Sir Lenny Henry Wants £18 TRILLION of Slavery Reparations

SALLUST

The beleaguered UK Government is facing a call for £18 trillion of slavery reparations to be paid to British black people, apparently regardless of whether they are descended from slaves or not. The Telegraph has the story:

The comedian has co-written a book, titled The Big Payback, which supports the case for the UK to hand over £18 trillion in compensatory payments.

Sir Lenny has argued not only in favour of a vast cash transfer to Caribbean nations, but also for money to be given to individual black British citizens.

Writing in the forthcoming book, Sir Lenny considers the position that “all black British people… need reparations for slavery”, subsequently arguing that “we personally deserve money for the effects of slavery”.

The Telegraph notes that the majority of British black people come from Africa, not slave colonies:

Most of Britain’s 2.4 million black population is of direct African descent, and therefore not the descendants of people enslaved in the Caribbean.

While this is not directly addressed in the book, the two authors argue that as modern racism was brought about by the slave trade, and all black people suffer the effects of racism, therefore all black people should be given redress.

Sir Lenny argues that “the reason we have racism today and also… why black British people are grossly over-represented in the prison population” – along with other disparities such as higher levels of black unemployment – are “all because of the transatlantic slave trade”.

The book argues that it is fair for Britain to pay reparations, despite no one alive today possibly having any direct involvement in the slavery either as a perpetrator or victim.

It is a passing matter of interest that in 1789 that a former slave called Olaudah Equiano published his autobiography in London. The book caused a sensation and played a significant role in the antislavery movement in Britain. Born in 1745, Equiano was the son of an elder (“My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family”) in a West African community. He described how his father and other elders owned slaves and enslaved others as punishments for a variety of crimes such as adultery, as well as how his own people sold slaves to passing “mahogany-coloured” slave traders. The traders brought with them goods like gunpowder and firearms, which were of interest to village chiefs, as Equiano explained:

When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares. It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the temptation with as little firmness, and accepts the price of his fellow creatures’ liberty with as little reluctance as the enlightened merchant.

Equiano was keen to point out how enlightened slavery was where he came from:

…how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than other members of the community, even their masters; their food, clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs…

That’s alright then. Equiano and his sister were kidnapped by slave traders one day while the adults were away labouring in the fields. He passed through several African households as a slave, being bought and sold, before finally reaching the coast and being sold into the Atlantic slave trade which was being enthusiastically supplied by countless West African chiefs and elders.

It’s not entirely clear whether Sir Lenny has factored in this sort of complication to the idea that all black people are perpetual victims of a slave trade exclusively run by white people.

Nor is it entirely clear exactly how a nation-bankrupting handout would be funded and distributed, or how it would eliminate racism and create a utopian future in which Britain’s diverse population would live in harmony thereafter, given that the country would be ruined by the payments.

One wonders at which point those nations occupying territory formerly organised as Roman provinces will set out their demands for compensation too. Among the Roman emperors who so nakedly exploited the provinces was Septimius Severus (193-211), routinely celebrated as the African emperor even though he came from Libya and was of Berber descent. Severus famously led a major and brutal campaign of conquest in northern Britain but died at York.

The Telegraph’s piece is worth reading in full.

Via The Daily Sceptic

See Related Article Below

Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before

Forcing Britons to hand over £18tn would deepen division on a horrifying scale and bankrupt the country in the process

MICHAEL DEACON

Sir Lenny Henry, the beloved 1980s comedian, thinks that, in order to atone for its role in the transatlantic slave trade several centuries ago, Britain should pay reparations totalling £18tn. Yes, trillion.

But wait – that’s not all. This gargantuan sum of money, he believes, should go not only to the governments of Caribbean nations. He thinks reparations should also be paid to every single black person in Britain.

Well, the idea is certainly a bold one. I do, however, have one or two small questions.

For example, what happens if you’re mixed race?

Say you’re a British person who has a white mother and a black father. Do you get only half the pay-out? Or, alternatively, do you have to pay reparations to yourself?

Then we come to the question of mixed relationships. Should a white wife pay reparations to her black husband? Since the money would still remain in the family, I suppose it wouldn’t really matter. But imagine the battles in court if they got divorced. “Never mind the money I owe her for the children, Your Honour – what about the money she owes me for the 17th-century slave trade?”

Come to think of it, Sir Lenny used to be married to Dawn French. Should she be paying reparations to him?

It all sounds terribly complicated. And that’s before we get on to the idea’s various other potential flaws – such as the fact that most of Britain’s 2.4 million black population is of direct African descent, and therefore not the descendants of people enslaved in the Caribbean, which means they’re no more victims of the transatlantic slave trade than I am.

Then there’s the fact that the blame for the slave trade doesn’t lie solely with our cruel and exploitative white ancestors. Slavery existed in Africa long before any Europeans turned up, and when they did, black African rulers were only too delighted to offer slaves for sale. This made these African rulers all the richer and more powerful – which is why, when Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, the king of Bonny (part of modern-day Nigeria) wrote to parliament to complain.

Even if we choose to overlook these inconvenient facts, however, I can’t help feeling that the Government might experience just a touch of difficulty in selling such a proposal to the general public. At a time when our politicians are struggling to scrape together enough money for bin collections – let alone the NHS, schools, defence, pensions, policing and social care – it might not go down tremendously well if the Prime Minister popped up and said: “Oh, and by the way, taxpayers – we suddenly need you to cough up an extra £18tn, so that you can pay compensation for crimes that you personally didn’t commit. And in case you’re wondering just how big £18tn is, it’s roughly six times as much as this country’s entire GDP.”

The Telegraph: continue reading

Featured image: Getty Images

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