BREAKING NEWS

US State Department invites UN racism investigators to visit US

The US State Department has invited UN experts who investigate racism and minority issues to conduct an official visit to the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
"Responsible nations must not shrink from scrutiny of their human rights record; rather, they should acknowledge it with the intent to improve," Blinken said in a statement.
"I urge all UN member states to join the United States in this effort, and confront the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia," he said.
Blinken said the United States welcomed the UN Human Rights Council's adoption on Tuesday of a resolution to address systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the context of law enforcement.
The murder of a Black man, George Floyd, by a Minneapolis police officer last year sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
US President Joe Biden, who won the White House with critical support from Black voters, made fighting racial inequality a key platform of his 2020 campaign.
Blinken said the invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues was the first step on a plan to issue a standing invitation to all UN experts who report on human rights issues.