The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Glasgow have signed the first ever agreement for slavery reparations since British Emancipation in 1838. The £20 million agreement was signed at the Regional Headquarters of The UWI in Kingston, Jamaica on July 31, 2019 by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and Dr David Duncan, University of Glasgow’s Chief Operating Officer, representing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli.
The terms of the agreement call for the University of Glasgow to provide £20 million to fund research to promote development initiatives to be jointly undertaken with The UWI over the next two decades. The sum of £20 million was the amount paid to slave owners as reparations by the British government when it abolished slavery in 1834.
The agreement represents the first occasion on which a slavery-enriched British or European institution has apologized for its part in slavery and committed funds to facilitate a reparations programme. In this instance, the two universities have adopted a regional development approach to reparations.
The funds will facilitate the operations of a jointly-owned and managed institution to be called the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research. The Centre will target and promote solutions to Caribbean development problems in areas such as medicine and public health, economics and economic growth, cultural identity and cultural industries, and other 21st century orientations in Caribbean transformation.
We are not expecting the process to take this format where funds are given through the good will of certain institutions while other institutions that benefitted directly from the slave trade and slave plantation for four centuries
We need to know of a central institute where funds will be placed and dispersed to the purpose of
1. free education for children up to tertiary
2.free medical care starting from the rural and ghetto commuinties
3. sports facilities in all villages and towns
4.start up funds for all business ventures for young and dispossessed people
5. agriculture to be reviewed where land must be given to the landless to ensure food security and mass marketing projects on a local, regional and international level
6 the revamping of our culture not for tourism alone but for the genuine essence of what culture means to the Africans who use the way of life for sustenance through generations.
7.the review of the bible for good and negative influence of our…
Mr Beckles and company;
we are all strugglers and also warriors for justice and we are making an observation that seem to be overlooked by even you and your company.
While we acknowledge that the token given by the Glasgow university to your committee for research and must repeat our gratitude; accountability is our priority and we are hoping that some detailed report be given to all of us in the Caribbean who eagerly await for the reparation machinery to be set in motion for all and I say all to benefit… not limited to universities and research faculty notwithstanding that research is indeed necessary our expectations should not be curtailed with this trickle down.
How that fella looking like monfared so ner…
I see commentary pro and con re the effort of Dr Beckles and UWI,, Much of the commentary from bogus names..I commend Dr Beckles for his effort even if half a loaf and a starting point..
Greetings Dr. Shillingford
I think we do commend Dr. Beckles for his efforts. He started a journey that was long overdue, but cannot end in 20 years. So, we are grateful to him, but must be unyielding with the perpetrators, as there are many who wish this to go away. You should note that I referred to Dr. Beckles as our Shujaa, Swahili for warrior, as this continues to be a battle, a veritable war! We as African descendants must be united in that battle, one that Jewish Holocaust survivors & people of Post WW11 Europe did not have to undergo. It’s indeed a start, to what is an arduous journey for Maafa descendants, but the current currency and past reparations value is way off kilter. Some of us are of the opinion that it was insulting that the University officials thought it somehow symbolic to use the £20 Million figure paid to the white slavers, but Dr. Beckles & team, you have started and you must remain resolute in order to stay the course. Our ancestors’ spirits are watching.
This is a good Start in an attempt to right the wrongs done by those animals that have the audacity to be so cruel to mankind, and think their generations will forever get away with this. First, there should be an education component that targets school carriculum to correct Europe’s teachings to include what they deliberately omitted; Africa’s contribution to humanity, education, inventions by Black People, and, to correct their teachings that Greeks were phylosophers when we know it is documented that their mass of phylosophy was forcibly stolen from Africa, particularly Egypt. We need this to bring about renewed confidence in our generations. To make mandatory for students to read/study books such as Stolen Legacy by George G M James (already included in UWI ed) among others. This should be one important component for all secondary schools by all means. This is a Start. Peace.
This article goes much further than it is giving. I FAILED TO COMPREHEND what is slavery. If you labour for some one and he provide you with accommodation,food,,clothing,power and light ect.what do you need money for.Those who feel responsibly and can manage their own affairs ran away.We have prosper too far forward to come back to old time.How and where did they acquire the works reffer to as slaves.I cannot come to the terms with the word slave. Under the sweat of thy brow thou shall live
This still doesn’t excuse you from candid reading and research. Please read meaningful contributions below by Nature Island Girl complete with link to comprehensive accounts on the current subject. Here’s the link to help us understand reparations that have been done even recently:
https://qz.com/1680558/for-slavery-reparations-the-us-can-look-to-post-holocaust-germany/
Thanks for the info and link.
