You Want Slavery Reparations? You’d Better Bring an Army
Summary
The article examines how governments have been made to pay reparations, arguing that past payments generally followed coercion or military defeat rather than moral agreement. It contrasts current calls for reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade with examples involving Iraq, Haiti, France and Germany.Key Facts
- King Charles III said the trans-Atlantic slave trade filled him with horror and expressed personal sorrow during a visit to Antigua, but did not apologize or offer reparations.
- British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was open to a formal state apology but opposed financial reparations.
- CARICOM chair Philip J. Pierre said an apology without repair was incomplete.
- After the 1991 Gulf War, a U.N. commission awarded $52.4 billion to about 1.5 million claimants for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait; the payments came from Iraqi oil export revenue and ended in 2022.
- In 1825, France demanded 150 million francs from Haiti as a condition for recognizing its independence, with the demand backed by warships.
- The article cites France’s payments after Waterloo and the Franco-Prussian War, as well as postwar payments by Germany and Japan, as examples of reparations imposed after defeat.
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