A response to Andy Burnham: We need an apology and reparations
Summary
The author argues that Britain should formally apologize and provide reparations for its role in the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans and colonial rule in the Caribbean. The article says an apology should acknowledge responsibility and be followed by reparations beyond changes to debt repayment conditions.Key Facts
- The author says CARICOM’s Reparations Commission has sought dialogue with Britain about apology and reparations.
- The article says earlier British responses expressed sorrow and regret but did not include an apology or a promise to issue one.
- It cites British Prime Minister David Cameron’s 2015 rejection of slavery reparations and a UK-funded £25 million project for a prison in Jamaica.
- The author says King Charles III was due to address the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua on Tuesday amid protests and calls for apology and reparations.
- CARICOM’s Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice describes an apology as recognition of responsibility and a commitment to repair harm, according to the article.
- The article says Andy Burnham has proposed improved debt repayment conditions but argues that reparations should go further.
- It quotes economist Arthur Lewis as saying Britain’s unpaid labor extracted from enslaved Caribbean people created a debt that Britain had not repaid.
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