London - British financial institutions
that benefited from slavery such as Lloyd's of London should go
further than saying sorry for their role in the Atlantic slave
trade and atone for their sins by funding Caribbean development,
the region's countries said.
More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the
Atlantic slave trade by European nations between the 15th and
19th centuries. Those who survived the often brutal voyage,
ended up toiling on plantations in the Americas.
While the history of Europe's scramble for African slaves
has been widely known for centuries, the death of George Floyd
in the United States has prompted a sweeping global reassessment
of racism and the financing of the slave trade.
The Lloyd's of London insurance market apologised on
Thursday for its "shameful" role in the 18th Century Atlantic
slave trade and pledged to fund opportunities for black and
ethnic minority people.
But a regional alliance of Caribbean countries said that
Britain's institutions should go much further than simply
apologising and give some of the wealth back to the Caribbean by
funding development at the epicentre of the slave trade.
"It is not enough to say sorry," said Hilary Beckles,
chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission which was set up
by Caribbean countries to seek reparations from former colonial
powers such as the United Kingdom, France and Portugal.
"We are not asking for anything as mendicant as handing out
cheques to people on street corners," Beckles told Reuters from
Jamaica. "The issue of money is secondary, but in this instance
the moral discharge of one's duty does require in a market
economy that you contribute towards development."
There was no immediate reply from Lloyd's of London to a
request for comment.
NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT
Beckles, a Barbadian historian, said the antecedents of many
British and European banks, as well as an array of accompanying
institutions in the City of London, "drank from the well of
Caribbean slavery".
The Bank of England apologised for what it called the
"inexcusable connections" of some past governors and directors
to slavery, and said it would remove any portraits of them from
display anywhere on its premises.
The history of several other British financial firms,
including Barclays, is also under fresh scrutiny.
"Unfortunately, one cannot go back and remake the history
but you can make atonement: it is not enough to make your
apology as a public spectacle, it is not enough to present it as
public relations exercise," said Beckles.
"It is not about public relations - it is about a negotiated
settlement whereby everyone finds closure within a moral
framework," he said. "To say sorry and issue a press release is
disrespectful - it does not fly with the people who were
victimized."
British institutions, he said, should sit down with
Caribbean nations to fund development projects - or even
consider a sort of "Marshall Plan" to give some of the plundered
wealth back - a reference to the US aid given to Europe after
the destruction of World War Two.
"The British legacy of slavery and colonalisation has left
the black community in quite a mess," Beckles said, adding that
he was not calling for litigation of any kind.
"All the institutions that created this mess really have to
come and help in practical ways to clean it up."
On Britain's broader reassessment of its past, Beckles said
public consciousness was catching up with history.
"Public consciousness is catching up with history: that
moment has come. British public morality has caught up with its
own institutional history of slavery."