Here is why the Western world should pay reparations for enslaving and colonizing Africans

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Reparations to Africa is a call by Africans who believe that colonial governments and slave owners profited at the expense of African people thereby owing them some kind of shares from the profits, it includes compensatory damages.


NOTE: The word 'slave' has been discouraged by some scholars, to use on the Africans that were captured and forced to work against their will. 'Enslaved' would be the best word to refer to them. They were forced into slavery, they did not choose to be slaves.

It is also important to note that slavery was inhuman and cost a lot of African lives. For the Trans-Atlantic slave trade alone, it is estimated by the United Nations that 15 million Africans were victims, though some historians suggest a higher figure.


Most historians suggest that slavery began in the 15th century in the western world. Even before we include the earlier years of slavery by the Arab world, the said duration was enough to drain Africa of its manpower and resources.


Slavery reduced humans into objects and property to be owned. Yeah, that is how evil slavery was! There was a price for every captured human. A professor of history at the University of Texas, Diana Ramey Berry writes that the slaves:


...were bought and sold just like we sell cars and cattle today. They were gifted, deeded and mortgaged the same way we sell houses today. They were itemized and insured the same way we manage our assets and protect our valuables.

 

In the article, American Slavery: Separating facts from myths, Diana Berry cites a case of two enslaved men Guy and Andrew. The two men were almost alike in physical features but Andrew was sold at $1,040 ($240 less than Guy) because he had lost his left eye.


When captured or sold, Africans were forced to work under harsh conditions without pay, justifying the demand for reparation even more. The money that the master spent on buying an enslaved person was to be returned through the service offered by the poor Africans.


Art of slavery - Legacy Museum in Alabama, USA.

The UN had declared in December 2007 that March 25th be the International Day for Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This important day was passed by the UN's general assembly to be observed annually.


Also, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also taken various measures in preserving the historical sites of the world. Most slave dungeons and important sites that were used to carry out this inhuman practice are protected UNESCO sites.


This move is to preserve history, in this case, "the darkest chapter of human history" for future generations to learn about how evil it was. Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid activist and the country's first black president,  said that we Africans should "forgive but not forget".


According to Mandela, we should remember what happened to us so that we can teach our children about it. We should also discourage them from letting anything of that sort happen again.


Related read >> Why African history is important to you


African people's demand for reparations

The efforts made by the international world to settle the issue of reparations although indirectly, are commendable. However, those measures are not enough as compared to the centuries that Africa has been affected by the vice. 


Slavery and colonialism also affected Africans psychologically. The act of one being separated from her family was not good for the two sides. The psychological part has also not gotten much attention.


BBC aired a documentary last May with an article (Grenada: Confronting my family’s slave-owning past) to it. From the documentary, when slavery was abolished in Grenada, the British government compensated the slave owners at expense of 40% of British government expenditure in 1834.


 Worse is that the freed Africans were left on their own, with no skills or education for the newly industrialized world. From the BBC article, all the British government has ever given as compensation for its inhuman domination over Africans and Africa is a public apology.


There have recently been mixed emotions over the decision of the German government to pay a compensation fee of $1.22bn to Namibia for the German involvement in the Herero and Namaqua genocide. Some criticized it as a very minimal amount compared to the evils that happened. This genocide and some other known evil acts are just some of the atrocities of the colonial governments on Africans, should they pay reparations?


African rally for Reparation at the United Nations

With the rise of dictator Adolf Hitler and the genocide of European Jews, an agreement was reached that Germany pays reparations to the affected families. What is preventing Africans from rallying for the same action in the United Nations? 


In Africa, Kenyan politician Pio Gama Pinto and American activist Malcolm X had the idea of presenting a petition to the United Nations requesting reparations to Africans. This happened when the two met in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, in 1959.



Pio Gama Pinto (left) and Malcolm X (right).

As reported by Quartz Africa, the first formal request for reparation began in 1992 with a group led by Nigerian businessman and former president-elect Chief Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola, Kenyan scholar Prof. Ali Mazrui. The group also included South African musician Miriam Makeba and other black activists. They aired out their cry under the umbrella of the African Union.


Prof. Mazrui thought of a reparation plan that is inclusive of the African diaspora and the black world at large. He also encouraged a plan that looks past financial reparations. The said reparation he suggested, would mean that the western governments support democracy in Africa and also support Pan African motives.


The other call for reparation according to the group was for the former slave owners and colonial governments to transfer money to African governments for the building of Africa. The countries that African nations owe to were encouraged to cancel the debts This would not only be a form of justice but a way of reducing the effects of the dark days on Africans today.


What is your proposed mode of reparation that should be used to heal the wounds of slavery and colonialism? Share with us in the comment section.

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