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African and Caribbean nations agree move to seek reparations for slavery, call for formal apologies from European nations (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The partnership between the 55-member African Union and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) of 20 countries will aim to intensify pressure on former slave-owning nations to engage with the reparations movement.

Delegates also announced the establishment of a global fund based in Africa aiming to accelerate the campaign.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

in theory a lot or europeans are still living comfortably off of the horrific crimes they committed, and african and caribbean nations are still struggling and at a massive disadvantage compared to where they could have been

in practice i doubt this money would come from those most responsible, and i doubt the money would go to those with the biggest disadvantages

i also dislike reparations in general compared to help for the sake of help, as it draws focus away from whether nations actually need help and how much, and instead operates entirely on a blame game

not that help for the sake of it is going to happen sufficiently either anyway

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

in theory a lot or europeans are still living comfortably off of the horrific crimes they committed

in practice i doubt this money would come from those most responsible

A few Europeans from a few countries committed horrific crimes over half a century ago. Leopold III of Belgium in the 1950s during the independence of the Congo being the most modern example I'm aware of, and he died forty years ago.

If we are talking about the slave trade bound to the US, that ended a century and a half ago. Not that things turned instantly great for the freed slaves, of course.

So how much should we chastize people who were not even born when these things happened, and how much reparation needs to be paid to people who were not even born when it happened either? Because the way things work in the real world, I fear that in the end it will be middle class folks who will be paying "reparations" that will do nothing but fill the pockets of a few corrupt politicians from the receiving countries.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

im aware that it was largely a rich few that were actually responsible for these acts, im arguing that responsibility isnt all that relevant

it shouldnt be about chastising or punishing, it should be about getting folks who continue to have an advantage from horrendous acts to help out folks who continue to have a disadvantage resulting from those horrendous acts in order to level the playing field, because thats the right thing to do