Caribbean nations plan school lessons to train reparations activists

Caribbean nations are reportedly preparing to overhaul school lessons on slavery and colonialism, with the aim of raising a generation of activists to campaign for reparatory justice. The plans are said to involve countries such as Barbados and Jamaica and were discussed on a UK news programme.

According to the programme, the move would involve spending millions of pounds on classrooms to teach the history of slavery and empire. The presenter, Martin Daubney, described the plans as taking 'toxic demands' into schools and framed them as indoctrination rather than education. He cited a total reparations demand of £18 trillion, with Barbados alone seeking £4 trillion. That total was said to be six times Britain's GDP.

Panellist Rafe Heydel-Mankoo said the plans were 'insidious' and accused Caribbean governments of entrenching a politics of grievance and victimhood. He argued that the region's economic problems were caused by corruption and economic mismanagement, not British colonialism. He also claimed China was working behind the scenes to destabilise the Commonwealth, linking the plan to Barbados becoming a republic. He said Caribbean countries had benefited from British infrastructure and institutions, citing Jamaica's hospitals, and argued that their GDP was far higher than in West Africa.

Nigel Nelson, a political commentator, pushed back on parts of that argument. He said the £18 trillion demand would not be paid because it was six times the UK's national wealth. He said each country had the right to decide what to teach in its schools and that children in the Caribbean would learn how their countries were created on the backs of slavery. He rejected the word 'indoctrination' and called for a balanced history that included both the evils of slavery and the benefits of British institutions. He also noted that British rule had not always left countries in good shape, pointing to Dominica at independence.

The discussion also touched on comparisons with Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, which were described as successful independent states that did not continually focus on past wrongs. The programme did not include direct comment from Caribbean governments or the UK government.