$4,120,518,715.51: Yes, that's four billion, one hundred and twenty million, five hundred and eighteen thousand, seven hundred and fifteen dollars and fifty-one cents.
Do you know that it was not until 2015 that the British government finished paying off slave owners for the loss of their slave property? And do you know that these slave owners have been paid the equivalent of just over four billion in today's Canadian dollars? USA Today and Aljazeera say its 17 billion pounds which is just over 29 billion Canadian dollars!
The slaves and their descendants have not been paid for their years of labour. Today, when you look at your Black students and Black staff, they may very well be one of those yet to be compensated descendent of former slaves.
You, as an individual, may not be able to financially compensate Black people, but you can take an active role in helping to build a more equitable society to aid in the elimination of Anti-Black racism. Here are some things you can do:
- Being Antiracist | National Museum of African American History and Culture (si.edu)
- Fact check: U.K. paid off debts to slave-owning families in 2015 (usatoday.com)
- Britain was built on the backs, and souls, of slaves | Racism | Al Jazeera
- £20,000,000 in 1837 → 2022 | UK Inflation Calculator (officialdata.org)
