About
Reparations and Reparative Justice
What are reparations?
International law defines reparations as a process by which one state agrees to deliver a series of payments to another for abuses committed in a range of different circumstances, often those committed in times of war.
Especially in light of the landmark work of Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, the term reparations has become closely associated with processes seeking to heal the economic, physical political, emotional, mental, harms of European imperialism – the period of five hundred years between the mid-1400s to 1900s which saw the political oppression and race-based abuse of peoples across the modern Global South.
Today, the CARICOM Reparations Commission serves as a political instrument to demand reparations from those nations who benefited enormously from transatlantic slavery the imperial rule of the global south and the extraction of its resources
What is Reparative Justice?
There is significant international debate about the meaning of reparations. For many, formal Reparations involve commitments and payments between nation-states and has a clear focus on financial compensation owed and paid by one nation-state to another to make amends for the damage of the past.
We understand reparatory justice to be complex and multi-dimensional, speaking to issues of human identity and social and cultural history, as well as politics and economics. At its heart, reparatory justice seeks to make amends for past wrongs and to provide redress for the physical, material and moral damage inflicted on individuals, groups and nations. Programmes of reparatory justice have been initiated by several independent institutions, most commonly universities and churches. Such programmes seek to address the material and moral injustices of the past in ways that reflect the historical harms inflicted by those institutions with the intention of building a better future.
Why is this work being undertaken now?
USPG has been engaging in a process of understanding its responsibility as a colonial actor more fully through an intentional exploration of its archives, and in dialogue with the CPWI (The Church in the Province of the West Indies). USPG were owners of two slave plantations in the 1700s. Between 1710 and 1838, USPG benefitted from the labour of enslaved persons on the Codrington Estate.
USPG continues to engage in dialogue around issues of justice across the global church. USPG believes this is a unique opportunity to be accountable for historic truths and use this moment to support renewal and reconciliation for all parties involved.
USPG is intentional in listening and acknowledges that now more than ever is the time to act. USPG recognises the impact of its history and the effect it has had; it accepts and understands the generational trauma this has caused over the years and unreservedly apologises for this.
Whilst emancipation finally came in 1838, the legacies of the enslaved are extensive and continue to cause harm today to individuals and communities. USPG recognises this and sees this work as a contribution to the wider work of reparative action.
