The tirade of U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivered before the UN Security Council meeting Sept. 24, did more than simply harangue the world that Russia was evil and that the United Kingdom will defend goodness to the last Ukrainian. In the process, Lammy attempted to pull rank as a descendant of slaves brought to Guyana, to invoke his special expertise in recognizing Russian imperialism. However, his claimed genetic understanding of the imperialistic roots of the slave trade seems to be clouded by amnesia about the role of the Dutch West India Company that seized his ancestors, or the broader role of Dutch, French, British, Spanish and Portuguese colonialism. Lammy did feel qualified, however, to indict Russia, one of the few major European countries that did not join in on the slave-trading, colonialist party.
Lammy said: “Mr. President, I also want to speak directly to the Kremlin and its representative here today, and to Vladimir Putin. Russia sits on this council, but its actions tear up the UN Charter. Russia sits on this council, but over the weekend, we saw it put forward amendments designed to wreck the UN’s future. Russia claims to stand for the Global South, but it runs roughshod over international law.
