The United States voted Wednesday against a U.N. resolution describing the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans as among the gravest crimes against humanity, a move that set Washington apart from most member states.

Ghana said the resolution was needed because the consequences of slavery, which saw at least 12.5 million Africans taken and sold between the 15th and 19th centuries, persist today, including racial disparities.

At a U.N. General Assembly vote, 123 countries supported the resolution, while three opposed it, including the United States and Israel, and 52 abstained, including the European Union and Britain.

The resolution is not legally binding but carries political weight.

It characterizes the "trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans" as a defining rupture in world history, citing its scale, duration, systemic nature, brutality, and long-lasting consequences.

It also asserts that those consequences continue to shape global systems of labor, property, and capital along racial lines.

Supporters framed the measure as part of a broader effort to acknowledge historical injustices and their modern-day impacts.

They argued that formally recognizing the legacy of slavery is essential to addressing persistent inequalities tied to race and economic structures.

Dan Negrea, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the measure, calling the resolution's text "highly problematic in countless respects."

In a statement, Negrea said the United States "does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred."

"The United States also strongly objects to the resolution's attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy," he said.

"The assertion that some crimes against humanity are less severe than others objectively diminishes the suffering of countless victims and survivors of other atrocities through history."

U.S. officials have raised similar concerns about past resolutions, particularly language that could be interpreted as endorsing reparations or assigning legal liability to present-day governments.

Supporters of the resolution countered that recognition and accountability are necessary components of reconciliation.

They argue that enduring economic and social disparities linked to slavery cannot be addressed without explicitly naming the systems that produced them.

The vote comes amid international discussions about how governments and institutions should address the legacy of slavery.

In recent years, debates have intensified over reparations, historical memory, and structural inequality, with some countries and organizations issuing formal apologies or establishing commissions to study the issue.

The outcome highlights continuing divisions among U.N. member states over how to address the historical and present-day consequences of slavery.

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