For more than 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, in one of the darkest chapters in human history.

“We know a lot about the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans,” said the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterresin his message commemorating this day.

He said it was clearly a crime against humanity, pointing to the unprecedented scale of human trafficking that took place, the degrading economic transactions it involved and the “unspeakable violations ” human rights.

The racist legacy lives on

But, added the UN chief, “there is also a lot we don’t know, and today is a day we are learning.”

Behind the facts and figures, he recalled that there are millions of human stories.

“Stories of untold suffering and pain…of families and communities torn apart, but also stories of courage and resistance to the cruelty of oppressors that inspire admiration.”

While the world will never know all the acts of resistance – large or small – that have slowly but surely triumphed over injustice, repression and enslavement, he said these stories are “essential to our understanding of ‘a past whose most pernicious and enduring legacy continues to taint our present: racism.

Be supportive

The International Day is an opportunity to learn and reflect on these stories and to pay tribute to the millions of Africans who have been uprooted from their homelands and communities, Mr. Guterres said, and to “stand up in solidarity against racism everywhere in the world”.

Today, people of African descent “continue to face racial discrimination, marginalization and exclusion”, he added.

Political, economic and structural power imbalances, rooted in colonial rule, slavery and exploitation, continue today to deny people equal opportunity and justice.

In this context, the Secretary-General urged everyone to speak out against racism today and every day.

Eradicate the global scourge

In his message, the President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, stressed the need to “discuss the legacy of slavery”, particularly in the marginalization of people of African descent, “who are still denied justice and equality”.

“Let’s stand together, united against these inequalities,” he said. “This dark chapter should never be whitewashed.”

Natalia Kanem, Director of the United Nations Agency to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and End Gender-Based Violence, UNFPA, said that while remembering the victims of slavery and transatlantic trade that lasted for centuries, “we must unite to eradicate the global scourge of racism”.