Reparations for slavery#Abuja Proclamation and ARM (1993)

Reparations for slavery are reparations for victims of slavery. Reparations can take many forms, including financial compensation, legal remedy of damages, public apology and guarantees of non-repetition. Victims of slavery can refer to historical slavery or ongoing slavery in the 21st century. Some reparations for slavery date back to the 18th century.

United Nations resolution

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/147 refers to measures to repair violations of human rights including restitution and compensation.{{cite web | title=Reparations | website=OHCHR | date=15 December 2020 | url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/transitional-justice/reparations | access-date=31 May 2025}}

Types

Reparations can take numerous forms, including practical measures such as individual monetary payments; settlements; scholarships and other educational schemes; systemic initiatives to offset injustices; or land-based compensation related to independence. Other types of reparations include apologies and acknowledgements of the injustices;{{cite web |url=https://guides.library.umass.edu/reparations |title=An Historical Timeline of Reparations Payments Made From 1783 through 2020 by the United States Government, States, Cities, Religious Institutions, Colleges and Universities, and Corporations |first=Allen |last=Davis |publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=July 12, 2020 |date=May 11, 2020}} the removal of monuments and renaming of streets that honour enslavers and defenders of slavery; or naming a building after an enslaved person or someone connected with abolition.{{cite web |website=Black Asheville Demands (BAD)|title= Reparations Section |url=https://www.blackavldemands.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615185752/https://www.blackavldemands.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=15 June 2020 |access-date=July 12, 2020 |date=June 26, 2020}}{{cite web |title=Confederate monuments in downtown Asheville removed or covered|url=https://wlos.com/news/local/vance-monument-robert-e-lee-confederate-monuments-downtown-asheville-removed-covered |date=July 10, 2020 |access-date=July 12, 2020 |first1=Kristy |last1=Kepley-Steward |first2=Stephanie |last2=Santostasi |website=wlos.com}}

Development aid is generally not counted as reparations.

Some view financial reparations are insufficient, and demand as reparations for slavery opportunity to repatriate to country of origin before slavery and "bringing an end to the current political and economic system".{{cite journal | last=Andrews | first=Kehinde | title=The Knife is Still in Our Backs: Reparations Washing and the Limits of Reparatory Justice Campaigns | journal=Development and Change | publisher=Wiley | volume=55 | issue=4 | year=2024 | issn=0012-155X | doi=10.1111/dech.12848 | doi-access=free | pages=628–650}}

By region of perpetration

=Netherlands=

In December 2022, the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, apologised on behalf of the Dutch Government for its role in slavery at an event at the National Archives in The Hague, which included representatives of various advocacy organisations. It also pledged to give €200 million towards "raising awareness, fostering engagement and addressing the present-day effects of slavery", and is planning a commemoration of the history of slavery on 1 July 2023, along with Dutch Caribbean nations, Suriname, and other countries.{{cite web | title=Government apologises for the Netherlands' role in the history of slavery | website=Government of the Netherlands | date=19 December 2022 | url=https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2022/12/19/government-apologises-for-the-netherlands-role-in-the-history-of-slavery | access-date=12 May 2023}}{{cite web | title=Mission Statement | website=Heirs of Slavery | url=https://www.heirsofslavery.org/mission-statement | access-date=12 May 2023}}

= United Kingdom =

By the 2010s examples of international reparations for slavery consisted of recognition of the injustice of slavery and apologies for involvement but no material compensation.{{cite journal |url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/4543?lang=en |title=Reparations to Africa and the Group of Eminent Persons |date=2004 |first=Rhoda E. |last=Howard-Hassmann | author-link = Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann |journal=Cahiers d'Études africaines |volume=44 |issue=173–174 |pages=81–97 |doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.4543 |s2cid=145746084 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |quote=...a French law of 2001 that recognizes the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, and the admission by the Belgians in 2002 of their role in the murder of Patrice Lumumba, first President of independent Congo.|doi-access=free }}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6185176.stm |title=Blair 'sorrow' over slave trade {{!}} Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he feels 'deep sorrow' for Britain's role in the slave trade|publisher=BBC News|date=27 November 2006|access-date=15 March 2007}} In June 2023, the Brattle Group presented a report at an event at the University of the West Indies in which reparations were estimated, for harms both during and after the period of transatlantic chattel slavery at more than 100 trillion dollars.{{Cite news |last=Mahon |first=Leah |date=August 2023 |title=£18 trillion – what Britain owes in reparations. Time to pay up |pages=6–7|url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/features-news/2023/07/28/18-trillion-what-britain-owes-in-reparations-time-to-pay-up/ |newspaper=The Voice}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Kim |date=2023-07-10 |title=Brattle Consultants Quantify Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery in Pro Bono Paper |url=https://www.brattle.com/insights-events/publications/brattle-consultants-quantify-reparations-for-transatlantic-chattel-slavery-in-pro-bono-paper/ |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=Brattle |language=en-US}} In October 2023, the UK Reparations Conference was held and a joint declaration issued to the effect that full reparatory justice must be "pursued and achieved".{{cite web|url=https://www.appg-ar.org/uk-reparations-conference-2023-statement|title=UK Reparations Conference 2023 Statement|publisher=All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations|access-date=2024-05-22}}{{Cite news |last=Holloway |first=Lester |date=November 2023 |title=Reparations on the agenda |pages=8 |work=The Voice}}

