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TheÌýUNÌýrightsÌýchiefÌýcalled on Monday for countries to do more to dismantleÌýsystemicÌýracismÌýagainst black people, urging acknowledgement andÌýreparationsÌýfor past wrongs.ÌýÌý

Speaking before ÌýHuman RightsÌýCouncil, described how deeply embeddedÌýracismÌýagainst Africans and people of African descent continues to affect all aspects of their lives.Ìý

Presenting a report called for following the murder of by a white US police officer last year, she said there was "an urgent need to confront the legacies of enslavement".Ìý

In her report, which addressedÌýsystemicÌýracismÌýworldwide, the United Nations High Commissioner forÌýHuman RightsÌýalso called on countries to confront the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism.Ìý

She insisted that only by facing the wrongs of the past could countries hope to "transform the structures, institutions and behaviours that lead to direct or indirectÌýdiscrimination".Ìý

warned that theÌýsystemicÌýracismÌýand racial violence on display today was rooted in "the absence of formal acknowledgement of the responsibilities of states and others that engaged in or profited from enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, and colonialism, as well as those who continue to profit from this legacy".Ìý

A debate continues to polarise the United States about the idea ofÌýreparationsÌýfor

And more recently, schools have become embroiled in a row over so-called critical race theory.Ìý

The term defines a strand of thought that appeared in American law schools in the late 1970s and which looks atÌýracismÌýas a system, enabled by laws and institutions, rather than at the level of individual prejudices.ÌýÌý

But its critics use it as a catch-all phrase to attack teachers' efforts to confront dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation, as well as to tackle racist stereotypes.Ìý

In her presentation, Bachelet called for countries to "create, reinforce and fully fund comprehensive processes ... to share the truth about what was done, and the harms it continues to inflict".Ìý

"Establishing the truth about these legacies, and their impact today, and taking steps to address these harms through a wide range ofÌýreparationsÌýmeasures is crucial to healing our societies and providingÌýjusticeÌýfor terrible crimes."Ìý