The actor’s seventh great-grandfather is said to have bought a plantation on the island in 1728, employing at least 250 slaves.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
British actor Benedict Cumberbatch may be required to pay reparations to Barbados for the fact that his ancestors once owned sugar plantations and slaves on the territory of the island nation, which was under British control until 1966.
“All descendants of white plantation owners who profited from the slave trade should pay reparations, including the Cumberbatch family,” said David Denny, secretary general of the Caribbean Peace and Integration Movement.
The actor’s seventh great-grandfather is said to have bought a plantation on the island in 1728, employing at least 250 slaves. Until, finally, in 1834, slavery was abolished in Barbados. The abolition of slavery was accompanied by substantial monetary compensation for lost “human property”. So Cumberbatch’s ancestors received £6 thousand for this, which, translated into today’s money, is at least $4.5 million.
According to available data, the UK government was forced to borrow to pay huge compensation for the abolition of slavery, which it was only able to pay in full in 2015.