Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

UN Human Rights Chief Calls for ‘Urgent and Profound Action To Combat Systemic Racism’ in US

Tuesday, September 15, 2020, By News Staff
Share

The United Nations human rights chief called on Monday for “urgent and profound action to combat systemic racism” in the U.S. during her opening speech for the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile, said commitments for change across the U.S. after George Floyd’s May death in Minneapolis police custody “need to be matched by real change to create an environment in which African Americans feel they are protected by law enforcement and the state.”

headshot of Professor Danielle Smith, Ph.D.

Danielle Smith

Syracuse University’s Danielle Smith is the director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program and a professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Smith specializes in gender studies; population displacement and migration; post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction; global health and development; Africa and its diaspora; and the United States.

Smith offered this perspective:

“Ms. Michelle Bachelet’s, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, call to action to address systemic racism in the U.S. is an important step in the right direction and should be applauded. However, to date, heads of governments of major western powers have failed to strongly condemn the systemic racism in the U.S., especially acts of violence incited by the leader of the U.S. government and the violence perpetrated by the U.S. security apparatus against African Americans. This is unfortunate, particularly given that western governments are quick to condemn state-sanctioned violence in non-western nations, often attributing fault, even when evidence is not clear or is absent.

Silence about the plight of Black people in the U.S. connotes indifference at best, and complicity at worst. Western nations cannot claim morality, enlightenment, and mature democracies and advance ideas of universal human rights, but do so only when it fits their national interests. In the past, Western nations have been willing to go to war to purportedly save humanity from the tyrannies of dictatorship in oil-rich areas and other faraway foreign lands; these nations should muster similar courage, not to wage war, but to remind their U.S. ally of universal values of human dignity.

It is time for the West to stand in solidarity with us, we the people. The United States is not a monarchy. We are a living democracy. Their allyship is with us, we the American people. This includes non-white people of America. As such, the call by Ms. Bachelet for ‘urgent and profound action to combat systemic racism’ in (the) U.S.’ is an acknowledgment of both historical and contemporary anti-blackness and oppression in the U.S. It is an important act of solidarity with Black people in the U.S. in the struggle for racial justice.”

 

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Important Information Regarding Proof of Eligibility for and Access to the COVID Vaccine
    Saturday, January 16, 2021, By News Staff
  • COVID-19 Update: Vaccination | Testing | Important Reminders | Zoom Sessions
    Friday, January 15, 2021, By News Staff
  • Important Update: Spring 2021 Pre-Arrival Testing Requirements (Students from New York State and contiguous states)
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff
  • Important Update: Spring 2021 Pre-Arrival Testing and Quarantine Requirements (Students from all states non-contiguous to New York State and international locations)
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff
  • Students and Families Invited to Participate in Zoom Sessions to Discuss Return to Campus Planning
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff

More In Media, Law & Policy

‘After Capitol Breach, It Will Be Even Harder To Protest in Washington’

Lynne Adrine, director of the D.C. Graduate Program and adjunct professor of broadcast and digital journalism in the Newhouse School, wrote an op-ed for Syracuse.com titled “After Capitol breach, it will be even harder to protest in Washington.” Adrine has…

‘When FOIA Goes to Court: 20 Years of Freedom of Information Act Litigation by News Organizations and Reporters’

In 2020, news organizations and individual reporters filed 122 different Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to compel disclosure of federal government records. A new report by the FOIA Project, which aims to provide the public with timely and complete…

‘Why Every Company Needs To Share Its Mission in 2021’

Jim Olson, professor of practice of public relations in the Newhouse School, wrote an op-ed for Fast Company titled “Why every company needs to share its mission in 2021.” Olson had an extensive 25-year career in corporate communications, working for some…

Roy Gutterman: First Amendment Doesn’t Protect Capitol Riots, Violence

The U.S. Capitol descended into chaos on Jan. 6 as pro-Trump demonstrations and protests turned into violent riots. Peaceful protest is protected under the First Amendment, but where do today’s events stand? Roy Gutterman is an expert on communications law,…

‘Lloyd Austin Can Lead—As a Civilian’

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School and the Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair of Strategic Management and Leadership, wrote an op-ed for The Hill titled “Lloyd Austin can lead—as a civilian.” O’Keefe has served in a…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.