A strong and unprecedented act. An aristocratic British family will apologize and pay reparations on behalf of their ancestors who owned 1,004 slaves in the 19th century on the island of Grenada, a former British possession in the Caribbean, it reports Saturday. The Guardian.
The Trevelyan family agreed last week to travel to the Caribbean, where his family owned six sugar plantations, to issue a public apology and plan a first-ever reparation payment. At the moment, 42 members of this family are signatories to the letter.
“We want to lead by example, hoping that others will follow us,” explains John Dower, a member of this family.
“The Damage of Slavery Continues”
The apology letter to be read by the Trevelyans begins: “We, the undersigned, write to apologize on behalf of the acts done by our ancestors in enslaving their ancestors.”
“Slavery was and still is unacceptable and disgusting. Its harm continues to this day. We do not know the involvement of our ancestors in this practice,” the letter adds.
The Treveyans are calling on the British executive to act in turn and offer “appropriate reparations” to Caribbean governments, including through Grenada’s National Reparations Commission.
The family paid for the abolition of slavery “in exchange for compensation”
This Briton discovered, with one of his relatives, the story of the Trevelyans in 2016 consulting a database on slavery out of curiosity. They discover to their surprise that his family is worried.
“I was beyond surprised, I was overwhelmed,” he says.
“Apparently no one in my family knew. It had been erased from our family history,” he says.
In 1835, the family received 26,898 pounds (29,945 euros) as compensation, after the abolition of slavery, the equivalent of 20 million pounds today (22 million euros). The released men, women and children, on the other hand, receive nothing. For John Dower, the acts of his ancestors are comparable to “crimes against humanity”.
a welcome decision
John Dower now hopes King Charles III will apologize to the people of the Caribbean for the royal family’s involvement in the slave trade. He also wants to do more and thinks of a way to “help the people of Granada to improve their lives.”
The Trevelyan family’s decision was welcomed by the Chairman of the Barbados National Reparations Task Force, Trevor Prescod. “This is an example to follow,” he said.
The Barbados government is currently campaigning for redress for the descendants of slaveholders. Several British families have already apologized on behalf of their ancestors.
Source: BFM TV