==Slave owners' compensation (1837)==

The Slave Compensation Act 1837 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837, to bring about compensated emancipation.{{cite web | title=1837: 1 Victoria c.3: Slavery Compensation Act | via=The Statutes Project | date=1837| publisher= British Government | url=https://statutes.org.uk/site/the-statutes/nineteenth-century/1837-1-victoria-c-3-slavery-compensation-act/ | access-date=5 January 2023}} Enslavers were paid approximately £20 million in compensation in over 40,000 awards for enslaved people freed in the colonies of the Caribbean, Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope.{{cite book|title =BBC History magazine| publisher=Bristol Magazines Ltd| issn=1469-8552|date=June 2010}} This represented around 40 percent of the British Treasury's annual spending budget and has been calculated as equivalent to about £16.5bn in today's terms. Some of the payments were converted into 3.5% government annuities, which caused a drawn-out process.{{cite web | last=Brown | first=Matthew | title=Fact check: United Kingdom finished paying off debts to slave-owning families in 2015 | website=USA TODAY | date=30 June 2020 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-u-k-paid-off-debts-slave-owning-families-2015/3283908001/ | access-date=5 January 2023}}

==Abuja Proclamation and ARM (1993) ==

The Africa Reparations Movement, also known as ARM (UK), was formed in 1993 following the Abuja Proclamation declared at the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations in Abuja, Nigeria, in the same year. The conference was convened by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Nigerian government.{{cite web | title=African Union - Colonialism | website=Colonialism Reparation | url=https://www.colonialismreparation.org/en/compensations/african-union-colonialism.html | access-date=12 May 2023}}

In early 1993, British MP Bernie Grant toured the country speaking about the need for reparations for slavery.{{cite web| url=http://berniegrantarchive.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Reparations-or-Bust-Speech.pdf| first= Bernie| last=Grant| title= Reparations or Bust!| publisher= Africa Reparations Movement (UK) | series= Information Sheet No. 3| quote=...edited version of a speech he gave in Birmingham on 12th April...| pages=1–10}} On 10 May 1993 he tabled a motion in the House of Commons that, the House welcomes the proclamation and recognised that the proclamation "calls upon the international community to recognise that the unprecedented moral debt owed to African people has yet to be paid, and urges all those countries who were enriched by enslavement and colonisation to review the case for reparations to be paid to Africa and to Africans in the Diaspora; acknowledges the continuing painful economic and personal consequences of the exploitation of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora and the racism it has generated; and supports the OAU as it intensifies its efforts to pursue the cause of reparations". The motion was sponsored by Bernie Grant, Tony Benn, Tony Banks, John Austin-Walker, Harry Barnes, and Gerry Bermingham. An additional 46 Labour Party MPs signed to support the motion, including future leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.{{Cite web|date=10 May 1993|title=Abuja Proclamation – Early Day Motions|url=https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/5521/abuja-proclamation|access-date=2020-07-09|website=edm.parliament.uk|publisher=UK Parliament}}

The Abuja Proclamation called for national reparations committees to be set up throughout Africa and the diaspora. Bernie Grant formed ARM UK in December 1993{{cite web | title=Africa Reparations Movement (UK) | website=Archives Hub | url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/e592d7bc-9dd7-3c28-8a10-49f56aadecab | access-date=12 May 2023}} as the co-founder and chairperson, with a core group including: secretary Sam Walker; treasurer Linda Bellos and trustees Patrick Wilmott, Stephen A. Small (a British academic specialising in slavery{{cite web | title=Stephen A. Small | website=African American Studies | url=https://africam.berkeley.edu/people/stephen-a-small/ | access-date=12 May 2023}}{{cite web | title=Professor Stephen Small | website=National Museums Liverpool | date=25 August 2020 | url=https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/slavery-remembrance-day/professor-stephen-small | access-date=12 May 2023}}), and Hugh Oxley.

