U.S. should shoulder responsibility of addressing its serious systemic racism: experts

Beijing, China | Xinhua | The United States should face up to its serious systemic racism and shoulder the responsibility of promoting genuine equality among all races and ethnicities, experts said.

The online side event of the ongoing 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council was held on Monday under the theme “Racism against Asian Americans: Scapegoating and Double Standards,” organized by the United Nations Association of China.

Huang Huikang, former Chinese ambassador to Malaysia, said that following the outbreak of COVID-19, Asian Americans became targets of racial discrimination.

“It is noted that the current wave of hatred and violence against Asian Americans has come at a historical moment amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic in the United States,” he added.

According to Huang, racial discrimination against Asians is due to a number of factors, including political, economic, historical, cultural, legal and social factors, as well as being deeply rooted in the country’s flawed political and judicial system and its history of racism.

Racism in the United States is systemic and structural in nature, said Fermin Quinones, president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations, adding that in the last few years, white supremacists have expanded their attacks to include Latino, Asian, African and Muslim immigrants.

Noting the serious situation in the United States, Huang appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to pay more attention to the long-standing violations against Asian Americans in the United States and take all necessary measures and actions in response to the escalation of anti-Asian racism.

Participants should urge the United States to shoulder the responsibility of promoting genuine equality among all races and ethnicities, Zhang Dan, vice president and director general of United Nations Association of China, proposed.

The United States should be urged to reject all expressions of racist hate speech and discriminatory rhetoric, in particular by officials and public figures, and stop using the pandemic as a political tool, she added.

Zhang also recommended that UN bodies establish an independent international commission of inquiry, and the international community should encourage the United States and other countries with a history of genocide and racism to promote peace and respect and put laws and policies in practice to oppose white suprematism of all kinds.

*****

Xinhua