Time doesn’t make things go away- Jamaica demands reparations
Last week it was announced that Jamaica would seek reparations from the English monarchy for their part in the transatlantic slave trade.
Jamaica will ask the UK for reparations for slavery under the British Empire.
An estimated 600,000 people were kidnapped from Africa and enslaved in Jamaica. When the UK abolished slavery, it took out loans to compensate former owners.
Jamaican lawmakers want the same amount. pic.twitter.com/PCJEj2ZNTC
— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 12, 2021
“We are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms that one would expect if they are to really ensure that we get justice from injustices to repair the damages that our ancestors experienced,” Olivia Grange, Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, told Reuters.
“Our African ancestors were forcibly removed from their home and suffered unparalleled atrocities in Africa to carry out forced labour to the benefit of the British Empire,” she added. “Redress is well overdue.”
Jamaica was taken from the Spanish in 1655 and remained a part of the British colonies until its independence in 1962. However, the country remained a commonwealth member and also have The Queen as their head of state.
Reparations? Britain doesn't even offer an apology. A few years back, the UK PM asked Jamaica to "move on."
Total reparations for trans-Atlantic slave trade could add up to $14 trillion. The UK govt says, "reparations are not the answer" for the legacy of slavery.
Then what is? https://t.co/qg4ZPq874Q— Palki Sharma (@palkisu) July 8, 2021
When slavery was abolished in 1834, the English Government borrowed £20 million, which they used to pay slave owners for the loss of their workforce. This loan was only repaid in 2015, and with tax-payer money.
Mike Henry, a labour representative in Jamaica, has worked out that 7.6 billion pounds equate to the same amount initially paid to the slave owners.
“I am asking for the same amount of money to be paid to the slaves that was paid to the slave owners,” said Henry, a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
“I am doing this because I have fought against this all my life, against chattel slavery which has dehumanized human life.”