ARM aimed:{{Cite book|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/6a140a54-662a-44cf-b533-4e8146898d7b |title=African Reparations Movement records 1963 – 2000| quote= This record is held by the Bishopsgate Institute.|publisher=The National Archives|language=en}}

to use all lawful means to obtain reparations for the enslavement and colonisation of African people in Africa and in the African diaspora
to use all lawful means to secure the return of African artefacts from whichever place they are currently held
to seek an apology from western governments for the enslavement and colonisation of African people
to campaign for an acknowledgement of the contribution of African people to world history and civilisation
to campaign for an accurate portrayal of African history and thus restore dignity and self-respect to African people
to educate and inform African youth, on the continent and in the diaspora, about the great African cultures, languages and civilisations

Following the death of Bernie Grant in 2000, ARM UK became inactive.{{Cite book|last=Stanford-Xosei|first=Esther|title=Black British History : New Perspectives|publisher=Zed|editor-link= Hakim Adi|isbn=978-1786994257|editor-last=Adi|editor-first=Hakim| location=London |pages=176–198| chapter=The Long Road of Pan-African Liberation to Reparatory Justice|date=March 2019}}

==Class action (2004)==

In 2004, controversial reparations lawyer Ed Fagan launched a class action lawsuit against insurance market Lloyd's of London for their role in insuring slave ships involved in the transatlantic slave trade.{{Cite journal|year=2004|title=Slave descendants file $1 billion lawsuit against companies with alleged ties to slave trade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CL4DAAAAMBAJ&q=lloyds+of+london+genocide&pg=PA36|journal=Jet|volume=150|issue=17|pages=36–37}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2004/mar/28/insurance.usnews|title=Slave descendants sue Lloyd's for billions|last=Walsh|first=Conal|date=27 March 2004|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-03-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/3578863.stm Slave descendants to sue Lloyd's]". BBC News, 29 March 2004. Retrieved on 15 October 2009. The case was unsuccessful.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6422721.stm|title= Counting the cost of the slave trade|last=Stamp|first=Gavin|date=20 March 2007|website=BBC News news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2017-03-14}}

==Apologies==

On 27 November 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a statement expressing "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade, saying it had been "profoundly shameful". The statement was criticised by reparations activists in Britain, with Esther Stanford stating that Blair should have issued "an apology of substance", which would then be followed by "various reparative measures including financial compensation". Blair issued another apology in 2007 after meeting with Ghanaian President John Kufuor.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6451793.stm "Blair 'sorry' for UK slavery role"]. BBC News, 14 March 2007. Accessed 15 March 2007.

On 24 August 2007, then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone publicly apologised for London's role in the transatlantic slave trade during a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the passing of the 1807 Slave Trade Act. In the speech, Livingston called on the British Government to pass legislation to create a UK-wide Annual Slavery Memorial Day, which would commemorate slavery.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/aug/24/london.humanrights|title=Livingstone weeps as he apologises for slavery|date=24 August 2007|newspaper=The Guardian|last1=Muir|first1=Hugh|access-date=30 July 2014}}

==Heirs of Slavery==

In February 2023, former BBC journalist Laura Trevelyan, whose family had owned plantations in Grenada, travelled to Grenada to make an apology for harm caused and to give reparations. Her family has also apologised to the island nation for harm caused by slavery, and the group has called on the British Prime Minister and King Charles to make a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom.{{cite web | last=Baker | first=Nick | title=These British 'heirs of slavery' are trying to make amends for past wrongs | website=ABC News (Australia)| date=11 May 2023 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-11/british-heirs-of-slavery-reparations-caribbean/102308216 | access-date=11 May 2023}}

In April 2023, she co-founded Heirs of Slavery, a group of descendants of people who had profited from British transatlantic slavery and want to make amends. Trevelyan's family has donated money towards education schemes in Grenada via CARICOM, and hopes that Heirs of Slavery will bring similar actions on a greater scale. {{As of|May 2023}}, the other members of the group are David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood; Charles Gladstone, who is descended from prime minister William Gladstone; journalist Alex Renton; Richard Atkinson; John Dower (of the Trevelyan family); Rosemary Harrison; and Robin Wedderburn.{{cite web | title=About Us | website=Heirs of Slavery | date=26 April 2023 | url=https://www.heirsofslavery.org/members | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503095309/https://www.heirsofslavery.org/members | archive-date=3 May 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=12 May 2023}}

