In recent years, the call for reparations for slavery has become a resounding global movement, gathering momentum at the Accra Reparation Conference 2023 in Ghana held on 15 November, where the African Union and Caribbean Community countries joined forces. This movement, driven by a quest for acknowledgment and redress, urges European nations to confront their roles in the transatlantic slave trade.
The transatlantic slave trade, initiated by European merchants in the 16th century, saw the widespread enslavement of approximately 12 million Africans transported to the Americas and European nations. Key players in this dark chapter of history included Portugal, Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Denmark. While Denmark took steps to ban the trade in 1792, others, including Britain and the United States, followed suit in the early 19th century.
The reparations call gained prominence with the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission (CRC) presenting a comprehensive 10-point plan in 2013. This plan seeks justice for historical injustices inflicted by European governments, encompassing elements such as formal apologies, repatriation, development programs, support for cultural institutions, and debt cancellation.
However, in 2009, the reparations movement took a turn when the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria openly requested African chieftains to apologize for their roles in the Atlantic slave trade. Not only were European traders, industrial officials, mine owners, banks, and emperors responsible for the transatlantic slave trade, but African leaders (chiefs) were also involved in that historical crime. Surprisingly, the reparation movement activists have not fully acknowledged the dark role of African leaders in those 400 years of exploitation history.
Former President Barack Obama opposed reparations for slavery in 2008. In 2015, British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected the reparations arguments, and the current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continues in the same tone. It is evident that political parties holding power in the West are resistant to the reparations call.
In a podcast in 2021, Barack Obama revealed that 'white resistance' stopped him from pushing for reparations during his presidency, indicating that taxpayers may not fully support the reparations call either. The debate revolves around how global powers should compensate to the nations whose labor fueled the economic rise of Western countries. Reparation activists argue that the essence of the movement lies in repairing the harm caused by centuries of exploitation.
Today's developed Europe, built on over 400 years of exploitation history, acknowledges human rights violations during those centuries but has yet to publish a thorough report on the issue. In the latter part of the twentieth century, European countries approached CARICOM and African Union countries with various development aids and agendas, resulting in the ongoing debt of The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and African Union countries exceeding 55% of their GDP to these external nations. The reparations movement aims not only to address historical wrongs but also to challenge the existing world system order.
The prime focus of the reparation movement is the acknowledgment of the wealth amassed through exploitation. This global movement represents a significant step towards addressing historical wrongs and dismantling entrenched inequalities rooted in centuries of exploitation. As nations grapple with the moral imperative of reparations, the debate transcends monetary compensation to encompass broader issues of development, education, and systemic change. The world watches as the reparations movement unfolds, questioning whether it can indeed break the chains of the existing world system and pave the way for a more just and equitable future.
Despite the challenges, there is hope. In August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the need for global action to address the long-standing injustice of slavery. He emphasized that it is a critical issue – no country has fully addressed the 400-year-long historical enslavement of people of African descent.
The pivotal question remains: Can this reparations movement break the high politics of the loan and development agenda, which results in small countries becoming peripheral to core developed countries? As the world grapples with this question, the reparations movement stands as a beacon of hope for a future built on justice, acknowledgment, and genuine equity.
Thain Shewe Kyaw is an Executive Policy Associate
