Clearing The Confusion: What The African Union And United Nations Reparations Push Really Means And What It Doesn’t

In 2025, the African Union (AU), in alliance with the United Nations (UN), has formally launched a historic global campaign to secure reparations for the transatlantic slave trade, colonial exploitation, and the ongoing structural underdevelopment of African nations and African-descended peoples. This effort is not new. It builds on decades of Pan-African diplomacy, starting from the Abuja Declaration of 1993 to the 2023 Accra Reparations Conference, which established the Global Reparation Fund. The goal is simple: justice, repair, and accountability from the nations that committed crimes against Africa and her children.

But now, misinformation is spreading.

Some individuals, primarily among the American descendants of slavery (ADOS) and so-called Foundational Black Americans (FBA), are reacting in panic. They claim the AU and UN are scheming to "steal" their reparations, control future payouts, or negotiate lowball settlements on their behalf. These claims are not only false, they are completely disconnected from how international law, sovereignty, and reparatory processes actually work. Let’s set the record straight.

What Is The Actual Purpose Of The AU–UN Reparations Initiative?

The AU and UN have coordinated to push for international recognition and reparatory justice on a global scale.

This effort includes:

• Uniting African nations and diaspora communities into a coherent diplomatic block

• Applying pressure on European colonial powers (Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, etc.) and their descendants

• Building legal cases to bring before international courts like the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• Creating institutional infrastructure, like the Global Reparation Fund, to support legal filings, research, and political advocacy

  
  

This is about state-level reparations owed to African nations, Caribbean nations, and yes, to African-descended people worldwide. But each case must still be handled individually, based on who the injured party is and who committed the harm.

This campaign gives structure to what has long been ignored or dismissed. It forces former colonizers into public reckoning with their crimes. It is not an attempt to control reparations owed specifically to African Americans.

Why The Fear From Some In The African American Community?

Some ADOS and FBA voices are panicking because they misunderstand a few key points:

1. They believe the AU or UN can negotiate on their behalf without their consent. False. The AU cannot speak for African Americans in any legal, political, or financial capacity unless expressly authorized by the U.S. government or the African American community.Reparations for African Americans must come from U.S. legislation, U.S. courts, or U.S. executive actions. Period.

2. They think “the diaspora” means the AU will be handed money meant for ADOS. False. There is no pot of reparations money being divvied up globally. Reparations must be won through legal or political pressure in each individual country.If the U.S. pays reparations, it will go through U.S. systems, not to the AU, not to the UN.

3. They claim African leaders or Europeans at the UN will poorly represent them or sell them out. This is based on historical trauma and mistrust, not legal reality.The AU cannot sell out what it does not control. The UN cannot enforce payouts to parties that don't want them.

   
   

Why This Fear Is A Red Herring

This fear is not based in law, treaty, or any international agreement. It’s based on misinformation and a deep-rooted suspicion of Black international unity.

These individuals are building strawmen, fake enemies, to distract from the real problem: that the U.S. has not yet paid reparations to African Americans because of lack of political will, legal pressure, and organized infrastructure within the community demanding it.

While African leaders are fighting former colonizers on the world stage for reparations, some in the diaspora are accusing them of theft, betrayal, and sabotage, without any evidence. That’s just sowing unnecessary confusion.

What Needs To Be Understood

• Inclusion in the African diaspora does not mean loss of legal control. African Americans can be in solidarity with Africa without giving up legal control over their own reparations.

• The AU cannot accept reparations on behalf of U.S. citizens. There is no mechanism where the AU or UN could intercept, redistribute, or mismanage reparations owed specifically by the U.S. to its Black citizens. That’s legally impossible unless the U.S. hands them that power, and it hasn’t.

• If you’re afraid of being misrepresented, represent yourself. Organize. Build legal teams. Craft policy proposals. Demand legislation. Don’t attack those fighting the same enemy on another front.

  
  

The Real Threat Is Not The AU Or The UN

The real threat is:

• The U.S. government's refusal to pay what it owes

• Division and infighting within the Black American community

• The absence of a unified legal, financial, and policy infrastructure to collect what is owed

  
  

The AU’s efforts are not your enemy. The enemy is the one who enslaved, segregated, and robbed your ancestors and still refuses to repay.

African Americans will not win reparations by isolating themselves. The global reparations movement amplifies your moral and legal argument. It strengthens your leverage. But you must come to the table informed, prepared, and unified, not confused and afraid of shadows.

Final Word

The AU and UN reparations campaign is about justice at a global level, not control over individual reparations cases. It seeks to hold colonizers accountable, not to hijack your demands.

Those spreading falsehoods about African leaders “stealing the check” are not exposing corruption. They are exposing their own lack of understanding.

If you want reparations, you don’t fight the Africans fighting beside you. You fight the governments that still owe you.