An Apology for Slavery, and a Pledge of Land: A Jamaican Church Will Give Away Parcels It Received From Slavery’s Profiteers

• Britain’s United Reformed Church apologised in Kingston for its role in the transatlantic slave trade
• The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands accepted the apology
• It pledged to give land received from people who profited from slavery to vulnerable people
• Its moderator said landlessness has held back descendants of the enslaved

The United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom has formally apologised to Jamaica, the Caribbean and Africa for its part in the transatlantic slave trade, at a service at Webster Memorial Church in St Andrew, the Jamaica Observer reported. The ecumenical service took the theme “Reparation, A Journey Towards Repentance, Repair and Reconciliation”.

Rev Tessa Robinson, moderator of the UK church, read the apology. “We apologise for our role in transatlantic slavery and the scars that continue to blight our society,” it said, acknowledging the church’s share in, and benefit from, Britain’s participation in slavery. It went on: “We repent of the hurt we have caused, our reluctance to face up to the sins of the past.”

Rev Gary Harriott, moderator of The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, accepted it. “I stand in a posture of thanksgiving to God to receive the apology of our sisters,” he said, calling the moment “resurrection” and “hope”. The Jamaican church then made a concrete pledge of its own. It will distribute parcels of land it had received from people who profited from slavery to vulnerable people. Harriott said landlessness has significantly hindered formerly enslaved people in their drive towards generational creation.

The report placed the apology within wider reparations claims. It cited a University of the West Indies report estimating that England owes descendants of the enslaved in 31 countries about US$24 trillion, US$9.5 trillion of it to Jamaica. It also noted that the Church of England had pledged £100 million over nine years, and that experts had recommended raising that to £1 billion.

The land pledge is the most practical part of this story. Words of apology cost nothing, but land is the asset most descendants of the enslaved never received, and a church giving parcels away is doing something tangible about that. How it is done will decide whether it works. It needs surveys, clear titles, fair selection of recipients and protection against quick resale. Other denominations with land of similar origin will be watching, and so will families who have waited generations for a title. If the parcels are properly titled, they could provide exactly the generational wealth Harriott described.

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