Time to pay up!
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres spoke out in favor of reparations for descendants of the transatlantic slaves – claiming it’s a great way to pay for systemic racism.
On the U.N. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery on Mar. 25, Guterres released a statement saying the past “laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy.”
“We call for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination,” Guterres said.
The Caribbean is already a favorite to receive reparations. The Repair Campaign is the production of socio-economic reparation plans for the nations. After releasing a poll, four in ten people in the UK voted in favor of the Caribbean to receive financial compensation. Three in five feel a formal apology is due as well. “This is the movement that will signal, finally, the collective victory of humanity, of good over evil,” chair of the reparations commission of Caricom, Hilary Beckles, said at the U.N. General Assembly.
Over 12 million Africans were removed forcibly from their homeland by European merchants on their ships and sold into slavery on American soil, many profiting from free labor. According to The Hill, several who survived the dangerous trips were placed on plantations in Brazil and Caribbean islands. “This laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy that still echoes today,” Guterres said.
“Descendants of enslaved Africans and people of African descent are still fighting for equal rights and freedoms around the world.”
Source: Black Enterprise
