Recently, Jamaica and Namibia made demands for reparations
from their former European colonial
oppressors, a reminder that the struggle for
reparations for slavery and genocide against
Black people is not just an American issue,
but a global matter.
In an historic move, the Caribbean
nation of Jamaica petitioned Britain to demand
£7.6 billion ($10.5 billion) in compensation for the 600,000 Africans that
were shipped there and forced to work on the
plantations and pick sugarcane, bananas and
other crops. Britain colonized Jamaica from
1655 until 1962, when the island became
independent. The notion of the UK paying
reparations for slavery only makes sense,
considering that when the British abolished
slavery in 1834, the government took out a £20
million loan to pay reparations-- to the slave
ownersfor their loss of property. The amount Jamaica seeks is
equivalent to the present value of the
reparations paid to slave owners.
“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, Jamaican Minister of Sports,
Youth and Culture, told Reuters.
Britain only finished paying the interest off on that loan
in 2015. And they tell us slavery was a long
time ago, and Black people should get over it.
Meanwhile, slave masters were paid off, their
descendants have benefited from inherited
wealth built on the backs of African people,
and empires thrived and companies profited
while Black people suffered.
Meanwhile, Germany has offered Namibia
€1.1 billion or$1.3
billion in reparations for the
colonial-era genocide and land seizure of
100,000 Herero and Nama people who resisted
German rule between 1904 and 1908, when the
European power controlled what was then called
German South-West Africa. Namibian Vice
President Nangolo Mbumba said the amount Germany
has offered in reparations for genocide is
insufficient. “I don't think that any Namibian
would think that the money is enough to
compensate for all that happened – to be
killed, to be chased out of your country; no
amount of money can do that,” he said.
This news is a reminder that the issue
of reparations—for the enslavement, torture
and mass murder of Black people--is not merely
an issue of importance to Black Americans, but
a transatlantic and African diasporic issue.
It only makes sense that those who have faced
bondage, slaughter and unspeakable violations
should make reparations a global concern. In
light of the protests following the police
murder of George Floyd, the UN
Human Rights Council has called for reparations for
people of African descent, including financial
compensation, and other “guarantees” to
prevent injustices in the future.
We must link the issue of reparations in the U.S. and
everywhere else, because there is strength in
numbers. Although now is the time for
America to make amends, America is not alone.
And while the U.S. descendants of the enslaved
should and must seek reparations, they are not
alone.
