ADVOCATING FOR REPARATIONS 2020 drew attention to race relations in unprecedented ways. The UWI continued to be at the forefront of justice conversations, including the battle for reparations to be made to peoples of the Caribbean by colonial powers, as compensation for their historical crimes of native genocide and African enslavement, through which these powers have amassed great wealth, and from which they still profit.
Vice-Chancellor Speaks to Al Jazeera about Reparations On June 19, 2020, in an interview with the Al Jazeera Media Network, Vice-Chancellor Beckles responded to reports that British financial institutions and the Church of England acknowledged and apologised for their ties to the slave trade, and committed to fund projects to provide opportunities for the descendants of these victims, who continue to be affected. According to Vice-Chancellor Beckles, “These institutions need to come back to the site of their enrichment and participate in the legacy. This is not unreasonable. It is moral and just and the kind of standard management thinking one would expect in the 21st century. To issue statements of regret and apology from a distance as a public relations exercise...in public spectacle, is unacceptable and absolutely rejected by the people in the Caribbean. What they are asking for is dialogue, negotiation and the participation in a system of economic development that will help these societies to move forward.”
Reiterating his response to public statements of “apology” and “regret” by some European states and British commercial enterprises for their role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and in the 200-plus years’ practice of chattel slavery, Vice- Chancellor Beckles called these statements insulting and inappropriate, and called instead for a conversation on reparatory action. “Europe owes our people a debt and now is the time for that debt to be paid.”
CARICOM Reparations Commission The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), led by Vice-Chancellor Beckles, convened a virtual media engagement on July 6, 2020, to update regional and international media on developments in the CARICOM region’s push for reparatory justice, situated also within the context of the Black Lives Matter protests spreading across the globe.
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