= United States =

Slavery ended in the United States in 1865 with the end of the American Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction".{{Cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992|title=United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)| website=Constitute Project}} At that time, an estimated four million African Americans were set free.{{Cite journal|last=King|first=Wilma|year=2004|title=Slavery, United States|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&id=GALE%7CCX3402800373&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&authCount=1|journal=Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society|volume=3|pages=757–758}}

There are instances of reparations for slavery, relating to the Atlantic slave trade, dating back to at least 1783 in North America, with a growing list of modern-day examples of reparations for slavery in the United States in 2020 as the call for reparations in the US has been bolstered by protests around police brutality and other cases of systemic racism in the US.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/20/joe-biden-reparations-slavery-george-floyd-protests |first=Lauren |last=Gambino|title=Calls for reparations are growing louder. How is the US responding? |newspaper=The Guardian |quote="Several states, localities and private institutions are beginning to grapple with issue, advancing legislation or convening taskforces to develop proposals for reparations." |date=June 20, 2020 |access-date=July 20, 2020}} The call for reparations for racism has also been made alongside calls for reparations for slavery.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/reparations-for-slavery-arent-enough-official-racism-lasted-much-longer/2019/06/21/2c0ecbe8-9397-11e9-aadb-74e6b2b46f6a_story.html |title=Reparations for slavery aren't enough. Official racism lasted much longer. |first=Cheryll |last=Cashin |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 21, 2019 }}

U.S. reparations movement leaders [https://liberationventures.b-cdn.net/A%20Dream%20in%20Our%20Name.pdf have developed] the following racial repair framework for categorizing the components of reparations for slavery:

1. Reckoning: Understanding or grappling with the what, who, how, and why of actions that have contributed to harm.

2. Acknowledgment: Public admission that harm has been done

3. Accountability: Ownership and commitment to take action, cease and repair harm.

4. Redress: Acts of restitution, financial compensation, and rehabilitation, proactive steps taken to embed racial justice into systems and “heal the wound”

== Support for reparations ==

Within the political sphere, a bill demanding slavery reparations has been proposed at the national level, the "Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act", which former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) reintroduced to the United States Congress every year from 1989 until his resignation in 2017.Conyers, John (3 October 2013). [http://ibw21.org/commentary/my-reparations-bill-hr-40/ "My Reparations Bill – HR 40"], IBW21 (Institute of the Black World). As its name suggests, the bill recommended the creation of a commission to study the "impact of slavery on the social, political and economic life of our nation";{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/40/all-info|title=All Bill Information for H.R.40 – Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act|last=114th Congress|date=2016|website=Congress.Gov}} however, there are cities and institutions that have initiated reparations in the US (see {{section link|Reparations for slavery debate in the United States|Legislation and other actions|nopage=y}} for a list).

In 1999, African-American lawyer and activist Randall Robinson, founder of the TransAfrica advocacy organization, wrote that America's history of race riots, lynching, and institutional discrimination have "resulted in $1.4 trillion in losses for African Americans".{{Cite journal|last=Robinson|first=Randall|year=1999|title=He Drove the First U.S Stake in South African Apartheid|journal=Journal of Blacks in Higher Education|volume=24|pages=58}} Economist Robert Browne stated that, the ultimate goal of reparations should be to "restore the black community to the economic position it would have if it had not been subjected to slavery and discrimination".{{Cite journal|date=2000-01-01|title=Six White Congressmen Endorse Reparations for Slavery|jstor=2678973|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education|issue=27|pages=20–21|doi=10.2307/2678973}} He estimates a fair reparation value anywhere between $1.4 to $4.7 trillion, or roughly $142,000 ({{inflation|US|142000|2015|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) for every black American living today. Other estimates range from $5.7 to $14.2{{cite journal |last1=Craemer |first1=Thomas |title=Estimating Slavery Reparations: Present Value Comparisons of Historical Multigenerational Reparations Policies |journal=Social Science Quarterly |date=21 April 2015 |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=639–655 |doi=10.1111/ssqu.12151 }} and $17.1 trillion.{{cite web |last1=Myers |first1=Kristin |title=Slavery reparations could carry a $17 trillion price tag |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/40-acres-and-a-mule-reparations-in-2019-190018747.html |website=Yahoo |publisher=Yahoo Finance|date=27 June 2019 |access-date=June 28, 2019}}

In 2014, American journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates published an article titled "The Case for Reparations", which discussed the continued effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws and made renewed demands for reparations. Coates refers to Rep. John Conyers Jr.'s H.R.40 Bill, pointing out that Congress's failure to pass this bill expresses a lack of willingness to right their past wrongs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/|title=The Case for Reparations|last=Coates|first=Ta-Nehisi|date=June 2014|work=The Atlantic}}

