An international meeting to discuss racism seemed like a great idea. But high hopes for a worldwide plan to fight prejudice were dashed last week in Durban, South Africa, at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism.
U.N. leader Kofi Annan welcomed delegates from more than 160 countries, saying, "Let us rise above our disagreements." That was not possible.
The U.S. and Israel left the meeting in protest. They objected to a proposed statement that called Israel's treatment of Palestinians "racist."
Another sticky issue was whether countries that took part in slavery should apologize and make payments to the descendants of slaves. Delegates agreed to an apology, but there was no agreement on payments.