“Our ancestors deserve real justice,” were among the signs that met Charles Gladstone, relative of John Gladstone, former owner of enslaved Africans, when he read his family’s apology for slavery and the grave consequences it caused in Guyana.
While reading the apology at the launch of the University of Guyana (UG) Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies, some of the audience members were touched that the family recognised the error of their ancestors’ ways but others were displeased.
In the scripted apology, Gladstone read: “We the undersigned, descendants of John Gladstone…wish to offer our sincere apologies for his actions holding your ancestors in slavery in Demerara, Guyana.”
In the end, the quiet audience erupted into chants of “We do not accept” as a number of persons lifted their placards towards the Gladstone Family.
Some of the placards read: “Is this all our ancestors are worth to you?”; “How dare you offer pittances?” as many protesters were displeased that the apology from the family arose after 200 years.
The Gladstone family has admitted that it benefitted from African enslavement and indentureship on the Demerara and other plantations owned by its patriarch, John Gladstone.
Former British Prime Minister, William Gladstone is the son of John Gladstone who was an absentee owner of plantations in Jamaica and Guyana. John Gladstone was Chairman of the Liverpool West India Association, one of the most important groups defending the interests of West Indian plantation owners. Throughout his life, he was a champion of the institution of slavery.
Even after the 1823 Demerara Slave Revolt erupted on his plantation at Success, it did not deter him from expanding his investments in Guiana.
His official policy was one of amelioration – that slaves’ conditions should be gradually improved and Christianisation prioritised, a position that was in staunch opposition to the abolitionists.
At the time of abolition, he received compensation, which at today’s value is estimated at more than £10M. The freed Africans received nothing.
Anticipating a collapse in African field labour after the end of the apprenticeship period, Gladstone along with other planters, also helped to pioneer the use of Indian indentured labour in British Guiana, introducing a new form of servitude to the colony.
While making his apology at the George Walcott Lecture Theatre, Charles Gladstone said: “It is with deep shame and regret that we acknowledge our ancestor’s involvement in this crime [slavery] and with heartfelt sincerity that we apologise to the descendants of the enslaved in Guyana.”
Noting that they cannot change history, the family believes that they can make an impact in today’s world for a brighter future. Charles said that his family will be creating a financial fund to assist various projects in Guyana.
During his apology, he also pledged his family’s support to the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) 10-point plan for reparative justice and Gladstone also urged the British Government and other descendants of slave owners to enter into meaningful discussions with CARICOM and engage in open conversations on their ancestors’ insidious acts.
Meanwhile, Eric Phillips, the Chair of the Guyana Reparations Committee and a representative of the CARICOM Reparations Council said: “Reparations are a moral, legal, political, cultural, diplomatic, health, financial [and] international development issue of our time,” adding that within the past year, there have been improvements in the discussions surrounding reparations for the Caribbean, especially Guyana.
While Phillips accepted the apology put forth by the Gladstone Family, he did not fail to speak about the longstanding effects that slavery has caused on the world, especially the economic constraints.
“I’ve come to accept the honesty and integrity of the Gladstone family and the Guyana Reparations Committee unconditionally welcomes them to Guyana, knowing the soul searching they have been through…,” Phillips remarked.
Last week, during a live broadcast, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said that reparations 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.
“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,” he said.
According to Dr. Ali, the 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 stated.
