Enough discussion, time to do action, A CARICOM official discusses reparations for slavery

A Caribbean Community official stated on the second day of a United Nations session that the movement for slavery reparations is at a turning point and that more has to be done to make former colonial powers accountable for past wrongs.

At the fourth session of the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent in New York on Tuesday, Hilary Brown, a spokesperson of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, stated, “Enough talk, time for concrete results.”

Though they have been around for a while, calls for reparations have been gaining traction globally, especially among the African Union and CARICOM. It has also been the target of increasing backlash.

In its reparations plan, CARICOM seeks for investments and technology transfers to address illiteracy and health concerns, among other things. The AU is creating a plan of its own.

According to Brown, the alliance between CARICOM and the AU in the campaign for reparations has placed the movement at a “defining moment” since it allows them to demand action with a single voice.

Together, they may co-sponsor a combined UN resolution on reparations, push for a high-level political discussion on the topic, and further the reparations agenda at the UN and other intergovernmental agencies, according to Brown.

“CARICOM is ready to take this agenda to the next level, and we welcome the partnership of the AU and other coalitions that share the vision and conviction necessary to ensure that Europe is held to account,” added Brown.

Many European leaders have been against compensation in any form.

From the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted, taken by force by European ships, and sold into slavery.

Reparations opponents contend, among other things, that modern governments and organizations shouldn’t be held accountable for their historical mistakes.

However, proponents assert that steps must be taken to address the legacy, including structural and systemic racism, and that modern states continue to profit from the riches amassed during centuries of exploitation.