In September 2016, the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent encouraged Congress to pass H.R.40 to study reparations proposals. Still, the Working Group did not directly endorse any specific reparations proposal. The report noted that there exists a legacy of racial inequality in the United States, and explained that "Despite substantial changes since the end of the enforcement of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, ideology ensuring the domination of one group over another, continues to negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of African Americans today." The report notes that, a "dangerous ideology of systemic racism inhibits social cohesion among the US population".{{Cite web|url=https://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/ushrnetwork.org/files/unwgepad_us_visit_final_report_9_15_16.pdf|title=Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to the United States of America|date=August 18, 2016|website=US Human Rights Network|access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=17 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117075452/http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/ushrnetwork.org/files/unwgepad_us_visit_final_report_9_15_16.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The topic of reparations gained renewed attention in 2020{{cite web |url=https://news.trust.org/item/20200624170052-dt00z/ |title=Calls for reparations gain steam as U.S. reckons with racial injustice |first1=Nellie |last1=Peyton |first2=Christine |last2=Murray |date=June 24, 2020}} as the Black Lives Matter movement named reparations as one of their policy goals in the United States.

In 2020, rapper T.I. supported reparations that would give every African American {{US$|1}}{{nbsp}}million and asserted that slavery caused mass incarcerations, poverty, and other ills.{{Cite web|url=https://pulptastic.com/rapper-t-i-demands-44-trillion-in-slavery-reparations/|title=Rapper T.I. Demands $44 Trillion in Slavery Reparations|date=July 24, 2020|website=Pulptastic}}

= Caribbean =

From the perspective of international law, it is questionable whether slavery, genocide, and other crimes against humanity had been outlawed at the time they were committed in the Caribbean; for example, "Although the factual appearance of genocide can be traced back at least to ancient times, its prohibition by international law appears to be a phenomenon of the early 20th century". Additionally, according to internationally established customs, a successor government is responsible for providing reparative justice.

Under the international principle of intertemporal law, today's prohibitions cannot be applied retroactively. There is a legal argument suggesting that, exceptions to intertemporal law apply in cases of crimes against humanity, as European states and their representatives could not expect slavery to be legal in the future (referred to as teleological reduction of the principle). However, it is a complex area of law.{{Cite journal| last=Buser |first=Andreas |date=2017|title=Colonial Injustices and the Law of State Responsibility: The CARICOM Claim to Compensate Slavery and (Native) Genocide|journal=Heidelberg Journal of International Law|pages=91–115| url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3050647 |ssrn=3050647}}

==CARICOM Reparations Commission ==

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), established in 1973, is an intergovernmental organisation that is a political and economic union of 15 member states throughout the Caribbean.{{cite news|last=Ramjeet|first=Oscar|date=2009-04-16|title=CARICOM countries will speak with one voice in meetings with US and Canadian leaders|work=Caribbean Net News|url=https://idsa.in/idsacomments/wither-caricom-prospects-post-brexit_sbmagaraj_110716|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713154312/http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/wither-caricom-prospects-post-brexit_sbmagaraj_110716|archive-date=July 13, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=2009-04-16}} Until 1995, it comprised only the English-speaking parts of the Caribbean, until the addition of Suriname (Dutch) in 1995; Haiti and other non-Anglophone nations have since joined.{{cite web|url=http://www.landofsixpeoples.com/news304/nc310133.htm|title=Spanish agreed as CARICOM second language|website=www.landofsixpeoples.com|access-date=2020-08-04|archive-date=2021-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818060949/http://www.landofsixpeoples.com/news304/nc310133.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://caricom.org/our-community/who-we-are/|title=Who we are|publisher=Caribbean Community (CARICOM)|access-date=2020-08-04|archive-date=2020-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814200923/https://caricom.org/our-community/who-we-are/|url-status=live}}

