Daily Times

The European Parliament voted Friday to declare that “Black Lives Matter” and to denounce racism and white supremacism in all its forms.

The resolution has no legal consequences but sends a signal of support to anti-racism protesters, and it follows a UN call for a probe into police brutality and “systemic racism.”

And, one day before President Donald Trump is to hold a rally in Tulsa, a city that saw one of the worst racist massacres in US history, the lawmakers condemned American police brutality.

Point number one of the text of the resolution takes up the slogan US campaigners painted on the street leading to the White House, when it “Affirms that Black Lives Matter.”

The resolution, passed by 493 votes to 104, “strongly condemns the appalling death of George Floyd”, an unarmed suspect killed by US police in May.

It rebukes Trump for his “inflammatory rhetoric” and for threatening to deploy the army against protesters. And EU member states themselves, many of which have seen protests in recent days about modern racism and previous colonial crimes, are not spared in the motion. EU capitals are urged to denounce “the disproportionate use of force and racist tendencies in law enforcement.”

The EU institutions and the member states should officially acknowledge past injustices and crimes against humanity committed against black people, people of colour and Roma. And the resolution declares the slave trade a “crime against humanity.” Earlier Friday, the UN Human Rights Council demanded a report on “systemic racism”, but left out any direct mention of the United States in the resolution.