Missing an Anti-Racism Moment – more on Durban II
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies program at the University of San Francisco, Huffingon Post, April 24, 2009
In boycotting the United Nations conference on racism, the Obama administration demonstrated that just because an African American can be elected president doesn’t mean the United States will be any more committed than the Bush administration in fighting global racism. Rejecting calls by liberal Democratic members of Congress, leading human rights groups, Pope Benedict XVI, and most of the international community to participate, the Obama administration instead gave into pressure by Congressional hawks and other anti-UN forces by joining a handful of other nations refusing to participate in the historic gathering.