Reparations For Africa
by Linda Bellos
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Britain is not alone in being responsible for the enslavement,
exploitation and colonalisation of Africa and Africans, there is
no doubt however Britain played a major role.
The demand for reparations is made not only of Britain but of all
nations engaged in the Slave Trade and subsequent colonialisation
of Africa. Those of us based in Britain who are of African origin
have a duty at the very least to understand why we are in Britain
and what part these events have had in the creation of Britain's
history and wealth.
Africa continues to be economically exploited and abused and it's
checkered history of so called self rule is used as evidence of
an intrinsic inability of Africans to govern ourselves.
What we within the Africa Reparations Movement contend is that
there is little democracy in Africa and that this is the direct
legacy of imperialism. The hasty pull out by Belgium, Britain and
France of colonies that were ill prepared for self rule has
created a climate in which corruption and maladministration have
become widescale in many countries.
There has been no apology for the enslavement of millions of
African people, and there are some today that continue to argue
that slavery was generally a good thing because it "introduced us
to civilisation". This presupposes that there was no culture or
civilisation in Africa before the onslaught by Europe. Even if one
accepts Europe's version of what constitutes civilisation there
is ample evidence that medicine, mathematics, complex social
organisation, engineering were but a few of the achievements of
Africa and Africans in the centuries prior to contact with
Europe. The 19th Century is replete with attempts to both deny
and destroy evidence of African culture. It was in this century
as capitalism expanded and consolidated that ideological
justification began to be developed for the oppression of African
peoples and resources.
It was the belief that Africans were(are) inferior human beings
that justified not only the absence of financial compensation for
slavery to African peoples but the carve up of Africa by the 5
European powers in the 1880's. When Britain abolished the slave
trade in 1834 slave holders were paid £20 millions in
compensation not a penny was paid to former slaves. In many
instances the rights and opportunities for former slaves was made
worse when slavery was abolished which indicates a punitive and
inhuman relationship with Africa peoples, a legacy which we
believe still persists.
It is not only that of all peoples against whom a major wrong has
been done we should receive reparations as other peoples have
done in the past, we are now beginning to calculate the damage
not only in terms of the 10 to 20 million African people who were
murdered during the Middle Passage we are also looking at the
loss to Africa of its fittest and finest.
We know that the old, the sick, the disabled were not taken, only
those young fit and active. What must the impact have been to
African villages to loose its most economically and socially
active? We cannot begin to put a monetary figure of this but if
we are to repair the damage of enslavement we must begin to
consider the whole legacy of enslavement.
When we have raised the issue of Reparations publicly we have
encountered a European concern solely with money. They ask how
much will it cost?
We consider this an offensive question which yet again reduces
African peoples to the level of commodities. Is it not enough
that Europe created a whole social institution out of buying and
selling African people now they can only see us in terms of
money.
When we speak of reparations we speak of mear' repair. We wish to
repair the damage to us psychologically, economically,
historically and financially. When demand, the return of our
Artefacts stolen, misinterpreted and abused museums and
Collectors in the West. We demand the creation of free and fair
commodity markets for African goods and the ending of cash crops
for the benefit of Europe and not local communities. We demand
democracy in Africa and not leaders supported and sustained by
Governments and Corporations in whose interests corrupt rulers
govern. We demand the creation of a Continent fit for African
people in which we can discover and develop skills and resources
that are sustainable and in keeping with our best African
Traditions.
Reparations means that as peoples of Africa origin we can value
ourselves as highly as others value themselves' the psychological
damage to us of skin lightening, and of elevating thing European
over things African can only do us harm. There may be things to
be learned from Europe and Europeans but there are things that
Europe could usefully learn form Africa and Africans. A new
relationship must be forged in which there is mutual respect and
equality, this cannot happen whilst there is no repair to the
devastating damage done by enslavement. Africa, Africans and
Europe must understand and repair the basis of the current
relationship.
There are very pressing reasons for a new relationship with
Africa. African peoples in Europe are increasingly finding
ourselves subject to overt persecution and discrimination as the
barriers go up around fortress Europe. And as the trading blocks
of North America and the Pacific Rim develop and Eastern Europe
is brought closer to the West so the economic isolation of Africa
is seen to be manifest. For well over a hundred years Africa has
been seen only in terms of a repository of raw materials for the
West, to be plundered and exploited as they wished. We would be
ill advised to ignore the wider global perspective of current
economic and political developments. If Africa is to survive we
must play our part in its survival.
Is it possible for Africa to be economically self sufficient,
especially if this included trade with the African Diaspora? What
would be the impact on local environments if rather than cash
crops Africa produced food stuffs for its own population with the
majority of its trade internal rather than external to Africa?
What would an Africa wide transportation system look like that
connected Sierra Leone to Zambia without having to fly first to
London or Zurich.
These are not irrelevant or impractical questions but they are
ones that are not currently being addressed. We need to put our
skills and energies into Africa. We need to reverse the brain
drain from Africa and the Caribbean to the US, Canada and Europe.
Our own self interest demands that we have somewhere to go when
the going gets tough and we should look very seriously at recent
European history as we witness the rise of fascism in France,
Germany, Belgium and Britain.
There may be little point in us saying we were born here or that
we are really British or French. German Jews protested as they
were pushed into incinerators that they were German. This is a
very bleak scenario and it is one that we hope will not arise but
it would be foolhardy to imagine that it could not happen.
What are our options? And are we playing into the hands of
fascists and racists by saying that we should leave Europe. We
believe that there are sound pragmatic reasons why we should want
to make Africa a place fit for Africans. firstly it would be an
insurance policy against rising fascism. Secondly why should we
not consider going to Africa if we can think of going to Canada
or the USA. If as we believe we win the argument for financial
compensation Africa would become a viable option for people of
African origin to live and invest in. And when Africa is strong
the standing of African peoples will also be strong.
We do not demand that all people of African origin should return
to Africa what we seek instead is to make it a place of
preference. Some of us because of family and friends will want to
stay here, this must be a right one that will continue to fight
for. But we also want to dispel the lies and myths that make the
idea of all things African so negative. We did not come to Europe
because of the weather we came because it was, we were told the
motherland (or fatherland). We came because there were few
economic choices for us if we wished to prosper.
Given our skills of survival and of creativity we can make Africa
a place where all African peoples can be free to achieve our full
potential. Reparations starts with our self image. Let us be
proud to be African.
Linda Bellos
26/10/95
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