U.S. Should Partcipate in Durban Review Conference
The UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban in September 2001 drew hundreds of NGO members from the U.S. MCLI attended and encouraged Congress member Barbara Lee to attend and make a presentation, which she did.
Now Durban 2 is being organized, to take place in Geneva April 20-24. Bush planned to boycott because it walked out of the first Durban Conference after the body voted to seek reparations for descendants of slavery in all nations where slavery had existed.
Feb. 9, MCLI signed onto a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, (copies to Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to U.N., and Rep. Barbara Lee), by Ejim Dike, Urban Justice Center, joining 35 NGOs and 40 professors and activists. The letter states:
"In this new day of optimism for a renewed commitment to human rights, it is imperative for the United States to take a leadership role in engaging with the global community to combat racism…."
The State Department recently indicated it is reconsidering how the U.S. should participate. Judge Claudia Morcom (ret.) of Detroit, MCLI Board Member, and Labor Activist and MCLI Board Member, Victoria Sawicki, will represent MCLI at the Conference