#Barbados To Make British MP Pay Reparations For Family's Role In Slavery

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Barbados To Make British MP Pay Reparations For Family's Role In Slavery - Travel Noire

Richard Drax, a conservative British MP is due to pay reparations for the role of his ancestor’s role in slavery. The MP for South Dorset recently traveled to Barbados for a private meeting with the country’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley. According to the Guardian, Mottley’s cabinet is laying out the next steps, which include legal action in the event that no agreement is reached with Drax.

The Guardian also shares that, Drax’s ancestor, Sir James Drax, was one of the first Englishmen to colonize Barbados in the early 1600s. Reports show that he part-owned at least two slave ships, the Samuel and the Hope.The family also owned a plantation in Jamaica which they later sold in the 19th century.

The Drax family were the first sugar plantation owners in Barbados and Jamaica. The family is one of the few who were pioneers in the early stages of the British slave economy in the 17th century. In later generations the family still owned plantations and enslaved people until the 1830s.

Adding to this, in 2020 the Observer revealed that the MP concealed his inheritance of the 250-hectare (617 acres) Drax Hall plantation. It only surfaced after official documents revealed him as the owner.

Given that in 2021 Barbados became a republic, there is growing resistance and scrutiny of the effects of colonial activity on the island. This is an effect that has caused Caribbean-wide reassessment of the relationship with past colonial powers.

Related: Barbados Announces Creation Of A Transatlantic Slavery Museum

Barbados Wants To Make Richard Drax, British MP Pay Reparations:

Rectifying wrong:

The Barbados ambassador to Caricom and deputy chairman,David Comissiong, shared that other families less prominent than the Drax family are being considered for reparations. He mentioned that within these families lies the British royal family.

“Other families are involved, though not as prominently as the Draxes. This reparations journey has begun. The matter is now for the cabinet of Barbados. It is in motion. It is being dealt with.”

Furthering the discussion:

Following the abolishment of slavery in Barbados, the Draxes received £4,293 12s 6d in 1836 for freeing 189 enslaved people, an estimated amount worth £3 million today. Barbados MP Trevor Prescod, chairman of Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, stated, “If the issue cannot be resolved we would take legal action in the international courts. The case against the Drax family would be for hundreds of years of slavery, so it’s likely any damages would go well beyond the value of the land.”

Furthering the discussion about the effects this has on the island, Prescod went on to explain that “The Drax family had slave ships. They had agents in the African continent and kidnapped black African people to work on their plantations here in Barbados. I have no doubt that what would have motivated them was that they never perceived us to be equal to them, that we were human beings. They considered us as chattels.”

Related: The Republic Of Jamaica? It Could Become A Reality by 2025

[vavuska]

Fake news here:

Barbados recently (30th november 2021) became a republic within the commonwealth instead of just an independent state. Since then Barbados has looked into ways of doing right to the people that were enslaved back in the colonial ages. Part of this is building museums about the atrocities, another part is attempting to get people to pay back reparations for their ancestors roles in slavery.

They've not pushed to get reparations previously, as the British monarch was still their head of state. With that no longer being the case, the Barbados PM Mia Mottley is calling for 1 specific family to pay reparations. Drax Hall was the largest slave plantation in Barbados and the only one still in the hands of the family of the original slavers. Its current owner is Richard Drax, the Conservative MP for South Dorset. This is who they're asking to pay these reparations. They want him to give the land back so they can build on it, and otherwise there's talk of them sueing for money instead.

The chairman of Barbados's national commission on reparations (David Comissiong) has talked about how other families might be asked to pay reparations too. In particular he mentioned the British royal family/ other relative of Queen Elizabeth, none of which is happening now

The only reason Cumberbatch is involved is the Telegraph used his name to ask whether he was involved so they could get clicks. Cumberbatch or his family, aren't involved in the slightest. Other newspapers than ran with this clickbait and made it much larger. Here is the only thing that's said about Cumberbatch

When asked if descendants of the Cumberbatch estate would be pursued, Mr Comissiong said: “This is at the earliest stages. We are just beginning. A lot of this history is only really now coming to light.”

They are not actually targetting him, Barbados in general is just making an effort to reclaim land that was used as slave plantations and use it (or the funds if they come to an agreement) to fund infrastructure.

The article linked here is just fully clickbait without doing much themselves, and intentionally using charged words like "reparations" to get clicks.

[ausetkmt]

This Oscar-Nominated Actor May Have To Pay Reparations For Family's Link To Slavery In Barbados - Travel Noire

Barbados is cracking down on the wealthy descendants of slave owners and seeking reparations.

What we know

As part of the work of the country’s National Task Force on Reparations, actor Benedict Cumberbatch may have to pay for his family’s historical role in the slave trade, according to Insider.

In the 18th Century, an ancestor of his named Abraham Cumberbatch owned the Cleland plantation, on which he had 250 enslaved people working until 1834 when slavery was abolished.

With the plantation, the Cumberbatch family made a fortune in the sugar industry off the backs of the enslaved. The family even received a large payment from the British government after the abolition of slavery–£6,000, which equates to around $1 million today.

The Barbados National Task Force on Reparations findings

The Barbados National Task Force on Reparations previously focused on seeking reparations from wealthy institutions that profited greatly from slavery. However, it recently targeted British Conservative MP Richard Drax, whose family owned of a large sugar plantation on the island.

According to deputy chairman of the task force, David Comissiong, Drax, and other families could face litigation if they fail to pay reparations.

“It is now a matter that is before the government of Barbados,” he told the Guardian. “It is being dealt with at the highest level.”

Other families included

The Cumberbatch family may be forced to pay reparations next. Comissiong did not rule it out, stating, “This is at the earliest stages. We are just beginning. A lot of this history is only really now coming to light.”

Benedict Cumberbatch has publicly acknowledged and spoken about his family’s involvement in the slave trade.

Slavery connections in real life?

In 2013, he played the role of a slave owner in the Oscar-winning film “12 Years a Slave.” In 2006, he played the role of William Pitt the Younger in “Amazing Grace.” The film was about the battle to abolish slavery in Great Britain.

Cumberbatch is said to have considered the role a “sort of apology” for his family’s history as slave owners, according to the Daily Mail.

The publication also reported that Cumberbatch’s mother had warned him not to use his real last name in his career as an actor as it could potentially make him a target for reparations campaigns.

Related: Barbados To Make British MP Pay Reparations For Family’s Role In Slavery