President Ali declares; says Gladstone descendants must outline plan of action
REPARATIVE justice must go beyond apologies, and descendants of those responsible must be willing to right the wrongs of the African slave trade and indentureship in the Caribbean, according to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The Head of State, during a live broadcast on Thursday, said: “In recent years, the demands for reparations for African enslavement and indentureship have intensified. The call for reparations is not intended to promote or leverage shame or guilt over the slave trade and slavery. It is not extortion, instead, the demand for reparations is a commitment to righting historical wrongs.”
The family members of John Gladstone, a former slave owner, will today apologise for the actions of their ancestors.
The descendants of Gladstone recently arrived in Guyana to participate in the launch of the International Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies (MiDias) at the University of Guyana (UG).
According to Dr. Ali, the apology represents an acknowledgement of the cruel nature of African enslavement and indentureship in Guyana. It is an act of contrition that paves the way for justice, he said.
“Millions of Africans endured unspeakable horrors — displacement, captivity, extreme and brutal physical and sexual violence and the severing of family ties. They were treated as chattel, their labour extracted under the harshest conditions. They dehumanised slaves by taking away their culture, religion and even their names,” the President said.
According to Dr. Ali, call for reparations is an essential response to right the historical wrong and mitigate the enduring legacy of slavery.
“The heinousness of this crime against humanity demands that we seek to right these wrongs. Yet, we face a push-back when it comes to recompense for this crime – something that does not accord with the fundamental underpinnings of justice,” he said.
The Caribbean Reparations Committee’s ten-point plan for reparations offers a roadmap toward dismantling the barriers that persist.
The ten point plan outlines, inter alia, for an unconditional apology and investment in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and cultural revitalisation.
“While acknowledging the historical atrocities of slavery and offering an apology is undeniably significant, it constitutes just the initial step on the path towards achieving comprehensive reparative justice for African enslavement,” he said adding: “An acknowledgement and apology serve as a moral reckoning, validating the pain and suffering inflicted on generations past. However, the multifaceted legacy of slavery extends far beyond the confines of historical memory.”
The descendants of Gladstone, he said, must now also outline their plan of action in line with the CARICOM ten-point plan for reparatory justice for slavery and indentureship.
Gladstone, the father of four-time British Prime Minister William Gladstone, owned 2,500 slaves and according to the UK Guardian, was the fifth-largest beneficiary of the £20 million fund (about £16 billion today) set aside by the British government to compensate planters when the Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833.
The paper also reported that in addition to making an official apology for Gladstone’s ownership of Africans, the 21st-century Gladstones have agreed to pay reparations to fund further research into the impact of slavery, through a £100,000 grant to the MiDias.