In 2013, in the first of a series of lectures in Georgetown, Guyana, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice Slave Revolt, Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Sir Hilary Beckles urged the CARICOM countries to emulate the position adopted by the Jews who were persecuted during the Second World War and have since organized a Jewish reparations fund.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/UWI-principal-wants-CARICOM-to-seek-reparation-for-slavery|title=UWI principal wants CARICOM to seek reparation for slavery |website= Jamaica Observer|date=February 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215061238/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/UWI-principal-wants-CARICOM-to-seek-reparation-for-slavery|archive-date=2013-02-15}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycaribnews.com/|title=The New York Carib News|website=New York Carib News -}} Following Beckles' advice, the CARICOM Reparations Commission{{cite web | title=Homepage | website=Caribbean Reparations Commission | date=10 August 2016 | url=http://caricomreparations.org/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731105907/http://caricomreparations.org/ | archive-date=31 July 2019 | url-status=dead | access-date=4 January 2023}} was created in September 2013. In 2014, 15 Caribbean nations unveiled the "CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice", which spelled out demands for reparations from Europe ...for the enduring suffering inflicted by the Atlantic slave trade".{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/09/caribbean-nations-demand-slavery-reparations|title=Caribbean nations prepare demand for slavery reparations|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|date=March 9, 2014|work=The Guardian}} Among these demands were formal apologies from all nations involved (as opposed to "statements of regret"), repatriation of displaced Africans to their homeland, programs to help Africans learn about and share their histories, and institutions to improve slavery descendants' literacy, physical health, and psychological health.{{Cite web|url=http://www.caricom.org/reparations-for-native-genocide-and-slavery|title=Reparations for Native Genocide And Slavery|date=October 13, 2015|website=CARICOM}} Representatives of Caribbean states have repeatedly announced their intention to bring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, {{as of|January 2023|lc=y}} no action has been taken to bring the Barbadian Government's case to international arbitration.{{cite web | last=Armitage | first=Rebecca | title=Benedict Cumberbatch's ancestors got rich from slavery in Barbados. Now he could be on the hook for reparations|website=ABC News | publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=4 January 2023 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-04/benedict-cumberbatch-slavery-reparations/101822368 | access-date=4 January 2023}}

==Antigua and Barbuda==

In 2011, Antigua and Barbuda called for reparations at the United Nations, saying "that segregation and violence against people of African descent had impaired their capacity for advancement as nations, communities and individuals".{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39770&Cr=slave&Cr1=#.UThm9zDcTmM|title= Reparations should be made for African slave trade, Antigua and Barbuda tells UN|first=United Nations News Service|last=Section|date=24 September 2011}} More recently, in 2016, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, called on Harvard University "to demonstrate its remorse and its debt to unnamed slaves from Antigua and Barbuda". According to Sanders, Isaac Royall Jr., who was the first endowed professor of law at Harvard, relied on the slaves on his plantation in Antigua when establishing Harvard Law School. Sanders recommended these reparations come in the form of annual scholarships for Antiguans and Barbudans.{{Cite news|url=http://news.co.cr/antigua-and-barbuda-asks-harvard-university-for-slavery-reparations/52349/|title=Antigua and Barbuda Asks Harvard University for Slavery Reparations|last=Anders|first=Wendy|date=October 24, 2016|work=The Costa Rica Star}}

==Barbados==

In 2012, the Barbadian government established a twelve-member Reparations Task Force to sustain the local, regional, and international momentum for reparations.{{Cite web|url=https://atlantablackstar.com/2012/11/06/barbados-takes-lead-in-fight-for-reparations-for-slavery-in-the-caribbean/|title=Barbados Takes Lead in Fight For Reparations in the Caribbean|date=November 7, 2012|website=Atlanta Black Star|author=Stan}}{{Cite web|url=http://sharenews.com/caricom-and-reparations-for-slavery/|first=Patrick |last=Hunter|title=CARICOM and reparations for slavery|website=Share|date=20 February 2013|access-date=7 March 2013|archive-date=27 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227195153/http://sharenews.com/caricom-and-reparations-for-slavery/|url-status=dead}} Barbados was then leading the way in "calling for reparations from former colonial powers for the injustices suffered by slaves and their families".{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-s-colonial-shame-slave-owners-given-huge-payouts-after-abolition-8508358.html|title=Britain's colonial shame: Slave-owners given huge payouts after|first=Sanchez |last=Manning|date=February 26, 2013|newspaper=The Independent}}

Barbados was said to be "leading the way" ({{as of|2021|lc=yes}}) in calling for the payment of reparations for slavery.{{cite web | title=Britain's colonial shame: Slave-owners given huge payouts after abolition | website=National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) | date=7 October 2021 | url=https://reparationscomm.org/reparations-news/britains-colonial-shame-slave-owners-given-huge-payouts-after-abolition/ | access-date=6 January 2023}}

{{as of|January 2023}}, the Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, part of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, is seeking reparations from wealthy British MP Richard Drax for his ancestors' involvement in slavery. The Drax family still owns a large estate in Barbados; Richard Drax is said to be worth "at least £150m".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/26/barbados-tory-mp-pay-reparations-family-slave-richard-drax-caribbean-sugar-plantation|title=Barbados plans to make Tory MP pay reparations for family's slave past| first1=Paul|last1=Lashmar|first2= Jonathan |last2=Smith | access-date=4 January 2023|website=The Guardian|date=26 November 2022}} If the Commission's request to return Drax Hall to Barbados is refused, the government intends to take the matter to international arbitration.

