Foreign Correspondent on ABC TV – The name Barbados conjures up imagery of white sandy beaches and crystal blue waters but away from the perfect postcards this island is grappling with the legacy of a brutal and bloody history.
Barbados was the first British slave society in the Caribbean. It’s where the legal and economic model of ‘chattel’ slavery was ruthlessly perfected over hundreds of years. Two years ago, the tiny nation cast off four centuries of British rule and became the world’s newest republic. But for many Barbadians, taking control of their future now means reckoning with the injustices of the past.
This week on Foreign Correspondent reporter Isabella Higgins travels to Barbados where the demands for reparations are getting louder. This small island is calling on powerful institutions like the British royal family, as well as the living relatives of past slave owners to make amends for the sins of their ancestors. As Barbados forges its own way in the world and seeks justice for the historical atrocity of slavery, the question now is – who should pay?
Foreign Correspondent – Thursday 14 September at 8.00pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Media Release – ABC
TV Central ABC content HERE
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Barbados has been independent since 1966, and had its own parliament several centuries before that. It cast off the British monarchy in 2021, becoming a republic within the Commonwealth. So it has had full ‘control of its own future’ for more than fifty years. Though Australia has not yet cast off the British monarchy, we are an independent nation.