December 12th 2023.
After King Charles was praised for his 2022 comments during a trip to Rwanda that it was time for England to acknowledge the impact of slavery, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley claimed the island nation was owed $4.9 trillion by England. This was a reduction from the previous claim of $24 trillion, which she had asserted was based on a “standard definition” of damage.
At an event honoring Barbados' first poet laureate, Mottley said, “We’re not expecting that the reparatory damages will be paid in a year, or two, or five because the extraction of wealth and the damages took place over centuries. But we are demanding that we be seen and that we are heard.”
Suleiman Bulbulia, a member of the Republican Status Transition Advisory Committee, wrote an op-ed for The Guardian in 2021 that provided context for the conversation about reparations. He noted that Barbados had been a colonial subject of England for 396 years and much of that time functioned as a “slave society.” He also said that the impact of Black Lives Matter and the protests resulting in a reckoning with American history had reached Barbados, resulting in the removal of a statue of Lord Nelson in National Heroes Square in the country’s capital city of Bridgetown.
Bulbulia quoted Professor Hilary Beckles, a Barbadian historian and the vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies. Beckles wrote, “Barbados was the birthplace of British slave society and the most ruthlessly colonized by Britain’s ruling elites. They made their fortunes from sugar produced by an enslaved, ‘disposable’ workforce, and this great wealth secured Britain’s place as an imperial superpower and caused untold suffering.”
Mottley recognized the courage of King Charles for delivering his remarks and believed England’s foreign secretary would be guided on the matter of restitution for the country’s time under British colonial rule. She said, “I’m not going to get into the details of our conversation, but suffice [it] to say I think the foreign secretary will take his lead from his majesty.” Mottley went on to add, “I want to salute the King for having the courage to recognize this is a conversation that the time has come to have.”
The issue of reparations is a complex one that will involve difficult conversations and negotiations. However, it is clear that Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is calling for England to start a dialogue about making restitution for their colonial past. It is also clear that she is grateful for King Charles for having the courage to bring this important issue to light.
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