Perhaps Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley thought that she was doing the right thing legally, but it was clear that she had not planned for the national backlash that followed.
Mottley, one of the most outspoken and militant Caribbean prime ministers, took to the national airwaves last week to announce plans to pay today’s descendants of a former British slave and plantation owner at least GBP 3 million for 53 acres of an estate the family still owns on the island so it can be used for national housing purposes.
Mottley had argued that acquiring the land by compulsory acquisition or eminent domain would have breached the local constitution, so the cabinet was simply prepared to pay the family of British parliamentarian Richard Drax the money for the portion of the land at the Drax Hall plantation the family still owns from the slavery era. In all, the Draxes own 617 acres.
Taken aback and shocked by the national outcry that followed the cabinet’s plan to pay a family that had enslaved their foreparents, Barbadians railed against the decision, forcing Mottley to make a national address addressing plans to halt the payments.
Drax is a conservative lawmaker from the South Dorset constituency who has been having talks with the PM and the reparations commission in recent months about owning up to the actions of his ancestors. Mottley said she is dissatisfied with the pace of the negotiations and wanted to speed up the process.
“Given the conversation, I believe that it is appropriate for us to pause the acquisition to allow for greater conversation to take place, and also for us to be able to see where we are, in terms of being able to get some kind of reasonable settlement with Mr. Drax, recognising that in our conversations, without prejudice to anything else, he is aware that the government of Barbados feels strongly about this and will pursue these matters,” Mottley said as locals lambasted the administration.
“I understand the concerns of many Barbadians who may feel that they have been robbed of the opportunity of having an appropriate settlement for the reparations that ought to be made as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of Barbadians over centuries. I want to make it clear this is not a matter that we take lightly. At the same time, I need to remind us that Barbados is a country governed by the rule of law. We have never made it a habit where we have expropriated people’s land. When people have land that is the subject of compulsory acquisition, by law, we are due to pay for it.”
Among those protesting the moves were local legislator Trevor Prescod, special envoy on reparations and empowerment in Mottley’s office, and David Commissioning, the island’s ambassador to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and a reparations commission member.
Prescod was brutal in his attack on Drax, saying “that estate is a cesspool of evil, that estate called Drax Hall. We deserve to have that estate as a form of redemption. I stand by this without fear of any consequences. People across the world have highlighted Drax Hall as a major estate and one that is a microcosm of the challenges we face as a people. Any effort by the government to think, regardless of what legal instrument they are using, that we should give Drax a cent more, I feel it is wrong,” the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying.
Commissiong made it clear to the Amsterdam News that “we have to step up the pressure on Drax. The time has come for that. Little did we know that our people have so embraced the reparations idea that they would have passionately objected to the idea of Drax receiving any money whatsoever for this blood-soaked land. This has been a valuable learning experience for all concerned.”
Drax has been resisting calls to make actual payments for his family’s role in the slave trade that dates back to the mid-20th century, lasting for at least 200 years. He has said that today’s generation had nothing to do with slavery, although he is worth more than Sterling 150 million today.