Allow me space in your newspaper to share some of the precursories on reparations.
Alfred L. Brophy on the Utility and Disadvantages of reparations in “The Cultural War over Reparations for Slavery,” took time and to put some thoughts on reparations.
In his observations, he asserts African- Americans suffered the injustices of slavery, but much as this can be so stated, they also offer hope of realising the contributions these African-Americans have made to the American economy and society and by larger margins the disadvantages they suffered.
Reparations offer the hope of restoring justice, to the extent of what can be done to some of the worst crimes of our history. These precursories of histories and the life they have lived help us all to build a better future.
Building on the models, theories and philosophies of reparations by those distinguished proponents such as Alfred L. Brophy, when he looked from the black to the white Americans, clearly, indications are such that payments made to victims of injustices do not pay off.
A SYSTEM CANNOT BE DESTROYED FROM OUTSIDE UNLESS IT HAS BEEN
DESTROYED FROM WITHIN.
From my point of view and with regard to the proponents of payments of reparations to people; in part or colloquially and/or generally, some tribes of Namibia feel they suffered the brutal killings of their tribe by the German forces during the 1904 massacre.
In the same period, the Hereros, Namas and Damaras, as well as the Aawambo tribes cascaded through the doors of similar slaughterhouses.
The tribes of Zambia and those of present Zambezi Region; South African tribes in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 suffered similar treatments. Kavango tribes under the hands of Germans also went through similar gloom of history.
Other African and European tribes and nations as well fell victims from those holding the hammer to hit the nail home on other nations, and more particularly who suffered worldwide injustices at the hands of aggressive nations.
NO ONE HAS EVER CONQUERED THE PAST AND NO ONE WILL EVER CONQUER
THE FUTURE
Contrastingly and more so, the new generations of the German people in Africa and abroad are startled to hear what their ancestors did in Africa; as they themselves remain unsupportive of such a evil history.
In any natural law as the case may be, a son or a daughter can never be held liable and punished of the evil that their parents committed centuries ago.
The aborigines of Australia were hunted down and killed like animals, but no reparations were made to this day. No tribe or nation is built on one bloodstream, but each tribe or nation has the blood of another nation in it.
Today Germans have been committed in joining the other nations of the globe to support the economies of weaker nations and Namibia is a seasoned partner of Germany in all the past ages to date and even to unforeseen timelines of the existence of the two nations.
Some people of German origin who migrated to Namibia are now not Germans but Namibians and so are other Namibians who are in other countries of the globe being nations of those countries and not Namibians anymore.
The call for reparations of any kind is divisive and has hurdles in creating peace and stability of any nation. In Ralph Ellison’s own words as he may be paraphrased, he has this to tell: “with hope, we can all move away from the centuries of human suffering and wasted opportunities with a commitment to improve the future. We can struggle for the future to overcome the past.”
In any case there are significant costs to reparations of any kind. Reparations tend to divide people along racial lines, for recalling past tragedies are, indeed, painful.
Beyond recalling the past tragedies, however, reparations force government to draw further lines on the basis of race. Many reparationists in all instances see reparations not as a way of achieving integration and a colour-blind society; but viewed it as more further racial, tribal or national hurdles to the livelihoods of even innocent people.
Lastly, Eric Yamamoto, a reparationist takes a serious swipe on the disadvantages of reparations. Quoted directly from his pen he acknowledges the potential of reparations to lead to feelings of victimology and political backlash. Victimhood is not just a mindset. There are other problems that come with it. Reparation talk can be distracting.
Reparations may cause people to focus on past injustices, at a time when the energy should be focused positively somewhere else.
Selected few countries on previous payments of reparations are set below as follows:
France from Haiti
Haiti gained independence from France in 1804.
The French returned 21 years later with 12 warships armed with 500 cannons, and demanded that Haiti compensate France for its loss of men and slave colony.
In exchange for French recognition of Haiti as a sovereign republic, France forced Haiti to pay 150 million francs (the modern equivalent of US$21 billion). In 1838, France agreed to reduce the debt to 60 million francs to be paid over a period of 30 years.
United States
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Passage of this law came 8½ months before Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation.
The act provided up to $300 (approximately $7,000 today) in compensation to former slave owners for each enslaved African freed; voluntary colonisation of former slaves to locations outside the United States; and payments of up to $100 ($2,300 today) for each person choosing emigration.
Over the following nine months, a board of commissioners approved 930 petitions, completely or in part, from former owners for the freedom of 2 989 to 3 100 formerly enslaved individuals.
Britain
In 1833 Britain’s Parliament finally abolished slavery in the British Caribbean, Mauritius and the Cape.
The slave trade had been abolished in 1807, but it took another 26 years to effect the emancipation of the people who were enslaved.
The British government paid out £20 million to compensate some 3 000 families for the loss of their “property” when slave-ownership was abolished in Britain’s colonies in 1833.
After the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the U.S., London reimbursed American Southern planters more than a million dollars for having encouraged Black people to run away from bondage in wartime.
France
The French revolutionary government in 1790 abolished slavery, but Napoleon restored it in 1803. In 1818, the French government decided to abolish slavery again, but it was not put in effect until 1830.
By 1848, all enslaved people in the French Caribbean (Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Croix, St. Bartholomew, Tortuga, and French Guiana) were freed based on French abolitionist, Victor Schoelcher’s emancipation proposals.
Slave owners were compensated with a total of 126 million francs, approximately US$16 billion today.
Puerto Rico
On March 22, 1873, the Spanish National Assembly finally abolished slavery in Puerto Rico.
The owners were compensated with 35 million pesetas (approximately US$200 000) per enslaved black person from Spain.
However; the enslaved black men, women and children were required to continue working for three more years.
Vincent Ntema Sazita (PhD)
081 789 4100