Reparations for slavery
The descendants of William Gladstone have apologized for his father's
large role in
British colonial slavery
and the slave trade.
I think it is misguided to apologize for the actions of one's
ancestors. People are not responsible for what their ancestors did,
and even less if the ancestors did them centuries ago. To accept
blame for things one did not do is a surrender that people should
resist. It suggests a desperation that entices hostile people to
demand more, as they have done this time.
However, those descendants are right to call for reparations for
Britain's past slavery. We can all join in calling for that, because
it does not mean we personally accept blame for it.
It was the British government that established policies of slavery and
enabled their implementation. And the British government, unlike the
individuals who implemented them, still exists. It can legitimately
be held responsible today for wrongs it committed before 1834.
To try to compensate wrongs committed centuries ago makes sense only
for the biggest of wrongs. It makes sense for slavery because that
was extremely big as a wrong.
I have called for
the US to pay reparations for slavery,
Jim Crow, and discrimination in federal housing aid during the New Deal.
Those latter two were not as big wrongs as slavery, but they were
more recent, so it still makes sense to compensate them.