There’s been a call for reparations for black people in the United States ever since the possibility slavery coming to an end even became a notion. Yet it still hasn’t happened, so supporters of the idea continue to make cases for its necessity. The latest of which comes from the United Nations.

The United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent released a report claiming that “the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States” are proof enough that some form of reconciliation is needed to obtain true peace and healing.

The group is comprised of human rights legal experts from around the world and reported its findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council , according to the Washington Post.

“Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching,” the report states.

“Despite substantial changes since the end of the enforcement of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, ideology ensuring the domination of one group over another, continues to negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of African Americans today,” the group said in a statement released in January. “The dangerous ideology of white supremacy inhibits social cohesion amongst the US population.”

In regards to what form these potential reparations would come in, the report states that it could come in many forms, such as “a formal apology, health initiatives, educational opportunities … psychological rehabilitation, technology transfer and financial support, and debt cancellation.”

Many of these recommendations support the notion that reparations are more about an acknowledgement of the wrongs committed against black people in the U.S. being a necessary part of working past them. Which is contrary to an alarmingly common perception that it’s just a way for black people in America to walk away with a check just for being black.

Despite the report’s argument for reparations, the findings are not binding and the U.S. government is in no way obligated to follow through on what’s essentially just a suggestion.

Watch a video chairperson Mr. Ricardo Sunga III delivering the report below.

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