The United Nations held a major meeting on race. Why the US and UK skipped it
CNN
After more than a year of racial reckoning that saw historic monuments to enslavers and colonists torn down on both sides of the Atlantic, the United Nations convened a major day-long event on racism and reparations on Wednesday. But representatives from some of the West's biggest powers never showed.
On its face, the day's news made a jarring split-screen: Several countries that once grew fantastically rich from colonialism and slavery, including the US, Canada and the UK, attended an optimistic summit focused on extending Covid-19 vaccine supplies to the rest of the world, convened by US President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, ambassadors from once-exploited regions in Africa, South America and Asia undertook most of the discussion of structural inequality and racism at a separate conference, themed "Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent."