The idea of reparations for the atrocities committed during the transatlantic slave trade is often a hotly contested idea. As of now, calls for reparations usually emanate from hubs of feminists, academics and those whose feet remain firmly planted on leftist ideology. For others, there is a stark refusal to see the necessity of reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans.
You should just “move on” – slavery was so “long ago,” these are two of the most popular phrases used by those who do not believe in reparatory justice. 2020 marks 401 years since slavery began; it only ended 182 years ago in Guyana, two generations back. Many great grand parents of afro-descendants experienced the horrors of slavery. So much of Black culture and identity have been lost or become fragmented. As an afro-descendant, I am semi resigned to the knowledge that the slave master surname of Thompson is the only one that I will know throughout my life. The real names of my African fore parents long stripped and forgotten.
Even after emancipation, the children of ex-slaves were often made to work on the same plantations for the same masters they were freed from for a variety of reasons, one of which was mass incarceration that continued the control and commoditization of Black bodies. Slavery was not that long ago. To ask a people who continue to be impacted by the legacies of the slave trade to move on is an extremely limited and inconsiderate view. There is no way to move on from a legacy that still actively shapes the way you are seen, treated and the opportunities you are afforded in the world based on your race.
Those who are willfully ignorant of the horrors the slave trade legacy continues to wreak on Black lives are those who often benefit from the anti-Blackness in our societies. I think back to 2015 when former British Prime Minister and direct descendant of slave owners, David Cameron told Jamaican national leaders that they should move on from slavery and the idea of reparations. It was quite an ironic thing to say given that was the same year in which British taxpayers finally finished paying off debts incurred from the abolition of slavery. Chairman of the Reparations Commission, Hilary Beckles would label the stance of the British government to be a duplicitous and dishonest act. It was quite interesting for many Black Brits to reconcile with the fact that they were still paying for the freedom of their ancestors when the atrocities against them were yet to be acknowledged. Even more unsettling was the fact that no enslaved person or their descendants has ever received any money for the centuries of forced labour, the loss of their families and the brutal physical and sexual violence inflicted on Black bodies.
Calls for reparations are nothing new. These calls began almost immediately after emancipation. The former enslaved would demand remuneration for all of the unpaid labour they were forced to do and it was a demand that would be maintained by their ancestors throughout the rest of history. Reparations are not simply about the handing over of money – although that does remain a large part of it – it is also about the importance of Black life, humanity, freedom and justice. It is about ensuring that the disparities that exist in our systems of existence that severely limits Black people’s access to education, housing, financing etc. do not remain the same.
Reparations begins with an acknowledgement of the way in which Black humanity was stripped and profited off of to build empires that did not and do not benefit their people. There must be Black education on not only the atrocities of slavery but also how the impacts of it remains with Black people today through land theft, housing discrimination, mass incarceration and State complicity in police violence against Black people. Reparations is meaningless if it is not accompanied by systemic changes as our educational, employment, healthcare, judicial and policing systems etc. are all set up on white domination which equates to Black subordination.
In addition to the historical suffering that impacts generations of descendants, there must also be reparatory justice for the present day suffering of Black people. While the transatlantic trade may be gone, the mentality of white supremacy and Black inhumanity that necessitated slavery is still very present. With capitalism remaining at the centre of white supremacy, even today there is the rising and blatant perpetuation of modern day slavery, yet Blacks are curiously told to get over their “victimhood mentality.” Slavery remains at the centre of collective Black experiences around the world as the crimes against Black people were never answered for and justice was never served.
When we speak of the need for reparations to even the scales, we do so speaking from the knowledge of how institutionalized racism limits the opportunities of Black people and how intergenerational wealth is almost akin to a myth in the Black community. White people and other non-Black POC benefitted from the colonial State in ways that Black people never did and are still unable to. They were provided access to land, to financing, to opportunities to garner wealth that would then be passed down through their generations. Black people do not have this head start. This is why the myth of Black people’s “laziness” and “stupidity” persists. The narrative is sown that Black people are the only group unable to achieve any sort of collective economic/social stability due to personal failings rather than the systemic designs that were set up to ensure they are never able to ascend pass certain points.
Reparatory justice is a responsibility of both international and State governments. Wealthy families and companies who have benefitted and continue to benefit from slavery and the continued exploitation of Black labour must also be held responsible. Even if one’s family did not own slaves, the fact remains that all non-Black persons have benefitted from centuries of enslaved Black labour. The socioeconomic underdevelopment of the Caribbean is directly linked to legacies of white supremacy and the slave trade. While whites remain a numerical minority today, they are still the holders of the most wealth.
Former colonizing countries such as USA, Britain etc. owe their wealth to the forced free labour of Black lives and continue to benefit from that labour today. When we examine our economic markets, we will see that they are merely a continuation of the legacy of slavery. Neocolonial international trade agreements keep the Caribbean region and others in the Global South locked into disadvantageous Western tariffs that continue to stifle our economic growth. Empires continue to be built on Black life and resources but yet, the idea of reparations continues to be scoffed at.
