King Charles acknowledges 'injustices' of slavery on Caribbean tour. But these residents want action
King Charles acknowledged the devastating impacts of slavery during the first stop of his Caribbean tour on Tuesday, but stopped short of apologizing or offering reparations.
'We need accountability. We don't just need statements of regret,' says Bahamas reparations committee chair
Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio
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King Charles acknowledged the devastating impacts of slavery during the first stop of his Caribbean tour on Tuesday, but stopped short of apologizing or offering reparations.
Speaking in the Bahamas, Charles said it was "only right" to acknowledge "the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond."
Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, says the King didn't go far enough.
"Acknowledgement is like when somebody hits your car and says, 'Oh, I'm sorry.' But the apology when they hit your car, and say, 'I am sorry, and here's my insurance.' It's the difference between recognizing that something bad has happened, and holding yourself accountable for it," she told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
"We need accountability. We don't just need statements of regret. Because we know that slavery was a bad thing. Everybody knows that slavery is a bad thing."
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the biggest slave-trading nations.
LISTEN | Interview with Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean:
As It Happens6:53King Charles acknowledges 'injustices' of slavery on Caribbean tour. But this residents wants action
Campbell-Dean isn't alone in her demand for reparations.
CARICOM, a regional and economic union of Caribbean countries, has long called on the U.K. and other enslaving nations to apologize and offer financial compensation to the descendants of enslaved peoples.
When Charles meets with the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Antigua and Barbuda next week, that demand will be on the agenda.
"The Caribbean has consistently asserted that reparations is fundamentally about justice," Carla Barnett, secretary general of the regional bloc CARICOM, said last month.
A protester holds a placard that reads 'Reparations now!' during a demonstration in Nassau. (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)
Campbell-Dean says the move for slavery reparations has gained momentum around the world in recent years, and it's time for the U.K. to catch up.
In March, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution calling for reparatory justice, including a full apology and compensation both for the period of enslavement and for continuing harms.
Both the U.K. and Canada abstained from the vote.
"We want our King to really be able to cement his legacy as the King that moved reparations forward," Campbell-Dean said. "Not the one that simply passed it on to the next generation."
Not just an issue of the past, say advocates
Buckingham Palace said the King would address slavery during the tour, but not offer a formal apology.
A palace spokesperson said the visit would focus mainly on "modern partnerships and opportunities for the future" and that Charles would engage with and educate about "the most shameful aspects of our past."
Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London, says the King is limited by the policy of the elected British government.
"It's not a matter for the King, in that sense," he said. "And it is the longstanding policy of the government to, yes, note that slavery happened and that it is a stain on British history, but that reparations are not payable."
Protesters from the Bahamas National Reparations Committee demonstrate in Nassau on Wednesday. (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)
But placing the issue squarely in the past does a disservice to those still living with its consequences, says Campbell-Dean.
"These are legacies that continue to affect the way that we move and grow and build as a country," she said.
Brooke Newman, a professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University, says the British Crown has reaped tremendous benefits from the slave trade.
In her book, The Crown's Silence, she argues British monarchs did more than just preside over an empire where enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to labour in the sugar, tobacco and cotton fields of the New World.
They were also major investors in slaving companies and also granted exclusive trading rights to slavers in exchange for profit shares.
She called Charles's speech on Tuesday "hollow."
Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean is the chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee. (Submitted by Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean)
Campbell-Dean says she's skeptical of arguments that Charles doesn't have the power to address slavery.
She noted the Dutch king apologized for his country's role in the slave trade in 2023.
"The King is our head of state, so really he has nothing to be afraid of," she said. "He has the power and the status and the position to make the apology."
With files from Reuters and The Associated Press. Interview with Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean produced by Sarah Melton
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