Slavery’s unfinished reckoning

Can the atrocities of transatlantic slavery ever be forgiven? That question will take centre stage at the upcoming Transatlantic Reasonings Conference, which will examine the relationship between forgiveness, justice and reparations against the backdrop of the enduring legacy of colonialism.

The four-day conference, scheduled for November 12-15 at Iberostar Waves Resort in Montego Bay, will explore the issue through its sub-theme, *The Possibility of Forgiveness?*

The discussions come against the backdrop of a United Nations General Assembly resolution describing the trafficking and chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity, and renewed calls for reparatory justice.

Two keynote presentations will examine the imperatives of historical accountability, repair and forgiveness, with particular attention to the lingering effects of colonial domination.

The speakers are Anna Perkins, professor of Caribbean Theology and Ethics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), and Professor Mathew J. Smith, head of the University of London’s Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave Ownership.

In her presentation, Perkins will challenge Pope Leo XIV over what she regards as a traditional defence that softens the institutional church’s historical complicity in transatlantic chattel slavery, as articulated in his ‘Magnifica Humanitas’.

Speaking in a recent pre-conference interview, Perkins, who is herself Roman Catholic, expressed concern that discussions about reparations had not gained sufficient traction within her church community.

She lamented that the dialogue on reparations “does not have that kind of currency in the Roman Catholic Church”.

Smith’s keynote address, titled ‘And Not Forget: Remembrance and the Penalties of Caribbean History’, will examine Caribbean decolonisation as a pathway to nationhood, arguing that independence “came weighted by the burden of the past”.

He will also highlight the importance of confronting colonial amnesia as part of efforts to develop meaningful reparative solutions.

Beyond the keynote presentations, conference participants will examine what forgiveness means in the context of slavery’s legacy, how it intersects with justice and reparations, and what conditions might be necessary for it to become possible.

Advocates of forgiveness and apologies argue that the issue is not about holding present-day Europeans personally responsible for the actions of their ancestors, but about addressing the historical wrongs committed against Africans and their descendants.

The debate also raises questions about the relationship between forgiveness and the responsibility of states to acknowledge and repair historical injustices.

CARICOM Chairman Philip Pierre has argued that “state responsibility is generational; it doesn’t expire with time”, emphasising that countries which benefited from slavery retain an enduring responsibility to address its consequences.

The conference is expected to provide a platform for examining these competing considerations and the possible pathways towards healing, historical accountability and reparatory justice.