Final answer:
'We Charge Genocide' was a petition presented to the UN accusing the US of African American genocide and connected domestic civil rights with the global human rights movement. It underscored the shared struggles against oppression and highlighted the inconsistency of the US's stance on freedom and democracy.
Step-by-step explanation:
'We Charge Genocide' is a historic document that was presented to the United Nations in 1951 by the Civil Rights Congress, asserting that the government of the United States was guilty of genocide against African Americans.
This petition argued that the pattern of lynchings, legal injustices, and systemic discrimination fulfilled the UN's definition of genocide. It highlighted the plight African Americans faced domestically while underscoring their unity with broader, international struggles for human rights.
The document is significant as it showed the connection of African-American struggles with global human rights issues, resonating with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It became evidence of an African-American connection to international struggles for human rights by aligning their experiences with the experiences of oppressed groups around the world.
Furthermore, it drew attention to the hypocrisy of a nation fighting for democracy and freedom abroad, particularly highlighted during events like World War II, while denying those same principles to African Americans at home.
Appalled by the systemic injustices, prominent figures in the African-American community, such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, joined hands with white liberals to call for racial justice, a move that reaffirmed their shared commitment to human rights.
This interconnection between the domestic civil rights movement and the fight against fascism and racism abroad was further emphasized by African Americans during the Korean War and through various judicial actions after World War II in countries such as Germany and Japan.