Slavery reparations are just, but who exactly owes whom?
Summary
On March 25, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as a major crime and called for reparations. While the resolution was widely supported, the debate about who should pay reparations and who should receive them is complex, involving both European and African historical roles.Key Facts
- The UN resolution on slavery reparations was proposed by Ghana and passed with 123 countries supporting it.
- The resolution called the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity.”
- The United States, Israel, and a few other countries opposed the resolution; Britain and some EU countries abstained.
- The African Union urged its members to seek formal apologies, return of stolen cultural items, financial payments, and guarantees that slavery would not happen again.
- The common view that only Europeans owe reparations ignores the role some African elites played in capturing and selling enslaved people to Europeans.
- European countries led the demand for enslaved labor and operated the slave ships and plantations.
- African rulers sometimes collaborated with Europeans during slavery and later became intermediaries during colonial rule.
- The transatlantic slave trade and colonialism are part of a long history of cooperation between European and African elites in extracting wealth from Africa.
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