Reparations for slavery must be made real

2026-03-30 - 03:05

The Caribbean’s voice on reparations for the enduring inhumanity and effects of slavery, hundreds of years after formal Emancipation, has been one of the most articulate and loudest, led by University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor, historian, Sir Hilary Beckles. However, as openly acknowledged, the issue now for us is, how and through what mechanisms will the vote of the 123 nations of the world at the United Nations General Assembly, that African slavery has been the “gravest crime against humanity” is to be made truly meaningful, given that the Resolution is not binding on member states. In other words, they don’t have to pay attention to it. With respect to the actual voting of members of the General Assembly, it’s important to note that three countries, the United States of America, Israel and Argentina voted against the resolution, while 53 others abstained, among the latter, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Union states, including the Vatican, all of which participated “big time” in chattel slavery. One major fear of countries which freely enjoined in the ignominious system, is that they will be called upon to make reparations for the sins of their ancestors. Notwithstanding the abstentions and the votes cast against the resolution, it can be expected that the push for reparations will intensify with African and Caribbean voices ringing out loudest and most insistent for justice. After the vote at the General Assembly, Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, referred to the trade in slaves and slavery as “a machinery of mass exploitation and deliberate dehumanisation of men, women and children. “The wounds run deep and often go unrecognised,” he acknowledged. For those who think the call for reparations is a novel and unfair one, they must be reminded that West Germany paid US$ 714 million for Hitler’s inhumane slaughter of six million Jews, and rightly so. In a complete standing of the issues and logic on their heads, France demanded that an impoverished Haiti pay 90 million francs for Toussaint L’Ouverture’s liberation of Haiti. Not satisfied, Paris added a 50 per cent discount on customs duties on their exports into the Caribbean island. The recognition by the majority in the General Assembly is a good start to achieving a measure of justice. It’s an acknowledgement of the efforts of African and Caribbean countries, which have been articulating and agitating for years for international recognition of the crime against humanity that was the slave trade and slavery. But the advocacy now enters its greatest challenge, to have compensation paid to the offspring of those who suffered from slavery and its consequences. The facts relating to the benefits from slavery to the slavers of Britain and the wider Europe have been identified and counted by our late historian-prime minister, Dr Eric Williams in his classic research study of Capitalism and Slavery. As he concluded, and with an abundance of data, it’s the profits made from the trade in Africans, captured and enslaved, which were then used to kick-start the Industrial Revolution. Reparations will not be given generously to those calling for justice; Africa, the Caribbean and the other states, which voted positively for the Resolution, must now utilise it to form an alliance to demand a meaningful recognition of the natural consequences of the vote.