Whitey Ford
01-01-2023, 02:10 AM
Benedict Cumberbatch's family could face legal pressure to pay reparations over historical links to Barbados slave trade, report says
The family of Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch faces the prospect of facing demands to pay reparations for slavery over historical links to a sugar plantation in Barbados, according to The Telegraph.
The Caribbean nation of Barbados is starting to hone in on the wealthy descendants of slave owners as part of a campaign to get reparations for slavery.
Barbados's National Task Force on Reparations, part of the Caricom Reparations Commission (Caricom), previously focused on seeking reparations from colonial powers and wealthy institutions that made hefty profits from slavery, The Guardian reported.
Recently, however, it singled out a specific family for the first time, targeting the British Conservative MP Richard Drax over his family's ownership of a vast sugar plantation on the island, per The Guardian.
David Comissiong, the Barbados ambassador to Caricom and deputy chairman of the state's task force, told The Guardian last month that Drax and other families could face litigation if they don't agree to pay reparations.
"It is now a matter that is before the government of Barbados," he told the newspaper. "It is being dealt with at the highest level."
Now, the Cumberbatch family faces being targeted for a reparations claim. When pressed by The Telegraph on whether Cumberbatch's family would be pursued, Comissiong did not rule it out.
He said: "This is at the earliest stages. We are just beginning. A lot of this history is only really now coming to light."
https://www.insider.com/benedict-cumberbatch-family-faces-slave-reparations-pressure-telegraph-2022-12
The family of Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch faces the prospect of facing demands to pay reparations for slavery over historical links to a sugar plantation in Barbados, according to The Telegraph.
The Caribbean nation of Barbados is starting to hone in on the wealthy descendants of slave owners as part of a campaign to get reparations for slavery.
Barbados's National Task Force on Reparations, part of the Caricom Reparations Commission (Caricom), previously focused on seeking reparations from colonial powers and wealthy institutions that made hefty profits from slavery, The Guardian reported.
Recently, however, it singled out a specific family for the first time, targeting the British Conservative MP Richard Drax over his family's ownership of a vast sugar plantation on the island, per The Guardian.
David Comissiong, the Barbados ambassador to Caricom and deputy chairman of the state's task force, told The Guardian last month that Drax and other families could face litigation if they don't agree to pay reparations.
"It is now a matter that is before the government of Barbados," he told the newspaper. "It is being dealt with at the highest level."
Now, the Cumberbatch family faces being targeted for a reparations claim. When pressed by The Telegraph on whether Cumberbatch's family would be pursued, Comissiong did not rule it out.
He said: "This is at the earliest stages. We are just beginning. A lot of this history is only really now coming to light."
https://www.insider.com/benedict-cumberbatch-family-faces-slave-reparations-pressure-telegraph-2022-12