Why Reparations For African Enslavement is a Trade Union Issue
by Steve Cushion
David Olusoga said:
“The Drax family are one of the few who were pioneers in the early stages of the British slave economy back in the 17th century and, generations later, still owned plantations and enslaved people at the end of British slavery in the 1830s … the Drax dynasty were able to generate extraordinary wealth through the cultivation of sugar by enslaved Africans”
Barbados MP and Special Envoy on Reparations and Economic Enfranchisement Trevor Prescod is asking that Sir Richard Drax return Drax Hall Plantation to the people of Barbados. He said:
“Our people suffered a lot as a result of improper nourishment during the period of slavery and some of the major diseases that we have had to go through today derive from malnutrition and all types of challenges that we faced as a people. Some of the diseases that we face apart from the foods and so on were diseases that came because of the interaction between African people and the Europeans. However, the 21st Century must be the century where we call for justice against slavery and reparations. There must be a compensatory approach to assist these people who are still living in mass poverty, illiteracy, poor public health, and whose development is being blocked because of the legacy of slavery”.