by George Alleyne
Not only did the Church of England own slaves but missionaries were brutal in reinforcing proprietorship and now that establishment says it wants to make amends. However, the University of the West Indies has retorted that mere words are not enough.
So vast was the slave ownership of that mother church of the international Anglican communion mainly through its UK-based clergymen and missionaries that the compensation figure for the men of the cloth in the UK alone at the time of abolition in 1833 reportedly amounted to 46 million pounds sterling in today’s money.
“Church and nation are confronted by the legacy of slavery and the slave trade, which requires an appropriate and humble response,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stated last week.
“The church needs to put its house in order and acknowledge tangibly our historic errors and failures,” he added in a message delivered last Thursday to a symposium of the Church of God of Prophecy
in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, a black Pentecostal grouping.
The forum, titled “History, Heritage and Identity” focused on struggles of the Caribbean diaspora in the UK. That virtual conference was in partnership with UWI, and Vice-Chancellor Hilary Beckles said Welby’s statement is, “not enough, not acceptable”.
Delivering the feature address after the Archbishop’s message, he insisted that the Church of England (CoE) must have worded its apology: “‘We are going to participate in a process of repairing the harm that we have caused, materially, psychologically and socially and that this organisation will denounce all such practices and will never again contemplate such the possibility or participate in such action’.”
Beckles’ scepticism despite Welby’s promise of tangible acknowledgement is not without justification because since CoE apologised in 2006 for its involvement in slavery, Welby himself came to Barbados in 2013 and again apologised.
“In this part of the world there is the history of the church in the past acting in oppression. It is no use covering that up, pretending it did not happen, making excuses. It is true,” he had said at the Christ Church Parish Church.
To date, CoE is, however, not known to have made any concrete restitution to descendants of those subjected to 200 years of slavery.
Speaking from Barbados, Beckles zoomed in on CoE’s slave ownership on this island.
“The Church of England was one of the largest slave owners in Barbados through ownership of the Codrington plantations and would brand their Africans like everyone [did]. . . with a hot iron that said… ‘C of E’.”
“It is that history that led the Bishop of Exeter to receive the largest amount of reparations for slavery. More than anyone in England,” he added.
According to the UK Guardian newspaper, “The church [CoE] received £8,823 8s 9d, about £500,000 in today’s money, for the loss of slave labour on its Codrington plantation in Barbados.
“The contemporary Bishop of Exeter and his business associates received even more, nearly £13,000.”
Beckles said that following the abolition of slavery the Anglican parish churches in Barbados and across the Caribbean then confined the freed Africans to the back pews during service.
“We had 100 years after slavery of sitting in the back of the Anglican churches of the Church of England where we were deemed to be second-class citizens.”
Quoting the New Testament in his message, Archbishop Welby spoke of the church’s repentance. “Repentance means turning around, taking action and acting differently,” he stated.
In response, Beckles said, “If there is going to be an apology that is based on repentance to be genuine and to be sincere, it has to transition into reparations and reparatory justice. Otherwise it is not acceptable.”
The Vice-Chancellor’s and UWI’s vision of what comprises reparations from CoE is largely the establishment of a comprehensive programme of educational support, designed in collaboration with the UK Caribbean diaspora, most of who are descendants of enslaved Africans.
“That educational assistance can allow them to access the programmes of the University of the West Indies,”
he said.
All UWI degree and other certification programmes are online, catering for all ages from teenage high school graduates to young and older adults.
Beckles said there must also be in-residence bursaries.
“Those students, all of those young people who have been disconnected from their roots, should be placed in a position through an educational fund to allow for scholarships so that they can participate in their educational advancement in a safe, secure and empowering community in the University of the West Indies [joining]… the 50,000 young students across the region who are currently enrolled at the University of the West Indies.
“We would like, therefore, for the black church to be provided with resources by the Church of England to allow it to build stronger bonds with the Caribbean.”
UWI’s administrative head said, “These are some practical steps that can be taken . . . not theoretical issues… that can be used to repair the harm that has been done and the continuing suffering of our people.” (GA)