Another point on use of Reparation funds –
I note that The terms of the agreement call for the University of Glasgow to provide £20 million to fund research to promote development initiatives to be jointly undertaken with The UWI over the NEXT TWO DECADES.
THIS IS £1 million every year for 20 years and note it is joint undertaking. I anticipate that University of Glasgow will get the lions Share
A great start. Except that the £20,000,000 in 1834 had a different spending power than today. Now the University of Glasgow is not Fort Knox nor should we be unrealistic. However, as a bare minimum the figure should more look like £75 -100 million to reflect the remorse and the loss we suffered.
Anything less seem that the Black Man is happy to receive trinkets (As a historian you should realize that history is repeating itself Prof. Beckles). NOTWITHSTANDING YOUR EFFORTS ARE STILL LAUDABLE.
UK Inflation Rate, £20,000,000 in 1834 to 2019
According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today’s prices in 2019 are 12,789.91% higher than average prices throughout 1834. The pound experienced an average inflation rate of 2.66% per year during this period, meaning the real value of a dollar decreased.
In other words, £20,000,000 in 1834 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £2,577,981,678.85 in 2019, a difference of £2,557,981,678.85 over 185 years.
Reparations shouldn’t be in a form of any money amount. However they could give us option to great universities and trade schools. Education is one of the areas in which we were suppressed the most.
Billions of Dollars in the hands of the wrong leaders is worthless to any nation.
As a first step I will compare this to people suffering from a so called Holocaust under Nazi rule in Europe.
Sorry
I can’t clap
20 million in 1834-35, is worth 15-16 billion today. The lack of support for Reparations by the caribbean Gov’ts and People, is forcing the Reparations Committee to accept pittance from the perpetrators of Inhumanness. Dr Beckles, Incarnated with the Mettle of Garvey, Eric Williams, Rodney and our African Spiritual ancestors, continue to break down the barriers that have historically kept us captive.
Hmmm, “The sum of £20 million was the amount paid to slave owners as reparations by the British government when it abolished slavery in 1834.”
Adjusting for inflation:
£20,000,000 in 1834 → £2,577,981,678.85 in 2019
This reparation information is important for people to know and the role of UWI and Dr Beckles to bring it about
Who is going to watch the money so that it does not wind up in the pockets of politicians?
An interesting article on reparations. It has been done.
https://qz.com/1680558/for-slavery-reparations-the-us-can-look-to-post-holocaust-germany/
The longer the perpetrator countries wait, the more the injustice increases. “Old injustices don’t simply disappear with time. Left unaddressed, they fuel the kind of division, shame, and resentment that, as America knows well, can divide a nation”. How much longer?
Our Caribbean leaders are bunch of paros, some of them. what is 20 million pounds for slavery?
This is only a start. Reparations to countries damaged by the evils done by whites during MAAFA, deserve much more. MAAFA,is a Swahili term for “Great Disaster”, centuries of Black Holocaust when millions of Africans were brutally kidnapped, packed like sardines into slave ships, forced into slave labour, raped, tortured & murdered, during & after months of the vile journey of captivity from Africa to the Caribbean & America. Compare $20 million for centuries of evil to the value of The Marshall Plan (The European Recovery Program, ERP) over $12 billion the US gave to aid Europe. (nearly $100 billion in 2016 US dollars) in economic assistance to help rebuild Western Europe after the end of World War II which lasted six (6) years! 1939-1945. Not including Jewish reparations. The difference here is black & white. Professor Beckles, our
Shujaa, you have momentum. Please DO NOT be swayed by these paltry pieces of silver, keep pushing. You know this is an ongoing battle. No apology yet.
A great start but a very small sum to pay for the stolen resources and the inhumane act committed against a people when you consider the wealth of Africa build Europe.Hope there is more to come and we use the little we get to better our societies.
AMEN! The first people have always been treated last. Just look at how our National Budget was passed. The Kalinago people got the least amount of financing for this coming year. 0.48 million which translates into 1% of the national budget. The Kalinago people are jewels which should be cherished and developed as we boast of their existence as selling points when we travel and promote the country. Meanwhile at home they are not respected.
Great start but a very small amount when you consider the resources and lives lost, our societies growth has been cheated because of the greatest inhumane treatment and robbery against a people.