According to the British "Guardian" reported on November 27, the Barbados government is considering seeking compensation from a British parliamentarian whose ancestor is a slave owner, Richard Drax, and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley will hold talks with Drax on the matter in the near future. If communication is ineffective, Barbados may take legal action.
Screenshot of the Guardian report
Drax was a lawmaker from Britain's ruling Conservative Party, and his ancestor, James Drax, who was involved in the slave trade in the 17th century, was one of the first Britons to colonize Barbados. He was also one of the founders of the plantation slave economy in the Caribbean, establishing large plantations in Barbados and Jamaica.
James Drax owned at least two slave ships, called the Samuel and the Hope, who kidnapped blacks from Africa and trafficked them to Barbados and forced them to work on the plantations, at most with about 327 slaves at one time. The Caribbean Community Compensation Commission estimates that as many as 30,000 slaves have died on the Drax family plantations over more than two hundred years.
Infographic: The Drax family's former plantation site in Barbados
It was not until Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807 and abolished slavery in 1833 that the Drax freed the plantation slaves, but the Drax family had already made a fortune through more than two centuries of exploitation.
The Guardian pointed out that Richard Drax, 64, and his family are now worth at least 150 million pounds and not only still hold 250 hectares of the original plantation in Barbados, but also own 125 properties in Dorset, England, and a manor and ranch in Yorkshire.
Infographic: British Conservative MP Richard Drax
According to reports, Drax has recently traveled to Barbados for private talks with the country's Prime Minister Motley. In addition to negotiating compensation, the Barbados government is considering converting the Drax family plantation into a museum and making much of the land available to low-income people for housing. It was proposed that Drax bear part of the cost of the renovation.
Trevor Prescod, a Barbados MP and chairman of the National Reparations Working Group, said Barbados would take a case against the Drax family in an international court if the issue was not resolved, "This case will involve hundreds of years of slavery, so the compensation awarded may far exceed the value of the land." ”
Prescott emphasized that the Drax family owned slave ships and had special personnel to kidnap blacks from Africa to plantations, "I have no doubt that they did it because they never thought we were equal people." We are human beings, but they treat us as slaves. ”
The Caribbean Community countries have been seeking to get former colonial powers and institutions that profited from slavery to pay reparations, but this is the first time that a specific family has been singled out and claimed against them.
David Comissiong, Barbados' ambassador to the Caribbean Community, said that in addition to the compensation required from the Drax family, other families whose ancestors benefited from slavery were also on the list, including the British Crown. This is one of the highest-level matters before the Government of Barbados.
"Drax is now very wealthy and their family is at the centre of the entire history of slavery in Barbados and has a profound historical responsibility. This process has only just begun, and we are confident that the negotiations can proceed smoothly. If that doesn't work, we have other methods, like litigation. "Although not as prominent as the Drax family, other families have been involved." The trip to the claims has commenced and the Barbados Cabinet will address the issue. ”
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