Frankly, I think it’s foolhardy, to appeal to immoral people on moral grounds, as in doing so we are asking them to open up to embrace their moral turpitude, which created the wealth of which they now boast, and the Empire, which they thought and think, gave them preeminence in a world of Cutthroat- pirates, Plunderers, Human-trafficking, Slave-traders, and Monstrous murderers.
Imagine having to appeal to these people for justice, when they have set the bar so low, to qualify for membership of their ‘exclusive club’, Member Nations must boast an equally dismal track record of exploitation, human rights abuse, and subjugation and the decimation of indigenous people and their habitats., to qualify.
So let us accept that the British are not the people we go to, for reparation, for their introduction and perpetration of the Transatlantic Slave trade, against the people of Africa, and their descendants, still reeling from the devastating PSSTS (Post Slavery Stress and Trauma, incurred due to the psychological abuse and trauma, inflicted by Colonial institutions, in the wake of the abolition of slavery and the attainment of Independence as a Nation.
So, if not Britain, then whom?
Clearly, this is the remit of an independent panel of arbiters, such as the International Criminal Court, to make the determination of just how much is owed to the Descendants of the Victims of Britain’s brutal slave trade., which visited untold trauma, lasting harm and distress, and the sense of dislocation and disorientation that accompany those who still are clueless as to their true origins, familial connections and sense of abandonment, because of the practice of slavery.
It should be up to an international Court, such as one sitting in the Hague, to determine the ills, and effects of slavery on the traumatized survivors of this monstrous injustice.
There can be no question about Damages, owed to the descendants of Slave Traders because the precedent was set when upon the abolition of Slavery, former Plantation Owners who ‘Owned” (that distasteful word) slaves, were compensated for the loss of their slaves.
Imagine (And I Can) Britain now arguing the Contrary, that the Slaves, who suffered egregiously, at the hand of the Slavers, are owed nothing, and making a counterclaim for the cost of transporting the enslaved from their homeland to the new world, to be whipped, beaten and or starved into submission, and if that failed, the use of Rape, Torture, and the Trafficking of the Children of Slaves as a form of punishment, for their parents?
As preposterous as it sounds this is akin to the argument being advanced in Ron DeSantis’s Florida, where the ridiculous is now the sublime, as Schools are being instructed to teach, that Slaves learnt skills during their captivity, that enabled them to survive, post Slavery.
Having established the precedent that indeed, there were those who suffered losses as a result of slavery, it really should be difficult for a panel of independent arbiters to determine, that that precedent would hold for slaves. And or their descendants, suing in their stead.
This would clear the way for a value judgment to be made in terms of the award. And less we get caught up arguing the semantics of a cash payout in compensatory damages, let us establish, that whilst Cash, would be King, such a payout should and must not only be restricted to cash but should and must include terms that would facilitate the construction of the learning institutions; New Health-care facilities and Hospitals; the upgrade of the national water supply network and its storage capacity; the retraining and equipping of the Police; along with the facilitation of greater access to the UK and her existing territories, by removing and or reducing draconian immigration rules that are steeped in racial prejudices.
The case for reparations is as compelling as was the case for restitution as those who were victimized by the Holocaust, and the work to press the case must begin now and in earnest. And it must begin with the picketing of British Embassies worldwide; a campaign of international sensitization of the rundown infrastructure Britain bequeathed its former colonies after bleeding them dry, to build their own; and the lasting effects of centuries of dehumanizing brainwashing. And legacy of Laws that still impact its former colonies to this day.
It is of great moment to note, that the British, are not going to give up the loot they stashed from their Centuries of raping the World, but the survivors of their victims, must make them pay to hold onto it. They should be constantly be placed on the defensive whenever they show up for global conferences; human rights forums, and donor and pledge ‘parties’. Especially at the United Nations. Their Victim Countries must unite in pressing the case, for not only reparation but for the return of valuable jewels, artifacts, historical documents, trinkets, and the release of ‘Crown” Lands in their former colonies.
Ambassadors and Embassies must be picketed and Harangue, until they are recognized for the pariah they should be, and put an end to the sophistry of pretending that these slave traders were at any time in their history, paragons of virtue, or even defenders of their own faith, never mind yours!
Criminals are pardoned every day, but first, they must accept their guilt, offer restitution, and then seek to make right by their victims, And Britain who ushered in that system of ‘restorative’ justice, cannot and must not escape their history of abuse, murder, and exploitation, whilst half of the world continue to suffer the ill-effects of systemic racism and deprivation.
So YES, to Reparation! And YES, to Hauling the British Government Before the International Criminal Court to seek Redress and Reset. The Former colonies deserve no less, and this emerging generation should stand for no less, After all, it is their future.
