The Illogicality of Reparations
Calls for governments of Western nations like the UK and USA to pay the debts of transatlantic slavery and European colonisation through reparations are ever-present. The justification for reparations is the debt owed to those whose ancestry derives from the colonies or slave plantations, particularly Blacks and Asians, who claim to reap the historical injustices today in the poverty of wealth. Empire and slavery have formed the foundations of civilisation, not just in Europe but across the globe in every continent. Hence, this discussion is more than simply the ignorance of Western oppression but of global cadence. But how could this work?
The simple answer is – it wouldn’t. The very idea of using government revenue (taxpayer’s money) to essentially ‘pay off’ historical injustices by giving funds to potential descendants of colonial subjects or slaves is illogical. It raises several more important questions.
Where would the money come from?
Who would be expected to pay?
Who would thus receive the money?
Would this be done on a case-by-case analysis of ‘worthy’ individuals?
How much money should be taken?
Should the money be evenly divided in communist style or means-tested?
If it is means tested, surely that means well-off Blacks and Asians do not require reparations?
If we are segregating coloured compensation against white payers, is this not discriminatory?
Do we then go as far back as the Roman Empire and say Europeans should be compensated?
These questions would raise even more questions, and though they have much to answer for, they merely claim that there is a lack of understanding and clear awareness of the problems reparations can cause, not only socially but economically. If we are to begin with government payouts, as that’s where reparation protestors demand money from, we are effectively asking for taxpayers’ money. Many of these taxpayers are, first and foremost, ethnically diverse. So, with careless thinking, money will be taxed from Blacks and Asians only to be given back to those who supposedly live in historical injustices. If not, then the alternative is a ‘white tax’, which poses a burden on working white citizens to pay more from their wages for a history they have no responsibility to, whilst falsely victimising entire ethnic groups. Even then, who is to say which white man or woman descended from a colonial officer who wasn’t wealthy and one who was? Or one that actively repressed colonial subjects? Or a slaveholder that was less violent compared to one that was? So, if we are asking to look down ancestral routes, it proposes a wholly challenging task for the government to figure out who needs reparations based on whom they have descended from. Who knows that some Blacks and Asians may have descended from a coloniser or slave owner like Sunny Hostin from The View? Should they provide a reparation, therefore, to others? Is Sunny Hostin now demanding reparations, and is she willing to pay?
Then, it requires an exploration as to who should be compensated. To take a random figure of £1000 of compensation per family, for instance, how might this look for a small working-class black/Asian family in London? The average monthly mortgage payment in London in 2022 was £749, so we paid off that and have some money left over for the monthly shop and bills. Then, we move on and pat ourselves on the back for the good we have done. It certainly does not undo the history, nor does it affect the small family in any given sense other than alleviating a few weeks of finances. In the long term, it would do nothing. Imagine how much would be taken out of taxpayer’s money to provide £1000 per compensated family. Would this family truly feel satisfied for supposed historical injustices, and would that figure in any way change their economic situation? Any more money and innocent taxpayers are being robbed. Any less, and it shames those who are being compensated. As Margaret Thatcher said, ‘The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money’.
On the other hand, consider the ultra-celebrity rich like Oprah Winfrey, a self-made billionaire ($3 billion net worth), or millionaire politician Rishi Sunak (£650 million). Would $1000 for their ancestral routes make a difference to their current situations? Might it make them feel better for the historical injustices compensated? Surely, this money might be better placed elsewhere, like in public services, employment, or wages. If Sunak and Winfrey reap the historical injustices of slavery and European colonialism, their combined net worth of £2.5 billion does not testify to it.
Some may argue that £1000 is a lot of money, which it rightfully is. But that doesn’t grow on trees; it comes from somewhere, and that is the taxpayer. Charging innocent people who are distant from the colonial and slave trade history is unfair and unjust. To total £1000 per black/Asian in Britain (around 8 million), would equal to £8 billion. If we reduce that to £500 per ethnic person in Britain, it will still amount to £4 billion. Read those amounts again. Is it worth it?
The call for reparations, like the decolonisation of history and the use of ‘woke’ and inclusive language, is a child-like cry for attention and middle-class guilt. It does not do well for anyone in the long term or the future. It is famously known that ‘money doesn’t solve everything’, so why seek it here? Politicians are far removed from these historical periods and were most likely not even born themselves, so why should they personally take up the burden to apologise for the past? There are several cases of individuals who may have suffered a great deal from colonial subjugation, or from working on the plantations or enduring racial segregation. It is a moral wrong to claim oppression and historical injustice in Western nations. They are a past generation who faced the reality of suffering and perhaps could have benefitted at the time with some compensation. The generations today do not face any inequalities in the eyes of the laws or constitution on the grounds of race or ethnicity. Slavery is still a continuum today, with 7 million Africans enslaved by Africans and 29 million Asians enslaved by Asians. We all talk of the Chinese child workers. Long before European expansion, some of the vastest empires were the Mongols, the Mughals, the Ottomans and pre-modern African kingdoms. Colonised subjects often collaborated with the colonisers in carrying out their civilising mission. So, what historical injustices are to be compensated?
Author: Shiven Chudasama, SAFAF Member and Queen Mary’s London Student