UN Racism conference failed,
participants say
Presbyterians examine results of recent meeting in
South Africa
by Evan Silverstein, Presbyterian News Service
[11-24-01]
NEW YORK CITY - November 21, 2001 - Last summer's global conference on
racism exacerbated the very problems it was intended to eradicate,
according to participants in a recent seminar sponsored by the
Presbyterian Church (USA) United Nations Office.
Putting the Pieces Together: The World Conference
Against Racism was an effort to assess the results of the UN World
Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance, which was held in August and September in Durban, South
Africa.
From the start, the World Conference was consumed by
heated and much-publicized arguments over Israel and the Middle East and
the issue of reparations for the legacy of slavery, participants said.
Those disputes set a tone for the conference and ultimately frustrated
its purpose of creating a global blueprint to fight discrimination.
"It was doomed from the start, the actual
negotiations," said Clarence Dias, president of the International
Center for Law and Development. "I think that the World Conference
on Racism in Durban represented intergovernmental relations at their
worst. It also represented NGO (non-governmental organizations)
performance at its worst. And rather than real negotiations, you began
to see some rather unprincipled coalition-building, which would fall
apart very quickly."
About 40 people from around the nation -- including
Presbyterian pastors, presbytery officials and church members --
gathered for the Nov. 14-16 seminar at the denomination's UN offices in
Manhattan.
"I'm here because I've been developing some real
interest in the Durban conference," said the Rev. Jonas Georges, a
Presbyterian pastor working in racial-ethnic ministry in Miami, FL.
"Whatever will come out of it, it's a movement for peace and an
effort to wipe prejudice off the face of the Earth."
The seminar, co-sponsored by the PC(USA)'s Racial
Ethnic Ministries program area, was designed as a follow-up to the World
Conference, which was attended by 30 heads of state, 150 official
delegations and 1,000 NGOs, including a group of about 20 PC(USA)-related
representatives. The Presbyterian UN Office, part of the Presbyterian
Peacemaking Program, also held a pre-World Conference seminar in May.
Last year's PC(USA) General Assembly affirmed the
anti-racism activities of the UN and the church in a resolution urging
each presbytery to organize at least one educational event on racism and
racial intolerance -- reiterating a call made in the 1999 policy paper,
Facing Racism: A Vision of the Beloved Community. The resolution also
called upon the U.S. government to support the Durban conference and
ongoing UN efforts to address racism.
"I heard from a number of people that perhaps
this team that went from the Presbyterian Church was a little more
prepared, a little more engaged, than previous teams have been,"
said June Lorenzo, a member of the church's Task Force on Native
American Ministries who attended the conference. She helped brief
participants on the denomination's involvement in the UN conference.
"I personally hope …… there has been a new standard set for
Presbyterian participation in international conferences."
The conference got off to a poor start after the
United States and Israel both withdrew their mid-level delegations
because Arab participants were pushing for wording in the conference
declaration equating Zionism with racism.
Dias said several NGO participants were involved in
the debate over the wording of the resolution, which would have branded
Israel as a "racist apartheid" state. A political tug-of-war
ended with a compromise in which reference was made to the plight of all
people living under military occupation, including Palestinians, but
made no mention of Zionism as racism.
"There's a long history in the UN which really
culminated in common agreement that Zionism is not racism," said
Dias, who also spoke during the pre-conference seminar in May. "A
Zionist state may be practicing racism in certain practices, but Zionism
itself is not racism."
Dias referred to his seminar-opening speech as a
"rap" against the conference, which he called "a
circus" characterized by "smoke screens" and a "lack
of discipline."
"Unfortunately, the World Conference Against
Racism also became, to a certain extent, a world forum for bigots,"
he added. "Bigots were reacting because the real issues did find a
forum to being aired."
Dias said only a few people, those concerned with the
issue of slavery, felt that important progress had been made toward
justice.
"Most were bitterly disappointed," he said.
