<
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/mar/29/uk-government-royals-called-on-investigate-slavery-links-after-guardian-apology>
"UN experts are leading calls for the British government and royal family to
investigate their historical links to transatlantic slavery and take steps
toward restorative justice.
The Scott Trust, which owns the
Guardian, apologised on Tuesday for the role
the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery and announced a
decade-long, multimillion-pound programme of restorative justice.
The independent academic research into the
Guardian’s past and the programme
of restorative justice have been welcomed by UN experts and campaigners, who
have called for other institutions to follow suit.
Prof Verene A Shepherd, the chair of the UN committee on the elimination of
racial discrimination and director for the Centre for Reparation Research at
the University of the West Indies, said: “I have read with interest that the
owner of the
Guardian has issued an apology for the role the newspaper’s
founders had in the transatlantic trafficking in enslaved peoples and announced
a decade-long programme of restorative justice.
“This is laudable; and my hope is that those who suffered the consequences of
their past actions will benefit from the sums committed in a participatory, not
a top down way.
“But although we have seen individuals and institutions stepping forward,
admitting the wrongs of the past and offering reparation (albeit mostly in a
top-down fashion) …the British state has refused to apologise to Africans and
people of African descent for the role they played in the trafficking and
chattel enslavement of millions of Africans in the Caribbean, simply uttering
meaningless statements of regret, remorse, and deep sorrow, with a former UK PM
even telling us to get over the past and move on.”
Shepherd, who is also vice-chair of the Caricom (Caribbean community)
Reparation Commission and member of Jamaica National Council on Reparation,
called on Britain to issue an apology and use the Caricom’s 10-point reparation
action plan to begin to repair the wrongs of the past."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
