Apr 21, 2025 | Bakersfield, Features

Chavis Confronts Digital Racism and Demands Reparations at U.N. Forum

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr speaking at the U.N. Forum

By Stacy M. Brown | BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

National Newspaper Publishers Association President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. delivered a forceful address during the fourth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, calling on global leaders to confront algorithmic discrimination, reject media-driven imperialism, and fully recognize the crimes of slavery through official reparatory justice. Representing the Black Press of America and media led by people of African descent around the world, Chavis condemned what he called “digital racism” — the growing presence of racial bias embedded in artificial intelligence and across digital platforms. He said the same systems that once commodified Black bodies are now being used to control and misrepresent Black voices in the digital space. “We, therefore, call on this distinguished gathering of leaders and experts to challenge member states to cite and to prevent the institutionalization of racism in all forms of media, including social media, AI, and any form of digital bias and algorithmic discrimination,” Chavis stated.

This year’s forum theme, “Africa and people of African descent: United for reparatory justice in the age of artificial intelligence,” guided a week of sessions and events hosted by the U.N. and its agencies. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) participated in multiple discussions centered on justice, recognition, and development, with Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem delivering remarks at the session’s opening. Chavis, a veteran civil rights leader and former NAACP executive director, said one of his key goals was to ensure accurate and direct language around slavery and its legacy. He pointed out that for the first time, the Permanent Forum is officially using the term “reparations.” He also called for the U.N. and its member states to update terminology related to the transatlantic slave trade, including recognition of chattel enslavement as a legal framework for understanding the denial of humanity. “We cannot trust nor entertain the notion that former and contemporary enslavers will now use AI and digital transformation to respect our humanity and fundamental rights,” Chavis told the forum. He proposed the formation of an international collective of multimedia and digital organizations that are owned and operated by Africans and people of African descent. Such a collective, he said, would serve as a necessary counter to the racism and imperialism maintained by so-called mainstream global media corporations and technology companies.

Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 2021, the Permanent Forum serves as a consultative and advisory body to the U.N. system and the Human Rights Council. Its mandate includes providing expert guidance on combating systemic racism, contributing to the drafting of a U.N. declaration on the rights of people of African descent, and assessing progress from the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024) while shaping the next decade (2025–2034). Chavis’s appearance also focused on language deconstruction, especially in the Caribbean, where sanitized or inaccurate terminology has distorted historical understanding. The famed Wilmington Ten leader spoke of the importance of framing slavery as a crime against humanity rooted in the ownership of human beings. “Our focus is on reparatory justice, digital justice, and the dismantling of algorithmic bias,” Chavis said. “Basta the crimes against our humanity. Basta Racism. Basta Imperialism. A Luta Continua. Victoria est Cert.”