Kemi Badenoch says Africans should apologise for slavery. She should read a history book
The Guardian · Micha Frazer-Carroll ·
Enslavement’s devastating impact on Caribbean and African nations means that cross-diasporic solidarity has become central in addressing its legacy
Despite reports that the UK attempted to keep reparations off the formal agenda for the Commonwealth summit attended by King Charles and the UK prime minister, they are in the air. British Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch is among those detractors who have argued that it is African nations who should apologise for the transatlantic slave trade. It may seem like a spectacular case of whataboutery (it is) but it also touches on an enduring tension in some Black communities surrounding African involvement in capturing and enslaving people. This week, I speak to two historians to sort fact from fiction.
When discussing slavery, we should be “honest about the whole history”, Kemi Badenoch wrote in a recent post on X. Her statement comes after months of mounting pressure on Britain’s monarchy and politicians to formally apologise for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, and offer reparations to affected Caribbean nations. Badenoch continued: “If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?”
While the question was asked in bad faith, many within Black communities are unable to confidently answer it. In conversations with African and Caribbean colleagues at the Guardian, plenty of us experience division within our communities around the subject of African people’s participation in enslavement. The topic can be incredibly sensitive and difficult to tackle without a firm grounding in the history and political economy of the transatlantic slave trade. Yet, the experts I spoke to made it clear why African nations should not be held to the same standard as European countries and the US when atoning for their historical crimes.
Read the full story at The Guardian · All coverage of this story