Remarks by Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield at a UN General Assembly commemoration on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
US Representative to the United Nations
New-York, New-York
March 21, 2023

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. President, for convening us to mark this important day. And I want to thank Secretary-General Guterres for being there and for his statement. And to especially thank Mayor Adams for joining us today and for his brave remarks.

Dear Colleagues, Over the past few years, I have shared my personal experiences of racial discrimination on this commemoration day. So today I want to tell a different story, one I had never heard before, until earlier this month when a local news station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — where I’m from — reported it.

It is the story of how a relative of mine, my mother’s cousin Vincent Smith, fought for the right to vote for his family and for others. Vincent lives in the community of West Feliciana in rural Louisiana. He lived there all his life. But back then, in 1965, West Feliciana was 68 percent black. But not a single black man was registered to vote there. And that was no coincidence.

Vincent worked with an ally, a 20-year-old white girl from New York, to mobilize black people who understood that if they exercised their right to vote, their lives would change and improve. And so they built a real grassroots effort – a real grassroots movement. They practiced how to answer what Vince called the “stupid questions” of the racist suffrage test, a test that gave blacks much harder questions than their white neighbors.

And as they saw what was happening, the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses on their neighbors’ lawns and shot bullets into the night sky. They did everything they could to scare West Feliciana’s black voters. But Vincent and his congregation stood up anyway. They believed they would overcome. And they did. They signed up to vote and they voted. And Vincent said, “You have to fight for what you believe in.”

Colleagues, today I would like to highlight the many unsung heroes who have fought and continue to fight to end racial discrimination. And I want to give a special thank you to my own cousin for sharing his story with the world and emphasizing how important it is that we don’t forget how hard he and others fought for our rights.

And I want to encourage all of us to follow their example and fight for what we all believe in. And I know what the United Nations believes in, because this year we’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“All human beings,” says the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This profound statement is not an opinion. It’s a fact. Our human rights are inalienable and indivisible. They are interdependent and interconnected. And they are universal. Today we must commit to making these rights a reality for all people everywhere, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

And I’ll be the first to tell you that the United States has not always acted correctly on that commitment. We have a long history of racial discrimination – nobody denies that. And I was discriminated against myself. But we still have real and enduring challenges, from the enduring legacy of slavery and the displacement of Native Americans, to the rise of anti-Asian hatred and anti-Semitism, to many other racist roots deeply ingrained in our history and throughout our culture.

And yet I am proud – I am so proud – of my country and the progress we have made and are making today to address these issues.

The Biden administration is committed to dismantling structural racism, ending discrimination and combating all forms of xenophobia. As President Biden said, “Promoting justice is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment.” That’s why President Biden has made promoting racial equality and combating systemic racism a core priority throughout his administration. As soon as he took office, he signed four – four related executive measures.

And at the US State Department, we published an Equity Action Plan last year. Minister Blinken made it clear that promoting justice in our foreign policy has the highest priority. And he announced the appointment of a Special Representative for Racial Equality and Justice. Because racial discrimination is not a local problem. It’s a global problem.

Unfortunately, there is some form of racism in every single country on earth. And in some countries and contexts, this discrimination becomes deadly.

At the United Nations, we have a duty to stand up for and stand up for human rights. To defend against racism and hate in all its forms. Advocate for platforms that spread ideas, improve best practices and bring us together to improve the safety and quality of life of all people.

That’s why we’re proud to support the Permanent Forum on the Peoples of African Descent. In fact, we were the only country to make a voluntary contribution and I encourage others to do the same. And that is why we at the United Nations need to work more frequently and more fully with civil society to combat other forms of racism as well.

The United Nations, as Ralph Bunche said in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, “exists not only to keep peace, but also to make change possible – even radical change – without violent upheaval”. The United Nations does not only exist to keep the peace, but also to make changes – even radical ones – possible without violent upheaval. And I would go one step further; I would say if there is no justice there can be no peace.

So let’s make this radical change. Let’s create this place, this United Nations, where our common humanity will be recognized. Where we remove the rot of racism from all our foundations. And where we exalt the many, many unsung heroes of the world, like my cousin Vince, who are fighting to create a less hateful, more hopeful world.

Thanks very much.

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From the United States Mission to the United Nations | March 21, 2023 | Topics: Highlights, Remarks and Highlights