African countries wanted slavery and colonialism to be
labeled "crimes against humanity" and called for Western
countries to pay reparations. The European Union agreed to a compromise,
calling on those responsible for slavery to find ways to restore the
dignity of victims. The statement amounted to an apology, and stopped
short of any attempt to seek reparations.
"The problem about trying to say that slavery is
a crime against humanity and always was -- is that it wasn't,
historically," Dias said. "It should have been, but it wasn't.
Law is not supposed to be retrospective in the burdens it puts."
Dias said most governments, large and small, sought to
distance themselves from the conference because many have
"skeletons in their closets" pertaining to racial issues.
As the seminar began, World Conference officials were
trying to iron out the language of the final conference declaration.
Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
secretary-general of the conference, reportedly said the document would
be nothing to get "very excited about," because of the
compromises that proved necessary to reach consensus.
"That draft text still remains …… a draft,
which is again something that is a very bad precedent," Dias said.
The agreements reached during the conference are not
legally binding, although the participants have promised to fulfill the
pledges it contains. Dias said the conference established a five-member
panel to monitor the countries' efforts to carry out their commitments.
Dias and other seminar presenters, including
representatives from human-rights organizations and ecumenical groups
and conference participants, pointed to some positive results of the
Durban event, which was extended at the last minute from eight days to
10 so that the delegates could approve a draft communiquéé before time
ran out. The conference was originally planned for Aug. 31-Sept. 7.
"I looked around and I saw the whole world,"
said Pauline Muchina, a conference consultant for the World Council of
Churches. "People from all over the world -- young and old, men and
women. …… For me, that is where the power lies, coordinating and
fighting against racism in the world. Having a collective effort is
going to be a powerful force to combat racism."
Presenters said the World Conference also addressed
religious intolerance; bias against refugees and migrant workers;
discrimination against women of color; abuse and displacement of
indigenous peoples around the world, including Native Americans; and the
impact of globalization.
"It was the first time that refugee advocates and
migrant-rights advocates have come together to advocate. …… In an of
itself, the caucus was quite a significant development," said
Rachel Reilly, Refugee Policy Director for Human Rights Watch, a
conference panelist. "Unfortunately, the issue …… didn't
receive as much attention and coverage as many other issues."
Reilly said more than 60 representatives of immigrant
and refugee communities attended the conference.
Another delegate from the PC(USA) said she benefited
from the event, despite the disagreements and controversy.
"We participated (in) and attended so many really
inspiring and moving workshops, and also other types of programs during
the conference," said Jenny Kim, who attended as a representative
of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Advisory Committee. "It was
definitely intense, just on an experiential level -- very intense, very
emotional. I remember going to workshops and just being in tears because
of what we learned and what people are struggling through."
Others said it was significant that the High
Commissioner for Human Rights created a follow-up process.
The seminar participants also discussed the racist
backlash against Muslims and Arab-Americans in wake of the Sept. 11th
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon
in Washington, DC.
Ahmed Morsi, a former outreach coordinator for the
Arab American Support Center, said Americans of Middle Eastern descent
were victims of nearly 1,000 hate crimes between Sept. 11 and Oct 22,
including assault, murder and destruction of property. Morsi, quoting
statistics compiled by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CARE),
said five people have been killed in the incidents.
He said the incidents are probably under-reported
because "the vast majority of Muslims are immigrants and ……
don't want to come out and come to the forefront." They're afraid
of being picked up by the FBI or the NIS or whoever it maybe."
The Durban gathering was the third World Conference to
Combat Racism, the first since the dismantling of apartheid in South
Africa. The first two, in 1978 and 1983, were held in Geneva. Conference
planners chose South Africa as the site of this year's meeting in a
tribute to that country's recent repudiation of apartheid.
The UN is nearing the end of its third Decade to
Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1994-2003). It has designated
this year as the International Year of Mobilization Against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
