President John Mahama has rebuked racist language used against African countries, declaring that the continent and its people no longer have the luxury of silence or forgetting when described with words such as “garbage,” “filth,” and “shitholes.”

Speaking at the opening of the Diaspora Summit 2025 on December 19, President Mahama said Africa had reached a critical point in its historical journey.

He warned against attempts to erase memory and downplay the sacrifices that secured freedom for Black people across the world.

“We are the place in our journey where we do not have the luxury of forgetting when government officials can so easily use words like garbage and filth to describe our kith and kin, when they can refer to our countries as shitholes,” he said.

He said such language was not accidental and should not be excused or explained away.

According to him, the same mindset fuels the stripping of citizenship from people of African descent and the daily use of racist and divisive rhetoric.

“We do not have the luxury of forgetting or of either excusing the racist dog whistles or explaining the overtly discriminatory and divisive statements that are made daily to our hearing,” President Mahama stated.

He said the moment called for action, not retreat, and urged Africa and the diaspora to reclaim what had been lost over centuries of injustice. He said the time had come to speak clearly about loss and about what must be restored.

President Mahama recalled that at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Ghana served notice of its intention to act. He announced that Ghana would move a motion next year to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the greatest crime against humanity.

“I served notice that Ghana will move a motion next year to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the greatest crime against humanity,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the motion would receive strong backing from Africa and the diaspora.

He said the continent had endured slavery, colonialism, genocide and apartheid, and deserved formal acknowledgement of these crimes.

President Mahama said reparative justice must go beyond symbolism.

He said reparations should include debt cancellation, monetary compensation, the return of stolen artefacts, institutional reform and changes to the global economic system. He added that Africa’s losses were not only material but emotional.

He also highlighted the lasting trauma of historical injustice, pointing to scientific studies that show trauma can be passed down across generations.

He said the accumulated trauma of the past and present raised serious questions about the health of African people and their children.

President Mahama said healing required honesty, unity and purpose. He reminded the gathering that Africa’s future could not be delayed or denied.

“And as I said at the UN, let me say it louder one more time for those in the back, the future is African,” he declared.

He said Africans and the diaspora held the power to change their circumstances, but must be more intentional about unity. He said the strength of the gathering itself showed that unity was already growing.

“And with a United Africa and diaspora, there is nothing we cannot achieve,” President Mahama said.