The term reparations, first used in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, reflected the debt that the Allies imposed on Germany for instigating World War I. Reparations are the only global political narrative uniting Africans regardless of location. They continued beyond the “outlawing” of enslavement, persisted during colonialism, accelerated during state-enforced apartheid, and remain to the present day. These crimes began in 1441, the first year that witnessed the theft of Africans from Africa. Currently many are pressing claims for reparations for the slave trade, slavery in the Americas, and its aftermath. Reparations are compensatory mechanisms devised by victims of crimes against humanity paid by nations, corporations, and/or individuals committing those crimes and given to victims and/or their descendants to begin the process of reparatory justice.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |