Will Benedict Cumberbatch’s family have to make up to Barbados? The island’s government, which recently freed itself from the British crown by becoming a republic, is leading a campaign to obtain redress for the descendants of slaves. The family of the British actor, whose ancestors owned a sugar cane plantation in the 18th century, is thus in the crosshairs of Barbados.
David Commissiong, vice president of the national reparations commission, indicated this on December 30 to the daily telegraph be in the “early stages” of the process to claim damages and have not yet shed all the light on this story.
Repair
David Denny, secretary general of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, has estimated in the newspaper columns.
“Any descendants of white plantation owners who profited from slavery must pay reparations, including the Cumberbatch family,”
The Cleland Plantation, owned by the actor’s ancestors, housed 250 slaves at the time. When slavery was abolished in 1833, the British government compensated wealthy British traders. Benedict Cumberbatch’s ancestors thus received 6,000 pounds, which today means 3.6 million pounds (about 4 million euros), when his plantation ceased its activity.
“Heinous atrocity”
Benedict Cumberbatch has never made a mystery of his family’s slave past. In an interview conducted in 2007, and broadcast in 2014 by the New York Timeshe said his mother had urged him not to use his real name in a professional setting, lest he become the target of reparation lawsuits brought by descendants of slaves.
In 2013, Benedict Cumberbatch played a slave owner in Steve McQueen’s film, 12 years a slave. He also played the role of an abolitionist prime minister, the British William Pitt the Younger. in the film amazing gracein 2006. The actor then saw some form of redemption for his family.
Barbados, like other Caribbean islands, is now trying to come to terms with its colonial past. Invited in November 2021 to witness Barbados transition to become a republic, Charles, then still Prince of Wales, spoke of “the terrible atrocity of slavery, forever tainting our histories.”
Source: BFM TV
