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Tag: reparations

  • Justice for reparations should not be reduced to money only – France’s Emmanuel Macron

    Justice for reparations should not be reduced to money only – France’s Emmanuel Macron

    Over the years, African leaders’ calls for reparations have mostly emphasised financial compensation for colonial exploitation and slavery, which have left deep economic scars.

    Leaders, including Ghana’s former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Kenya’s William Ruto, have emphasised financial compensation in reparations debates.

    However, French President Emmanuel Macron has a different opinion. He believes reparations should not be limited to financial compensation alone, as the damage caused by slavery can never be compensated for with just a cheque.

    He recommended that the truth be told about slavery, that artefacts and monuments taken away be returned, and that monuments and memorials be built to remember the victims.

    “Reparations, because this is also what it comes down to when we speak of justice, can take different forms, as I mentioned several days ago and as John Dramani Mahama has underlined on several occasions.

    History cannot be reduced to a simple accounting ledger. Making reparations is about placing importance on scientific and historical truth; building monuments, teaching, and researching. It means returning the works of art that were stolen during those periods,” he noted while speaking at the High-Level Consultative Conference on “Next Steps” under the United Nations Resolution on Enslaved Africans in Accra at the Kempinski Hotel on Thursday, June 18.

    Macron noted that reparations also involve addressing unresolved historical grievances, citing ongoing engagements with Haiti as an example.

    “Reparations also involve the ability to work out situations as we are currently doing with Haiti. It can be approached from multiple perspectives, but in no case should it be seen as an endpoint, a cheque written to bring the story to a close,” he said.

    The French leader maintained that the legacy of slavery remains a living history that must continue to be acknowledged through remembrance, dialogue, and efforts to make amends.

    “History will live on, and we must continue to bear its names, memories, and faces, and to make amends, make progress, and discuss the future,” he added.

    Macron also reaffirmed France’s commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at advancing historical recognition and reparative justice.

    “I would like to reiterate my commitment to stand with you. You can count on France,” he said.

    This High-Level Consultative Conference on “Next Steps” under the United Nations Resolution on enslaved Africans was announced in a statement issued by the Government Communications Spokesperson and Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, following an apology by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for the Holy See’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, which took place between the late 15th century and the late 19th century.

    In a speech delivered by Pope Leo XIV, he gave a historic apology for the Holy See’s role in the transatlantic slave trade on Monday, May 25, at the Vatican during the presentation of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence”, describing the act as “a wound in Christian memory”.

    “It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon”, the Pope said.

    In reaction to the Pope’s apology, the government, in a statement on May 28, 2026, welcomed the apology, describing it as “an act of moral courage” and announced Ghana’s hosting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Historical Justice, Remembrance, and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from June 17–19.

    “The Government of the Republic of Ghana warmly welcomes the historic statement by His Holiness Pope Leo XI acknowledging and apologising for the role played by the Holy See in legitimising and sustaining the enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade.

    “His Holiness Pope Leo XI’s apology is particularly significant and refreshing, as it demonstrates a willingness to confront difficult historical truths in the interest of justice, understanding and reconciliation, ” parts of the statement read.

    It went on to highlight the hardships Africans were subjected to under the slave system and the indelible prints it has left on them until now. According to the government, the Pope’s acknowledgement of the sufferings of Africans during the slavery era helps expedite the healing and reconciliation process.

    “For five centuries, millions of Africans and people of African descent endured unimaginable suffering and dehumanisation through systems of racialised chattel enslavement whose effects continue to shape societies and communities across the world today.”

    “Honest recognition of this painful history remains an essential step toward healing, reconciliation and a more just future”, the government continued.

  • Review of “Reparations” by Kwesi Pratt Jnr.

    Review of “Reparations” by Kwesi Pratt Jnr.

    A feature by Arthur Kobina Kennedy

    Agooo!

    Comrade Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has delivered a powerful Pan-African clarion call for reparations. Reparations is a bold, unapologetic 152-page demand for reparative justice — not only for slavery but also for colonialism.

    The strength of this book is evident in how much it influenced President Mahama’s 2025 UN address, a speech that was hailed across the African continent and diaspora.

    My favourite chapters are Chapters 3 and 4. In Chapter 3, titled The Case for Reparations, Mr Pratt writes, “On a moral level, it is pretty straightforward. The transatlantic slave trade led to the kidnapping and forced labour of over 12 million Africans, along with countless deaths.

    After that, colonialism brought even more misery: taking land, forced labour, stealing resources, destroying cultures, and mass killings. These were not just mistakes; they were deliberate actions by governments and institutions looking to profit off African lives.”

    Elsewhere, he observes, “Reparations are also about reshaping the story. They take history back from those who oppressed and give it back to those who were oppressed.”

    Mr Pratt supports his argument with strong historical precedents, including the billions paid by Germany to Israel and Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, by the United States to Japanese Americans, and by Western nations to indigenous populations. He notes that the African Union’s calls for reparations are grounded on these very precedents.

    He transforms the call for reparations from a purely African demand into a global movement by citing the case of India, which lost an estimated USD 45 trillion to Britain between 1765 and 1938.

