Back in 2002 when I was living in Japan, I went back home for a much-needed vacation. I was right in the middle of my spiritual journey of trying to become a better person. Not really what 21-year-old guys typically do, but that’s what I was on. Part of my journey was apologizing to people I did wrong or believed I did wrong. I wasn’t asking forgiveness, in my mind, that was up to the people to forgive me if they so desired. I just wanted them to know I recognized my actions were wrong and in whatever way I could repair those wrongs I would. I fully understood that even though I was making things right, it didn’t change the original offense. Tough conversations, but I’m glad I did that…I’m probably due for another round these days.

Let’s keep in mind that I was 21, I hadn’t done a whole lot of living at that time. I was apologizing to people for 3 or 4 year old offenses, none of which that caused bodily harm or anything like that. I was apologizing for being an impulsive teenage male. Apologizing for cheating on my girlfriend and all that. At the time I justified it as being opportunistic…I wasn’t a player like that, so when a new girl wanted to slide some goodies my way, I accepted. Was I wrong? Absolutely, and I thought it necessary to own up to that. Most of my friends justified everything I did. Hell, even my ex said “I understood what it was” but she appreciated my attempt at atonement.

They Did That

Just a few days ago there was a U.N. Resolution posed recognizing Trans-Atlantic slavery as a crime against humanity. A practice that saw millions of people stolen from their home country, brutally handled, psychologically tortured, forced into hard labor with no compensation and less respect for them and all their descendants for hundreds of years. To add a touch of context, recognizing the Holocaust as a crime against humanity was a foundational piece of the U.N. in 1948. It only took 78 years for them to even bring up the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In that vote, 123 countries voted yes to recognize it, 52 countries took the punk ass route and abstained from voting one way or another, and 3 countries went full bitch mode and voted against recognizing this as a crime against humanity…Argentina, Israel, The United States. 

Imagine that! Israel, the country born out of recognizing the persecution of European Jews, who then went on to commit genocide against the people that tried to welcome them. They voted no. Argentina, not really known for a whole lot, their leader is a Donald Trump fan which says a lot about his ability to think properly. Obviously, the United States built pretty much everything on the backs of slavery, stole every art form and expression born of the pain of slavery and white supremacy from Black people and commodified it. The system here has been fixated on gaslighting and exploiting Black people over the years and at each turn the system has been opposed to treating us fairly or with dignity. Even so, it says a lot that in 2026 a simple acknowledgment of wrongdoing is not possible.

Make It Make Sense

These nations have a vested interest in White supremacy, and this vote is further evidence of that. The same people that recognize the imprisonment of European Jewish people by a toppled European regime for a 4 year period are unable to recognize their own brutalization of people for economic gain for 300 years. IF you can make that make sense with any other explanation besides being tidally locked to White supremacy, please let me know.

Black people that read this, I know, preaching to the choir. However, for any White person reading this, ask a few why’s to yourself and those you know. For example, “if we recognize rape, torture, and human trafficking as wrong, why isn’t it recognized as such in relation to Black people”? Maybe ponder “why did all of these European nations divide up and rape Africa of its resources…and why do they continue to do so”? Why is it so hard for Europe and European descendant led countries to uniformly recognize what’s right and wrong? If we recognize Adolf Hitler as the embodiment of evil for what he did to approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews, what should we consider King Leopold of Belgium for what he did to at least 10 million Africans possibly 15 million? More than that when you consider the cycle of violence that has endured because of him. I don’t believe what I’m saying or thinking is controversial in any manner…at least it shouldn’t be.

We See

Maybe it’s a tough pill to swallow knowing that your ancestors are responsible for the worst atrocities known to mankind. Maybe one feels guilt or secondary shame for the actions of these folks, so they avoid or downright ban talking about it. Maybe it’s the veneer hiding an inconvenient truth to keep folks feeling good about their success or status. Maybe it’s the lie that people have to tell themselves, so they feel justified with the status quo. Or maybe it’s honest ignorance, seeing as the effort to suppress truth has been well under way for multiple generations. Whatever it is, what is obvious to me, and should be obvious to everyone else, Euro centric societies don’t want to atone for their historical actions, let alone make it right with those they wronged and continue to mistreat.

However, what they should realize with this vote is that those 123 nations effectively said “we see what you did there, we know what you did to us”. I think these nations fear retaliation honestly. Unity amongst the oppressed against the oppressors means change will come. The vast majority of those 123 nations have also been victimized at some point by the European nations, Canada and the United States. I used to wonder why these nations hate Black people so much, why do they invest so heavily in keeping us divided and into other nations hating us. In researching just how much Europe raped Africa and how evil the trans-Atlantic slave trade was, I had an epiphany. For them the question isn’t “was this wrong or not” they fully know it was wrong. For them the question is “what happens when the wronged masses decide the narrative of our brutal minority is no longer feasible”? Imagine that!