to victims of racism? As a person who was life long inspired by the suffering of Jewish men, women and children under the barbarism of the Nazis, the stand of Israel was not only shocking, but appalling to me !
Irrespective of the issue of reparations to African Americans and Native Americans, the delegates at the UN sponsored World Conference against racism should not be denied their right to express their opinions on a broad concept such as “compensation to victims of racism”. The stand taken by the western nations, for whatever reason it may be, are not only against the African Americans and Native Americans, but, against victims of racism in other parts of the World such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
For example, the 200 million Dalit people of India who are outcast and physically segregated by the caste Hindus will lose an opportunity to address the issue of compensation in terms of land distribution in the World Conference against racism because of the stand taken by the Western group of nations and Israel.
The stand taken by the Western group of nations to oppose the discussion of compensation to victims of racism is a retrograde and regressive step. It is bad in Justice and bad in morality and certainly bad for the spirit that is needed for the World Conference against racism.
The deplorable behaviour of the Western group of nations during the preparatory committee for the World Conference against racism has been hardly discussed in the Western media. This has blown the mask of objectivity and neutrality that is claimed by many western media organisations. May be the western media organs seem to believe in a selective application of the right to free speech in the UN like their Governments.
I appeal to the Western group of nations, Israel and Poland to give up their opposition to include the topic of “compensation to victims of racism” in the provisional agenda for the World Conference against racism. I also appeal to the global media, particularly the Western media to contribute to the success of the World Conference against racism.
Because of the stand taken by the Western group of nations the issues of compensating Dalit women who are raped at the rate of one in every hour by Hindu men, Dalit children who are bonded to child labour, Dalit men who are ordained into menial jobs and landlessness may not be allowed for discussion during the World Conference against racism.
What will the West lose by allowing discussion and exchange of views with regard to compensating victims of racism in a conference ?
In the names of all victims of racism, including the millions of Jewish men, women and children who were killed by the Nazis, I request the Western group of nations, Poland and Israel to allow the topic of “compensation to victims of racism” in the agenda of the World Conference against racism and save themselves from being shamed by history.
Please write to your Government or feature this letter in your media organ asking your Government to give up their objection to include the topic of “compensation to victims of racism” in the forthcoming World Conference against racism in South Africa. To highlight the hypocrisy of the Western group of nations in opposing the topic of “compensation to victims of racism” in the World Conference against racism, I have enclosed the news report given below that reports the establishment of a compensation fund for victims of Nazi slave labour.
All that I am imploring the Western group of nations through this appeal is to allow the freedom of speech to discuss the topic of “compensation to all victims of racism” in the World Conference against Racism since the aim of racism is essentially to economically subdue and suppress the victimised people of a particular descent.
Yours truly,
Dr. Iniyan Elango (alias) R.S.Sridhar.
Fund for Nazis' Forced Laborers Moves Ahead
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, June 12 -- American and German negotiators moved one step closer today to setting up a plan to compensate Nazi-era slave laborers and protect German companies from further lawsuits by survivors.
In a 10-hour negotiating session, they agreed on what had been a major sticking point -- the wording of the statement the United States government will submit to courts to discourage the hearing of further suits.
"I am very pleased that a major hurdle has been overcome," President Clinton said in a statement.
The deputy treasury secretary, Stuart E. Eizenstat, the chief United States negotiator, said at a news conference, "Today we are on the verge of a historic agreement."
He said the proposed accord "will create a high probability that all legal cases will be dismissed and enduring legal peace achieved."
German industry and the German government agreed last year to set up a $5 billion fund to compensate people who were forced to work for little or no pay in support of Hitler's war machine.
In exchange, German companies wanted protection from lawsuits in the United States.
But the final agreement has been stalled because German business leaders were dissatisfied with the "statement of interest" that the Clinton administration offered to submit to American courts whenever such a case is filed.
Administration officials had noted that they do not have the power to prohibit lawsuits, but would urge judges to reject such claims on the ground that they were being satisfied by the new fund.
"Finally we have got it," the German envoy to the talks, Otto Lambsdorff, said at the news conference.
Mr. Lambsdorff said the accord today did not provide a "100 percent guarantee" against future lawsuits. "But we have come as close as possible under the legal system of the United States," he added.
He said he would recommend that the agreement be accepted by Berlin and that the German Parliament pass a law setting up the fund, the German Foundation Initiative.
Manfred Gentz, the chief financial officer of Daimler Chrysler and chairman of the German industry fund, said he would press more German companies to contribute to the fund. Some 2,000 have pledged money but the amount promised so far does not come near the $2.5 billion needed for industry's share.
Some companies had said it was pointless to contribute unless there was a promise they would be safe from lawsuits in the future.
"I think it takes out the uncertainty," Mr. Gentz said of the new document. "It will strengthen our argument to win new participants."
The foundation, with contributions from German industry and government, is to pay an estimated 2 million former laborers, mostly Central and Eastern Europeans. Payments will also be made to people on whom medical experiments were performed and some with other Holocaust-related claims.Associated Press
Also see following:
HISTORY NOTES: CASTE AND RACE IN INDIA
LECTURE NOTES: THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN INDIA - A PHOTO ESSAY
HISTORY NOTES: THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN INDIAN ANTIQUITY
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: HISTORY AND HERITAGE
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: THE BIGOTRY OF HINDUS WITH REGARD TO SKIN COLOUR
HISTORY NOTES: DR. CHEIKH ANTA DIOP AND THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF THE DALITS: INDIA'S BLACK UNTOUCHABLES
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: BIGOTRY OF HINDUS WITH REGARD TO SKIN COLOUR & HISTORY AND HERITAGE
TRAVEL NOTES: LOOKING AT INDIA THROUGH AFRICAN EYES
HISTORY NOTES: PAN-AFRICANISM IN SOUTH ASIA
HISTORY NOTES: THE BLACKS OF THE EAST BENGAL: A NATIVE'S PERSPECTIVE
Return to the GLOBAL AFRICAN PRESENCE Home Page
Copyright © 1998 Runoko Rashidi. All rights reserved.
Revised: August 08, 2002.
Webpage design: Kenneth Ritchards