The Tallest Tree in Our Forest
The first We Charge Genocide historic petition was presented to the United Nations in 1951 by its authors, William L. Patterson (Paris, France) and Paul Robeson (New York, US), in support of the charge that the racism of the US Government and its agencies was a crime punishable under the UN human rights instrument: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
UN Petition History
There’s often confusion about who presented the We Charge Genocide petition first. Some people say that the NAACP did because they submitted a petition in 1947, whereas the We Charge Genocide was not presented until 1951. What the NAACP submitted was a petition called An Appeal To the World that accused the United States of systematic racial discrimination. The We Charge Genocide petition was much stronger, much more forceful, and Patterson, Paul Robeson, and the Civil Rights Congress came under heavy attack for their left wing political views when they submitted this petition. In fact, Eleanor Roosevelt, in Paris, opposed William Patterson even presenting it to the United Nations. And she was a member of the board of the NAACP.
In The Winds of History: We Charge Genocide Again ! Interview with Frank Chapman
| Date | Petitioner | Instrument | Outcome |
| 6/6/1946 | Herbert Aptheker & the National Negro Congress | The Economic and Social Council – Petition | The U.N. replied to that petition by emphasizing its lack of authority to intervene in domestic matters – not uncommon response at the time. |
| 10/23/1947 | W.E.B. Du Boise & the NAACP | The General Assembly – Petition | John Humphrey, the Director of the U.N. Division for Human Rights, agreed to receive the petition. Afterward responded that he had to keep the petition confidential, as that Human Rights Commission had “no power to take any action… concerning human rights.” |
| 12/17/1951 | William L. Patterson, Paul Robeson & the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) | Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – Petition | Never accepted |
| 12/11/1978 | International Jurists Petition Lennox S. Hinds & the National Conference of Black Lawyers | U.N. Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination & Protection of Minorities | The complete text of the petition has been published in one volume: Illusions of Justice: Human Rights Violations in the United States by Lennox S. Hinds, Esq. Order from: School of Social Work, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242. Mail orders will be filled at the cost of $5.00, U.S. mail costs included. See Report & Findings for more information. |
| 5/1997 | Dr. Conrad Worrill & the National Black United Front | Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Declaration | Presented a “Declaration of Genocide by the United States Government Against the Black Population in the United States” with 157,000 signatures,”. |
