The United States’ decision to leave the UN World Conference on Racism early was cowardly.

Not only did the United States only send over a low-level delegation to the conference, our nation’s leaders felt it was necessary to pull out early because of the treatment Israel was receiving at the conference.

In addition to the disgust over a proclamation blaming Israel, the U.S. government was also upset that slavery reparations was beginning to dominate the discussions of the conference.

Regardless of the issues discussed, open dialogue is critical to solve any world problem. The United States took the easy way out. They left the conference to protest two issues that are only a part of a much larger debate.

The United States, positioned as a world power, must set the example for the rest of the nation. As a world leader, the United States should do all it can to work for progress. That is what leaders are supposed to do.

But instead of sitting down to start the process of diplomacy and open the lines of communication over difficult issues, our government decided it would rather not deal with the issues at all, and left.

Without a doubt, the debate would not be easy. The United States would have had to discuss topics it’s not accustomed to talking about. But that’s the point.

These difficult issues must be discussed in an open environment. It was a perfect opportunity and our government blew the chance.

It is impossible to know now what could have been accomplished if not for our early exit.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell