Sir Lenny Henry: All black British people should be paid slavery reparations – The Telegraph

Comedian’s book supports case for UK to hand over £18 trillion in compensatory payments
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Sir Lenny Henry has argued that Britain should pay slavery reparations to the country’s black population.
The comedian has co-written a book, entitled The Big Payback, which supports the case for the UK to hand over £18 trillion in compensatory payments.
Sir Lenny has argued not only in favour of a vast cash transfer to Caribbean nations, but also for money to be given to individual black British citizens.
Writing in the forthcoming book, Sir Lenny considers the position that “all black British people … need reparations for slavery”, arguing that “we personally deserve money for the effects of slavery”.
A supporting section of the book, co-authored with Marcus Walker, a TV executive and charity boss, sets out the arguments and historical precedents for giving compensatory payments to individuals as well as states.
Most of Britain’s 2.4 million black population is of direct African descent, and therefore not the descendants of people enslaved in the Caribbean.
While this is not directly addressed in the book, the two authors argue that as modern racism was brought about by the slave trade, and all black people suffer the effects of racism, therefore all black people should be given redress.
Sir Lenny argues that “the reason we have racism today and also …why black British people are grossly over-represented in the prison population” – along with other disparities such as higher levels of black unemployment – are “all because of the transatlantic slave trade”.
The book argues that it is fair for Britain to pay reparations, despite no one alive today possibly having any direct involvement in the slavery, either as a perpetrator or victim.
The book, to be published by Faber on Oct 9, concludes that not only should the money be raised to hand out trillions in reparations, but that these payments can and should be used for “ridding the world of racism”.
Reparations must “dismantle the foundations” of Western society built on slavery and racism and make “new foundations”, the book argues. It says this can be done by the “redistribution” of power, and “changing how power is shared within countries and between countries”.
The book uses figures taken from the Brattle Report, a calculator by the Brattle Group, of how much Western powers owe to former colonies in the Caribbean.
Its total of $100 trillion was reached by attempting to quantify things like loss of liberty, mental pain and anguish, and also loss of potential wages suffered by slaves.
Sir Lenny’s book includes input from Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP, and Kehinde Andrews, Britain’s first black studies professor, who has in the past argued that Winston Churchill was the “perfect embodiment of white supremacy” and that “the British Empire was far worse than the Nazis”.
The release of the book comes amid a growing movement to pressure European nations into paying reparations to the members of Caricom (the Caribbean Community).
The 15-member states want former colonial powers to accept their “10-point plan” for reparations, which includes demands for not only financial compensation, but full formal apologies, debt relief and help with economic development and education.
The Telegraph previously revealed that Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, worked with Caricom when these demands were first drafted in 2013. He then advised on a potential legal case against Britain.
More recently, the African Union has joined the Caribbean and made its own calls for “meaningful reparations” from “former colonial powers”.
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