Racial and Ethnic Justice: Essential to Upholding Human Rights in the Americas

This piece is part of the series A Human Rights Agenda for the Next U.S. Administration, which outlines WOLA’s priorities for U.S. policies centered on human rights. As the United States prepares for a new administration, WOLA remains committed to justice, dignity, and the fundamental rights of individuals across the Americas. This series highlights the critical human rights issues that should be at the forefront of policy discussions during this pivotal time.

The Americas is a region of rich ethnic, racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity. An estimated 50 million persons belong to 826 different Indigenous groupings speaking over 550 languages. Over 200 million are Afro-descendants, and 3 million are Romani people. Afrodescendants speak their own languages, such as Palenque, Garifuna, and various Creoles. It is a region of people with European, African, Indigenous, Arab, and Asian ancestries. The legacies of colonialism and the transatlantic African slave trade have embedded structural racism, racial discrimination, and ethnic prejudices in all aspects of society. Inequities and inequalities are reflected in the socioeconomic disparities and living conditions faced by many Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities. Such structural inequality and discrimination limit access to human rights for millions in the Americas, hindering the region’s potential for peace, shared prosperity, human security, environmental sustainability, and an end to forced migration and displacement.

WOLA works to address inequality and the denial of human rights by collaborating with Afrodescedant and Indigenous partners. We incorporate a focus on women, gender, and LGBTQIA+, respecting their collective rights and the right to free, prior, and informed consent regarding decisions that affect their lives and territories. We work with them to uplift their voices and proposals to strengthen their regional and global fight for equity and justice; we aim to inform inclusive policy-making that helps advance human rights for all.

We urge the next administration to adopt policies that further the following objectives:

1.Prioritize racial equity and justice in policy responses in the region

Afro-descendant and Indigenous individuals and communities in the Americas face long standing discrimination and inequality in accessing fundamental and socio-economic rights. Addressing such disparities remains urgent across all spheres of life. Racism and racial discrimination result in racial profiling, disproportionate abuses committed by the security forces, police, illegal armed groups, and criminal gangs against these populations, and a slower or non-existent response from the justice systems. It also leads to gaps in these populations’ access to education, health, sanitation, shelter, and employment. This is why the United States developed U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER) and U.S.-Colombia Action Plan on Racial and Ethnic Equality (CAPRE), aimed at addressing racial discrimination against Afro-descendants and Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Colombia. Such a perspective should be expanded to the entire region. Additional steps include: 

• Spearhead and support initiatives that advance racial equity, closing gaps in access to rights and services for Indigenous and Afro-descendants with a gender focus.
• Lead by example by bringing to justice cases of racism and racial discrimination and urging countries in the Americas to do the same and guarantee that migration policies are applied equitably, regardless of a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. U.S. supported efforts to address sexual and gender-based violence in the region should consider how racism and racial discrimination impact the victims’ treatment by authorities and justice responses.
• Strengthen, fund, and support the efforts of Afro-descendant and Indigenous movements, civil rights organizations, and grassroots initiatives to address racism, racial discrimination, and marginalization of ethnic groups.
• Actively embrace, support, and fund the global anti-racism efforts that began with the Durban Conference and continue with the UN Decades of Peoples of African descent.

2. Reinforce the Resilience of Ethnic Communities to Conserve the Environment and Biodiversity

Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities are at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis and protecting the region’s rich natural environment, biodiversity, and mineral wealth. Ethnic leaders  play a vital role in conserving forests and other natural resources. They are also disproportionately killed, persecuted, and attacked for defending the environment and their ancestral territories. Latin America is the world’s most dangerous region for land and environmental rights defenders. Many of their communities are adversely affected by climate change and both natural and man-made disasters.       

• Incorporate a racial justice and equity lens into U.S. policy responses to the climate emergency and encourage countries in the Americas to prioritize doing the same. Promote exchanges of ideas and lessons learned between Native Americans, African Americans, Afro-descendant, and Indigenous communities in the Americas.
• Support efforts to empower Afro-descendant and Indigenous women and youth at the forefront of defending their territories and mitigating the climate crisis, respecting these communities’ internal decision-making processes, cosmologies, and approaches.
• Support politically and financially communities engaged in environmental defense in their lands and territories, including actions to counter violence against environmental defenders and support for protection mechanisms agreed upon by the recipients.

3. Strengthen Collective Ethnic Rights, Culture, and Identity

Afro-descendants and Indigenous communities are subject to both individual and collective rights. Throughout the Americas, they often hold collective ownership over their ancestral territories, identified through different frameworks, including reserves, quilombos, palenques, and community councils, some of which are legally recognized while others are not. These communities also have distinct cultural identities, cosmologies, and ways of life. This includes beliefs in African-based religions, beliefs, spiritual systems, and Indigenous spiritualities. Such collective identities and cultures are vital to the essence of Afro-descendant and Indigenous peoples, expressed through performing and visual arts, food, and other cultural practices.

• Respect and uphold the collective land rights, cultures, and identities of racial and ethnic groups in the Americas. All U.S. policies and programs geared to collective territories or rights should respect the right to prior, free, and informed consent with the group involved.
• Help preserve these cultures’ distinct languages, traditions, and artistic expressions, fostering exchanges between the U.S. and the Americas.
• Support efforts to protect practitioners of African-based and Indigenous beliefs and religions from persecution, harm, and displacement.
• Guarantee that representatives of these diverse cultures have a seat at the table and can actively participate in U.S. policy and programming efforts regarding security, the environment, human rights and diplomatic exchanges.

Read the full series