==Guyana==

In 2007, Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo formally called on European nations to pay reparations for the slave trade.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2007/03/070327_jagdeoreparations.shtml|title= Guyana calls for reparations|publisher=BBCCaribbean.com|date=27 March 2007}} President Jagdeo stated: "Although some members of the international community have recognized their active role in this despicable system, they need to go step further and support reparations." In 2014, the Parliament of Guyana established a "Reparations Committee of Guyana" to further investigate the impact of slavery and create formal demands for reparations.{{Cite web|url=http://parliament.gov.gy/chamber-business/notice-papers/establishment-of-the-reparations-committee-of-guyana/|title=Establishment of the Reparations Committee of Guyana|website=Parliament of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana}}

==Haiti==

Having attained its independence from France in 1804 through a brutal and costly war, the case for reparations to Haiti was tenable. Shortly after that, France would demand that the newly founded Haiti pay the French government and enslavers 90 million francs for the "theft" of the enslaved people's own lives (compensated emancipation) and the land that they had turned into profitable sugar and coffee-producing plantations to recognize the fledgling nation's independence formally.{{cite web |url=http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=9636 |via=Odious Debts |title= Impoverished Haiti pins hopes for future on a very old debt|first=José |last=De Côrdoba|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=January 2, 2004 |access-date=2011-03-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112093243/http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=9636 |archive-date=2010-11-12 }} French banks and Citibank financed this debt and finally paid off in 1947.{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0817/France-dismisses-petition-for-it-to-pay-17-billion-in-Haiti-reparations|title=France dismisses petition for it to pay $17 billion in Haiti reparations|date=2010-08-17|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=2019-08-31|issn=0882-7729|first=Robert|last=Marquand}}

In 2003, then-President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide demanded that France compensate Haiti for more than US$21 billion, the modern equivalent of the 90 million gold francs Haiti was forced to pay to gain international recognition.{{cite news |first=Dionne |last=Jackson Miller |title=HAITI: Aristide's Call for Reparations From France Unlikely to Die |date=March 12, 2004 |access-date=20 April 2009 |publisher=Inter Press Service news |url=http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=22828 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202065348/http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=22828 |archive-date=2 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title= Haiti, 1789 to 1806|first=Frank E. |last=Smitha|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h34-np2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212182348/http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h34-np2.html|archive-date=2009-02-12|url-status=live|access-date=2009-04-20}} Aristide later accused France and the United States of overthrowing him in a successful coup d'état: he claimed that they did this in retaliation for his demands.

==Jamaica==

In 2004, a coalition of Jamaican activists, including Rastafari members, demanded that European nations that had participated in the slave trade should fund the resettlement of 500,000 Rastafari in Ethiopia (which they estimated to be 72.5 billion pound sterling, or roughly, $150,000 per person). The British government rejected the demand.

In 2012, the Jamaican Government revived its reparations commission to consider whether the country should seek an apology or reparations from Britain for its role in the slave trade.{{cite news |title=Jamaicans Form Commission to Investigate Slavery Reparations from Britain |date=1 November 2012 |agency=Associated Press |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jamaica-revives-slavery-reparations-commission |access-date=23 December 2012 |archive-date=26 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026141900/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jamaica-revives-slavery-reparations-commission |url-status=dead }} The opposition cited Britain's role in abolishing the slave trade as a reason that Britain should issue no reparations. In 2021, the Jamaican government again revisited the idea of reparations for slavery. It was reported that the Jamaican government was seeking some 7 billion pounds sterling in reparations for the damages of slavery, including the 20,000,000 paid out to former enslavers by the British government.{{Cite web|last=McLeod|first=Sheri-Kae|date=2021-07-15|title=Jamaica Demands Billions in Slavery Reparations from UK|url=https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/caribbean-breaking-news-featured/jamaica-demands-billions-in-slavery-reparations-from-uk/|access-date=2021-07-15|website=Caribbean News|language=en}}

=Muslim world=

Reparations for historical slavery in the Muslim world were proposed.{{cite book | title=Slavery and Islam | last=Brown | first=J.A.C. | isbn=9781786076366| year=2020| publisher=Oneworld Publications}}

By region of origin of slaves

= Africa =

In 1999, the African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission called for the West to pay $777 trillion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=777000000000000|start_year=1999}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to Africa within five years.{{cite news |publisher=BBC |title=Africa Trillions demanded in slavery reparations |date=August 20, 1999 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/424984.stm}}

