Jamaica seeks reparations from Britain over slavery

[Angela Channing]

You're conveniently forgetting the responsibility of the Africans who did the "ripping" and selling of their own people into slavery.

Africa is a vast continent of many countries, many of which have no history of slavery before the transatlantic slave trade. Of those that did, the numbers involved were tiny when compared with the 12.5 million who were taken across the Atlantic by slave traders .

 

[KayLloyd]

Africa is a vast continent of many countries, many of which have no history of slavery before the transatlantic slave trade. Of those that did, the numbers involved were tiny when compared with the 12.5 million who were taken across the Atlantic by slave tr

Africa is a vast continent of many countries, many of which have no history of slavery before the transatlantic slave trade. Of those that did, the numbers involved were tiny when compared with the 12.5 million who were taken across the Atlantic by slave traders .

They started selling their own people into slavery in the 15th century. There's no justification for.that, there just isn't.

 

[Angela Channing]

They started selling their own people into slavery in the 15th century. There's no justification for.that, there just isn't.

This is a completely separate point and has no relevance to Jamaica's claim for compensation from the UK for the enslavement of its people.

 

[Karin]

I'm sorry to hear you feel you have been screwed over but it would have been far worse for the parents who where ripped from their families and forced to live the rest of their lives in slavery, and for the children who had to survive on their own and for the communities who lost so many of their most able people that it drove them into poverty for many generations as a consequence.

So what you are basically saying is that my personal experiences of being screwed over doesn't matter at all because there are other people in the world who have been treated worse than I have?

How nice and compassionate of you!

Your argument that because these things are in the past and so are not the debts of people today would carry more weight if the UK government didn't require today's taxpayers to continue until 2015 to pay for the compensation given to slave owning families for the loss to their slaves. If my taxes can be used to pay compensation to slave owners, then why shouldn't they also be used to pay compensation to the countries that were victims of the slavery?

That is what you think. Another British citizen might not want to pay for that. But it doesn't matter what either one of you think since it's the politicians who holds the power and make the decision of where the money will go regardless of what people think is right.

A United Nations report last year agreed that financial reparations for transatlantic slavery should be paid out. The UK should not be allowed to dodge it's responsibilities forever. A debt is a debt and should be paid.

Well if the UN has said so I guess the UK will be forced to fork up the money. I took a closer look at what rich countries pays to developmental countries in Official Development Assistence (ODA) every year and it turns out that the UK could afford to pay Jamaica the £7.6 billion they are asking for if they take the money from what they pay annually in foreign aid to poor countries. If they do that to make a one time payment and then consider the debt paid with no chance of coming back and asking for more, it might be more effective than continuing to give smaller hand outs annually for a longer period of time.

I still don't think it's right though.

Also rich countries have given ODA since the 1960s. Countries in Africa has received around $1.2 trillion in the past 30 years. If you look at those numbers I think whatever financial "debt" that the nations who took part in the transatlantic slave trade had has already been settled.

So I think the question arise, with that much money being spent why are those countries still so poor?

I don't think the fact that 12 million people from Africa were sold as slaves between 1500-1860 can explain that.

 

[Angela Channing]

So what you are basically saying is that my personal experiences of being screwed over doesn't matter at all because there are other people in the world who have been treated worse than I have?

How nice and compassionate of you!

That's not what I said at all and you know it. In fact I said I was sorry about what you had experienced. I said parents being taken from their children, children growing up alone, communities being thrown into generational poverty and living your life as a slave, being beaten and tortured or even killed is far worse than most people will have to experience in their lifetimes. However, you tried to make this is all about you.

That is what you think. Another British citizen might not want to pay for that. But it doesn't matter what either one of you think since it's the politicians who holds the power and make the decision of where the money will go regardless of what people think is right.

Yes exactly which is why Jamaican politicians are right to push for compensation on behave of it's people.

Well if the UN has said so I guess the UK will be forced to fork up the money. I took a closer look at what rich countries pays to developmental countries in Official Development Assistence (ODA) every year and it turns out that the UK could afford to pay Jamaica the £7.6 billion they are asking for if they take the money from what they pay annually in foreign aid to poor countries. If they do that to make a one time payment and then consider the debt paid with no chance of coming back and asking for more, it might be more effective than continuing to give smaller hand outs annually for a longer period of time.

The UK has pledged to give Ukraine £3 billion every year to help them in their war against Russia. When the UK needs to find money it can.

Also rich countries have given ODA since the 1960s. Countries in Africa has received around $1.2 trillion in the past 30 years. If you look at those numbers I think whatever "debt" that the nations who took part in the transatlantic slave trade had has already been settled.

So I think the question arise, with that much money being spent why are those countries still so poor?

I don't think the fact that 12 million people from Africa were sold as slaves between 1500-1860 can explain that.

Great if African countries have received that money however Jamaica has only received a paltry amount.

 

[KayLloyd]

This is a completely separate point and has no relevance to Jamaica's claim for compensation from the UK for the enslavement of its people

This is a completely separate point and has no relevance to Jamaica's claim for compensation from the UK for the enslavement of its people.

Yes it does. you're just trying to deflect from the elephant in the room reality that always gets swept under the rug in discussions about reparations for slavery, Africans themselves played a role in the slave trade, including Jamaica. Where exactly do you think the slaves in Jamaica came from?

 

[Angela Channing]

Yes it does. you're just trying to deflect from the elephant in the room reality that always gets swept under the rug in discussions about reparations for slavery, Africans themselves played a role in the slave trade, including Jamaica. Where exactly do you think the slaves in Jamaica came from?

Jamaica is seeking reparations from the UK. Slavery within the African continent is a completely separate issue.

The slaves in Jamaica came mainly from African, India and Lebanon and were brought there by European slave dealers. Additionally, the native Americans who were the original inhabitants of the island were also made slaves. Slavery that took place in Africa is a separate issue and has zero relevance to the compensation that Jamaica is asking for.

 

[KayLloyd]

Jamaica is seeking reparations from the UK. Slavery within the African continent is a completely separate issue.

The slaves in Jamaica came mainly from African, India and Lebanon and were brought there by European slave dealers. Additionally, the native Americans who were the original inhabitants of the island were also made slaves. Slavery that took place in Africa is a separate issue and has zero relevance to the compensation that Jamaica is asking for.

Jamaica is seeking reparations from the UK. Slavery within the African continent is a completely separate issue.

The slaves in Jamaica came mainly from African, India and Lebanon and were brought there by European slave dealers. Additionally, the native Americans who were the original inhabitants of the island were also made slaves. Slavery that took place in Africa is a separate issue and has zero relevance to the compensation that Jamaica is asking for.

Slaves from West Africa were taken to Jamaica, first by the Spanish and then the British, so again, who sold those those slaves to them has 100% relevance to the compensation that Jamaica is asking for.

 

[Angela Channing]

Slaves from West Africa were taken to Jamaica, first by the Spanish and then the British, so again, who sold those those slaves to them has 100% relevance to the compensation that Jamaica is asking for.

No African transported a slave from Africa to Jamaica. European human traffickers seeking people they could enslave, arrived in Africa and kidnapped and transported 2 million of people to Jamaica. Most of the slaves taken there were transported by the UK.

The idea that blacks Africans sold other black Africans to European slave traders is a dishonest piece of whitewashing of the transatlantic slave trade used to minimise and deflect culpability from the UK and other European slave dealers. Europeans had weapons they could threaten African leaders with leaving them with the choice of collaborating with slave dealers or be killed. Africans are not responsible for the movement of slaves from Africa to the Caribbean. This is all documented in our national archives.