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cover of episode Panel: What will it take for Africa to achieve justice for slavery?

Panel: What will it take for Africa to achieve justice for slavery?

2025/2/21
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World Today
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This chapter explores the concept of reparatory justice in the context of historical injustices suffered by African countries due to slavery and colonialism. It emphasizes that the demand for reparations is not about charity but about acknowledging and addressing historical wrongs and the lasting impact of these historical injustices on the continent.
  • Reparations are not a plea for charity but a demand for justice.
  • Colonialism caused significant economic and human resource damage to Africa.
  • Reparatory justice should address historical injustices and ongoing inequalities.

Shownotes Transcript

African leaders have called for slavery reparations from former colonial powers at the 38th AU Summit in Ethiopia.

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by mostly European merchants, and sold into slavery.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an address to the summit that the bitter fruit of the transatlantic slave trade and colonial exploitation is having a lasting impact on the continent.

How can Africans and people of African descent secure the justice they're calling for? And what forms could reparations for slavery take?

Host Zhao Ying is joined by Dr. He Wenping, Africa expert and Senior Research Fellow at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Adams Bodomo, Chair Professor of African Linguistics and Literatures, University of Vienna; William Worger, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, UCLA.