In September 2001, the United Nations sponsored the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa. The Durban Review Conference sponsored a resolution stating that the West owed reparations to Africa due to the "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance" that the Atlantic slave trade caused.{{Cite journal|last=Howard-Hassmann|first=Rhoda E.|date=2004-01-01|title=Reparations to Africa and the Group of Eminent Persons (Les réparations pour l'Afrique et le Groupe de personnalités éminentes)|jstor=4393370|journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines|volume=44|issue=173/174|pages=81–97|doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.4543|doi-access=free}}{{cite press release |url=https://www.un.org/WCAR/pressreleases/rd-d24.html |title=Acknowledgement of Past, Compensation Urged by Many Leaders in Continuing Debate at Racism Conference |publisher=World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance |date=September 2, 2001 |access-date=November 15, 2017}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.un.org/WCAR/pressreleases/rd-d35.htm|title=Action Against Wide Range of Discriminatory Practices Urged at Racism Conference|publisher=United Nations|access-date=November 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807020652/http://www.un.org/WCAR/pressreleases/rd-d35.htm|archive-date=August 7, 2018|url-status=dead}} Leaders of several African nations supported this resolution. The former Minister of Justice of Sudan, Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, stated that the slave trade is responsible for Africa's current problems.

President Cyril Ramaphosa supports reparations for slavery and the slave trade, marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban declaration.[https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-09-22-un-must-prioritise-repatriation-of-victims-of-slave-trade-says-ramaphosa/][https://dirco.gov.za/president-cyril-ramaphosa-arrives-in-addis-ababa-ethiopia-leading-the-south-african-delegation-to-the-african-union-summit/][https://www.news24.com/ramaphosa-asks-un-to-discuss-reparations-for-slavery-20210922][https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-africa-caribbean-united-states-middle-east-7954470f191f811d6bcc65542faa6f32][https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-22/south-africa-calls-for-reparations-for-victims-of-slave-trade]

==African Union and Caricom Global Reparation Fund==

A Global Reparation Fund was established by the African Union and Caricom at a conference in Ghana in November 2023.{{cite news|last=Gentleman|first=Amelia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/african-and-caribbean-nations-agree-move-to-seek-reparations-for-slavery|title=African and Caribbean nations agree move to seek reparations for slavery|date=17 November 2023|access-date=17 November 2023|work=The Guardian}} The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, said at the conference that "The entire period of slavery meant that our progress, economically, culturally, and psychologically, was stifled. There are legions of stories of families who were torn apart ... You cannot quantify the effects of such tragedies, but they need to be recognised".

Criticism

Opposition to slavery reparations is reflected in the general population. In a study conducted by YouGov in 2014, only 37% of Americans believed that enslaved people should have been provided compensation in the form of cash after being freed. Furthermore, only 15% believed that descendants of enslaved people should receive cash payments. The findings indicated a clear divide between black and white Americans. The study summarized its findings: "Only 6% of white Americans support cash payments to the descendants of slaves, compared to 59% of black Americans. Similarly, only 19% of whites – and 63% of blacks – support special education and job training programs for the descendants of slaves."{{Cite web|url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2014/06/02/reparations|title=Overwhelming opposition to reparations for slavery and Jim Crow {{!}} YouGov|website=today.yougov.com|language=en-us|first=Peter |last=Moore|date=2 June 2014|access-date=2020-02-13}}

In 2014, in response to Ta-Nehisi Coates's article "The Case for Reparations", conservative journalist Kevin D. Williamson published an article titled "The Case Against Reparations". In it, Williamson argues: "The people to whom reparations are owed are long dead."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/05/case-against-reparations-kevin-d-williamson/|title=The Case Against Reparations|last=Williamson|first=Kevin D.|date=May 24, 2014|work=National Review}}

References

External links

[https://policy.m4bl.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Reparations-Now-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf Reparations Now Toolkit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015100013/https://policy.m4bl.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Reparations-Now-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf |date=15 October 2019 }}, Movement for Black Lives, 2019.
[http://www.c-span.org/person/?richardamerica The Case for Black Reparations], Richard F. America, C-SPAN video of the TransAfrica Forum, 11 January 2000.
[https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/racism/010827.reparations.html Making Amends: Debate Continues Over Reparations for U.S. Slavery], National Public Radio, August 27, 2001.
[http://www.zinnedproject.org/news/reparations-and-climate-justice/ Reparations and Climate Justice] (w/ Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò), part of the Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online series.
[https://caricomreparations.org/ Caribbean Reparations Commission]