Reply #1: Obama "sends a disappointing signal" says TransAfrica Forum

[Better Believe It]

U.S. Appears Set To Boycott U.N. Session on Racism
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post
April 14, 2009

The Obama administration appears to be standing by its decision to boycott the World Conference Against Racism next week in Geneva, despite efforts to focus and tone down language in a draft conference document viewed as hostile toward Israel.

The preliminary conference document ran 45 pages and called for reparations for slavery, condemned the "validation of Islamophobia," and asserted that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is grounded in racism.

In response to objections raised by negotiators from the Obama administration, the document has since been dramatically shortened and many of its sharp statements have been removed. Still, the administration seems uninterested in attending, stoking frustration among activist groups who have said that it is ironic that the nation's first black president would choose that course.

"For his administration not to be present at this global conversation is a disappointment," said Imani Countess, senior director for public affairs at TransAfrica Forum, an advocacy group that focuses on U.S. foreign policy. "For President Bush not to participate, that would have been expected. For Barack Obama's administration not to participate sends a disappointing signal. It says these issues are not important."

TransAfrica sent a letter to Obama late last week urging him to send a delegation to the United Nations-sponsored meeting, saying that to do otherwise would contradict his promise to engage even with nations that hold views that are contrary to those held by the United States. Moreover, the letter said, U.S. participation would send an important message to the rest of the world.

"U.S. participation in the conference is critical for both symbolic and political reasons," said the letter, which was also signed by other leaders, including Jesse L. Jackson and the heads of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...