    He insightfully identifies the debtors of reparations as “states, corporations, religious orders, and wealthy families whose fortunes are built on the backs of enslaved Africans, colonized people, and pillaged resources.”

    Mr. Pratt also explores possible models of reparations — including cash payments, debt cancellation, and investment in infrastructure, technology, and education.

    Particularly compelling is his call for the establishment of Pan-African universities to educate and empower the continent’s youth. He proposes that reparations should be both continental and diasporic, estimating the cost at $2 trillion in slave labour and between $4–6 trillion for colonial resource extraction.

    However, I noted two major omissions and a few cautions in this otherwise commendable work.

    First, the book overlooks the Arab slave trade, which lasted longer and may have extracted even more labour from Africa. Secondly, it does not adequately address the complicity of African interior empires and coastal elites who became indispensable partners of European slave traders. These elites transformed cities such as Anomabu, Cotonou, and Dakar into wealthy trading hubs that rivalled Liverpool, Charleston, and Savannah in their time.

    Additionally, I am concerned about accountability for reparations funds. If some elites in Ghana could misappropriate Covid-19 relief funds, and Nigerian kleptocrats could loot recovered Abacha assets, who can guarantee that reparations funds would not suffer the same fate?

    Despite these minor blemishes, Comrade Pratt has written a classic that deserves to stand beside Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost, Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America, and Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is a vital contribution to global justice and should be required reading for anyone who believes in moral restitution and historical truth.

    In salute, I say, “Comrade Kwesi Pratt, Aluta Continua, Victoria e certa!”

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana

  • Reparation: California’s Blacks to receive $1.2 million payments

    Reparation: California’s Blacks to receive $1.2 million payments

    Economists who are advising California‘s task force for reparations have estimated that it will cost $1.2 million per Black resident, which can be distributed over a lifetime although the details have not been finalized yet.

    California is one of the several states that are discussing the feasibility of providing economic reparations to Black Americans whose ancestors were harmed by the Atlantic slave trade and its aftermath, despite the fact that California was designated as a free state when it joined the Union.

    The movement for reparations gained significant momentum in 2020 after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, but it is still a controversial issue both economically and culturally. California, known for its progressive policies, has recently arrived at an economic evaluation.

    “Economists advising California’s task force on reparations have, at long last, released an estimate of the damages caused by the state’s history of slavery and its many vestiges of white supremacy: up to $1.2 million per Black resident over a lifetime,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday. 

    Reverend Tony Pierce calls for more than $5 million in reparations for each Black Californian at a meeting of the California Reparations Task Force on March 29, 2023. (YouTube screenshot from California Department of Justice channel)

    REPARATIONS FOR BLACK CALIFORNIANS COULD COST $800B, ECONOMISTS WARN

    California’s reparations task force is preparing to recommend that the Golden State apologize and issue “down payments” to Black residents as a way to make amends for slavery and discrimination, although the state explicitly outlawed slavery when it joined the Union in 1850.

    The task force, created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, on Monday published more than 500 pages of documents that indicate it plans to recommend California issue a formal apology for slavery and racism and consider payments of varying amounts to eligible Black Californians.

    The Chronicle suggested this massive number was merely a “rough, partial estimate of what it would cost the state to compensate Black people for that legacy of harm, according to a draft of the task force’s final report.” 

    The paper quoted the report directly.

    “Rather, it is an economically conservative initial assessment of what losses, at a minimum, the State of California caused or could have prevented, but did not,” the report stated. “(T)he Legislature would then have to decide how to translate loss-estimates into proposed reparations amounts.”

    The Chronicle added further that the process is still ongoing.

    “The panel is preparing its final report to send to the Legislature, which will include a recommendation on the amount and form of cash payments,” the outlet wrote. “Task force members are expected to vote Saturday at Mills College in Oakland on whether to adopt the draft report, the capstone of its work after two years of tense meetings and in-depth research.”

    Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations to black Americans in Sacramento, California, on Sept. 30, 2020. (Office of the Governor via AP)

    The Chronicle observed that next task at hand would be figuring out the massive economic implications of this reparations program.

    ‘Whatever the task force decides, the Legislature and Newsom will have the final say. If reparations are approved, state officials would have to figure out how to pay for the program,” the outlet wrote. “An economist for the reparations panel has said the plan could cost California more than $800 billion; the state has a roughly $297 billion annual budget.”

    Despite being nearly three times the state’s overall budget, a member of the task force in April dismissed concerns about the total cost, saying it was as the “least important piece” of their proposal.

    “It’s important,” she said, “but it’s the least important in terms of being able to get to a point in our country’s history and in California’s history where we recognize that the harm cuts across multiple areas and domains and that the repair needs to align with that.”

    The Chronicle noted that one key aspect is that the program does not distribute reparations merely for slavery, but for other economic and cultural issues seen as the legacy of slavery itself such as “mass incarceration and over-policing in Black communities,” “discrimination in housing,” and “health harms, including unequal access to health care, greater exposure to environmental pollution and discrimination from medical workers.”

    In April, Detroit’s reparations task force met. Kofi Kenyatta, a senior policy director of UpTogether told the task force: “Reparations can mean a lot of things but it must include, no strings attached, direct cash to Black people and systemic change throughout all levels.”