I am calling on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,  (OHCHR)  to initiate steps to bring to an end the practice of officially designating human beings as “Black” and “White” in all the member- states of the UN. It is an indisputable fact that there are no purely ”black” and “white”  human beings on earth. The colour black has negative connotations.

I am citing only a few examples: Black magic: magic involving (supposedly) the invocation of evil spirits for evil purposes.

Black market: illicit traffic in rationed, prohibited or scarce commodities,

Black sheep: a member of a family or group who is regarded as a disgrace, an embarrassment or a shame to the entity.

Black money: income illegally obtained or not declared for tax purposes.

Black day: a day when things go bad

On the contrary, the colour white has a positive connotation--  goodness, innocence, purity,  safety, purity, and cleanliness. 

Since black is associated with evil and white good, designating humans in such a manner leads to negative stereotyping and stigmatisation.

A child born into the world by African parents has a huge disadvantage to start with, even if his skin is as light coloured as an Igbo of Nigeria. As everyone is calling them black, a colour associated with all types of evil and negative connotations, they are forced to shoulder the additional burden of the negative association and stigmatisation throughout their lives.

  On the other hand, the child born to a European is called white, even though he or she is not actually white, and as white is associated with innocence and purity, they are looked upon more favourably by society.

   Should the “black” individual and the “white” individual later appear for an interview, even though they have the same grades because the individual who is “black” is associated with malice and inferiority and the “white” counterpart with goodness and superiority, the latter stands a better chance of being selected.

  I have no illusions that such a step alone will do away with the prejudices that humans harbour in their minds, overnight change attitudes and behaviour cultivated over generations.

It is still my opinion that if we take the bold initiative today towards doing away with the present classification,  400 years from now, future generations will look back and reminisce on the tensions it caused in the past and rejoice over the positive contribution it has made towards social cohesion and understanding among people of different backgrounds.