Sir Lenny Henry believes Britain should pay slavery reparations to the country’s black population.
The comedian, whose parents were Jamaican immigrants, rose to fame in the early 1980s.
His self-titled sketch show, The Lenny Henry Show, first hit screens in 1984, while he also went on to found the charity Comic Relief with Richard Curtis. In recent years, he has appeared in shows including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Witcher: Blood Origin.
He’s now also co-written a book, titled The Big Payback: The Case for Reparations for Slavery and How They Would Work, in which he helps argue that the UK should distribute £18trillion in ‘compensatory payments’.
Set to be released later this week, the book sees Sir Lenny consider the argument that ‘all black British people…need reparations for slavery’ and argues that ‘we personally deserve money for the effects of slavery’.
The book, which was co-written with TV executive and charity boss Marcus Ryder, has been billed as an ‘eye-opening manifesto on why reparations are the only way for the UK to address racism’.
Lia Toby/ Getty Images)
When the UK officially abolished the slave trade in 1807, it compensated slave owners £20million, with the debt only paid off a decade ago.
A synopsis for Sir Lenny’s book also lays out the topics it tackles: ‘How is it that slave-owners were paid compensation from our taxes, yet the enslaved and their families were not?
‘Why should the descendants of former slaveowners still benefit from inherited wealth while the successors of the victims of slavery receive nothing, and may have even paid towards the debt of compensation through their taxes?’
In it, as per The Telegraph, the authors argue that modern racism is a result of the slave trade and that, due to all black people suffering the effects of racism, they should all be remunerated.
However, the majority of Britain’s 2.4 million black population is of African descent, rather than descendants of people enslaved in the Caribbean.
The publication has also reported that Sir Lenny writes in the book that: ‘The reason we have racism today and also why black British people are grossly over-represented in the prison population (along with other disparities such as higher levels of black unemployment) are all because of the transatlantic slave trade.’
Despite no-one alive today likely having any direct involvement in the slave trade – they still argue that it is fair for reparations to be handed out, which will also ‘rid the world of racism’.
They’ve explained that reparations must ‘dismantle the foundations’ of Western society built on slavery and racism and establish ‘new foundations’ instead.
Using figures from the Brattle Report, the monetary amount settled on for the reparations sits at £18trillion.
This number was reached by considering factors including ‘loss of liberty, mental pain and anguish, and loss of potential wages’ that were experienced by slaves.
In its review of the book, The Guardian said it was ‘timely and vital’, adding that ‘this book stresses from the beginning that giving reparations is not necessarily about financial compensation’.
They also consider the ‘different forms reparations could take, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation and public apology’.
‘While they don’t reach a conclusion on what reparation should look like, they insist on the case for it in principle,’ it added.
More than 15 million people were brought and sold into the transatlantic slave trade, according to the United Nations.
Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, Antigua, Nevis, Barbados. and St Kitts, were all under British control and were a key part of the slave trade routes that connected Western Africa, America, and Britain.
Although slavery was outlawed in 1807, it wasn’t formally abolished until 1834.
Two years ago, Sir Lenny spoke about the racial abuse his family experienced after immigrating to the UK.
‘My brothers used to get attacked and had to defend themselves on the way to and from work,’ he told The Times in 2023.
‘My mum was chased down the street by people asking where her tail was.’
Metro has contacted representatives for Sir Lenny Henry for comment.
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