Caribbean nations are again making a major push for reparations from European nations that enslaved millions of Africans in the region for more than four centuries.
Fifteen countries of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) is hoping to negotiate with Britain, Spain, France, and Denmark as they seek a formal apology for the trans-Atlantic slave trade and $33 trillion dollars to go along with it.
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According to The Times, an American consulting firm helped CARICOM calculate some of what is owed by each of the former colonizing nations. Ultimately, they determined the UK should pay at least $19.6 trillion, France $6.5 trillion, and Spain $6.3 trillion.
Verene Shepherd, a Jamaican professor of history and vice-chairwoman of the reparations commission for CARICOM, said it is impossible to quantify what the European nations owe but added that the figures are starting points for negotiations.
“The crime is huge. The responsibility for what happened is huge,” she said.
And while many continue to call for the Caribbean to abandon the reparations argument, these nations continue to highlight that the British government compensated slave owners after slavery was abolished and only finished paying those debts in 2015.
Many scholars have concluded that Caribbean nations have been permanently crippled by slavery, which left a lasting economic legacy. Thus, the Caribbean countries say the money being requested will be used to fund health and education and help with the huge debts they currently carry.
CARICOM has developed a 10-point plan for reparatory justice encompassing formal apologies, cultural preservation, investments in public health and education, repatriation programs, debt cancellation, and more.
