One day before a prominent slaveholding family extended an apology to the Black Guyanese community for their historical involvement in slavery, President Irfaan Ali strongly criticized the descendants of European traders of enslaved Africans.
The 43-year-old leader pointed out that these descendants had wildly profited from the suffering of Africans who were subjected to enslavement after being stolen from Africa and dropped on the territories of South America.
On Thursday, Aug. 24, Ali proposed that these families, who had amassed their generational wealth through the trading and exploitation of human lives, should provide reparations to the descendants of the enslaved people. Furthermore, he suggested that the ancestors of these families be posthumously held accountable for committing crimes against humanity.
Related: ‘I Felt Ashamed’: BBC Reporter Offers Over $120K In Reparations, Formal Apology After Learning Her Family Owned Sugar Plantations
One such figure is John Gladstone.
Gladstone was a 19th-century Scottish plantation owner known for his sugar and coffee plantations. He is also the father of four-time British Prime Minister William Gladstone.
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Despite never setting foot in Guyana or the neighboring West Indian islands, he owned more than 2,500 enslaved people in the South American country and Jamaica, some of whom worked on the plantations.
Last week, Charles Gladstone led a contingent of six descendants of John Gladstone who traveled from the United Kingdom to Guyana to apologize for their family’s participation in slavery.
“It is with deep shame and regret that we acknowledge our ancestors’ involvement in this crime, and with heartfelt sincerity, we apologize to the descendants of the enslaved in Guyana,” he said Friday during a ceremony at the University of Guyana in Georgetown. “In doing so, we acknowledge slavery’s continuing impact on the daily lives of many.”
During the…
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