President Mahama Warns at UN Against Erasure of African History

President John Dramani Mahama has raised concerns at the United Nations over the erasure of African history and Black experiences, emphasizing that historical distortion persists in education and public discourse. Speaking at the UN High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice, Mahama highlighted examples from the United States, noting that Black history courses are being removed from school curricula and books on slavery, segregation, and racism are being banned in schools and public libraries.
Mahama explained that such erasure mirrors the language of violence used during the transatlantic slave trade, cautioning that manipulating language can normalize forgetting and rewriting history. He stressed the importance of confronting historical silences and myths, calling on the international community to actively safeguard historical memory.
“Recognizing the deliberate silencing of African experiences is essential for reparative justice,” Mahama said, urging the UN and member states to ensure education and public knowledge reflect historical realities rather than sanitized versions that diminish the suffering and contributions of Africans.