It is axiomatic that Great Britain, which enriched itself partly by enslaving the forbears of its former negro colonists, owes their descendants reparation. But it is unlikely that Britain will ever make reparation because it continues to refuse to acknowledge its role in slavery and apologise for that role.

Barbados has finally and rightly severed all ties with its colonial master and former oppressor. It has become a republic, something progressive countries like Jamaica strangely refuse to become.

Many Barbadians are calling upon Britain to make reparation for enslaving their ancestors and plundering the country to enrich itself over hundreds of years. Carl Patmore, a community worker, told the Independent online newspaper recently, “I strongly believe that the extension to this whole republicanism issue has to be the idea of reparations.

“We should have more scholarships coming out of countries like England for Barbadians; more opportunities should be given. The slaves in Barbados built the British economy. Let’s look at renewable energy, sports, agriculture, this will liberate Barbadians even more.”

Prime minister of Barbados, the enlightened and progressive Mia Mottley, said at a Caricom conference last year, “For us, reparations is not just simply about money… but it is also about justice.

“I do not know how we can go further unless there is a reckoning first and foremost.”

One Barbadian Member of Parliament, Edmund Hinkson, called for the subject of reparation to be discussed with Prince Charles on his visit to the island to mark its birth as a republic. It was not, and a planned protest against Prince Charles for his country’s role in slavery was cancelled by the Barbadian Government.

Reparation will come no time soon, if ever. Prince Charles, while in Barbados to witness its transition to a republic, gave a speech in which he cautiously acknowledged the atrocity of slavery but, like others before him, refused to apologise and even acknowledge that reparation was due. According to the Independent, Charles acknowledged the “appalling atrocity of slavery”, describing it as something “which forever stains our history”.

Town and County website reported that the prince said, “From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude. Emancipation, self-government, and independence were your waypoints. Freedom, justice, and self-determination have been your guides.” That is all well and good, but he conveniently never mentioned his country’s role in supporting the tranatlantic slave trade. The Britons never do and never will.

In September 2015 when Prime Minister David Cameron visited Jamaica he refused to apologise for Britain’s role in slavery and acknowledge that reparation was due. According to the BBC, he said, “These would run very deep” and he praised Britain for its role in wiping slavery “off the face of our planet”.

In a speech to the Jamaican Parliament, he said slavery was “abhorrent in all its forms”. He added, “I do hope that, as friends who have gone through so much together since those darkest of times, we can move on from this painful legacy and continue to build for the future.” In effect, forget what we did to you, let’s be friends and move on.

The question is: Why do Britons refuse to acknowledge their role in slavery, apologise for it, and acknowledge the rightness of reparation, even if they can’t afford to offer any? Instead, like David Cameron then and Prince Charles now, they say they value the friendships of their former colonies and are willing to work with them by making some token efforts at doing so.

But they aren’t genuinely sorry.

To tell a person you have harmed that they must forget what you have done is to minimise either the deed or the dignity of the person and also shows a hardened conscience – it means little or nothing to you, so it should mean the same to them.

Britons contend that slavery was in the past and no one alive today suffered under that oppressive system, but it is not that simple. Despite the fact that those of us who are alive today did not suffer directly under the idignities of slavery, the descendants of slaves continue to suffer from institutionalised racism, as well as the psychological trauma of being whipped, raped, and mutilated, among other atrocities, which have been passed on from generation to generation.

How can Prince Charles and other Britons honestly see slavery as an “appalling atrocity” when they will not acknowledge that their forbears created that atrocity, and that they who are alive today have continued to reap the economic benefits? To insist we move on is to insist that slavery was not a barberous and inhumane sysytem of oppression but merely an inconvenience. You do not tell a person who has suffered at your hands to forget it and move on. The right and humane thing to do is apologise and make restitution.

Ewin James is a freelance writer who lives in Florida. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or eroyjames@aol.com.