‘It Ain’t Gonna Happen…’

Abstract

Abstract The realist—or cynic—will be impatient with the arguments so far advanced: none of the colonial powers has shown any interest in taking up the question of reparations, so reparations will not happen any time soon. This chapter argues that this ‘realism’ is in fact overly pessimistic. The irony is that the realists of the 1770s scoffed at the notion that slavery and the slave trade would be abolished. The transatlantic trade was at the very height of its commercial success and economic significance at that time, and yet, though it was long in coming, abolition occurred within the lifetime of some of the early campaigners. The contemporary campaign for reparations is in its early stages. Yet there are things that can and should be done in particular by institutions below the level of national governments (such as universities and churches), to advance the case for reparations between governments—and taking Trinity College, Cambridge and the Church of England as examples, this chapter looks at how such institution have addressed the wrongs of the past, and may model to the UK government what a national programme of reparations would look like. There is no guarantee that any contemporary campaign will force the nation to face up to its responsibilities—but no more could those campaigners of two hundred and fifty years ago have been certain of achieving their objectives.