Calls for Drax Hall to be opened to public as Barbados becomes a republic

[@danoflondon9358]

It is my understanding that the compensation paid to slave owners after abolition was only completed in 2015 so for the MP to say it is something that happened in the past is a feeble excuse.

[@teronfelix5217]

Yes David Cameron times ....

[@heniakonas9439]

Were the original providers of slaves to the slavers, the Ghanaian tribes, also compensated for loss of income? If not they should sue.

[@86pp73]

Really crazy how plantation owners got insanely rich off of horrific exploitation, then when the British public became disgusted by it, they swindled even more money out of the government, leaving the working Brits a debt that took over two hundred years to pay off...

[@skywings8485]

Great relevent point.

[@bl00dhoney]

@@86pp73 it's also important to remember those "working Brits" included the formerly enslaved and their descendants, whether in the colonies or in the UK

[@DiarmuidHayes]

from an Irishman great to see another republic! Well done Barbados!

[@fobbitguy]

Read, "a history of am Irish slave girl" Fascinating insight into irish slavery in Barbados in the 17thc.

[@duttybwoytv1667]

Jamaica next can't wait

[@Derrowssi]

Ireland is not a republic in any logical definition, as it is still dependent on Britain for 70% of exports, it is a corporate tax haven for US and mainly British wealth managers, it gets bullied by Brussels and the EU at large to follow its orders, Basically has military that cannot fight alone but is reliant on the British nuclear umbrella. However the Irish people know how to brag on how independent they are in the language of their former/current English masters, how ironic!

[@corvusglaive4804]

@@Derrowssi Everybody speaks the language of their conquerors, including Barbados. Just because Ireland trades mostly with the UK, so what? Lots of countries make friends with former enemies. Stop talking nonsense!

[@listenup2882]

@@fobbitguy indentureship

[@Lordofvenlo]

I'm igbo 🇳🇬 and it warms my heart to see my distant relatives succeed . I'm visiting Barbados soon and i can't wait.

[@katashanicholas2438]

Hope you enjoy it here! 😊

[@ahayahyashayah9093]

Enjoy every minute on the island bro....bless

[@DrFunkLIVE]

Blessings. Make sure that you visit the Barbados Museum for an anchor point.🙏🏽

[@corvusglaive4804]

That's right! We are descended from the Igbo and Akan people's of Ghana so you are our brothers and sisters. Welcome to the Caribbean!

[@listenup2882]

@@corvusglaive4804 Barbadians are descended from numerous tribes.

[@1906james]

The barbados government ought to reclaim that plantation as states property and make it a museum.

[@saxglend9439]

Museums are racist.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Museum perfect 👍🏽 idea 💡

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

My great grandmother times 6 was a slave bought to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@saxglend9439]

@@teslaandhumanity7383 My great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother was a slave captured by the Romans.

[@alanhanson9464]

How can you reclaim a country that isn't yours in the first place. Most people from Barbados are from Britain and the Bight of Benin. The original people was from Venezuela's Orinoco Valley, South America. The indigenous groups.

[@wildthree3827]

Sooooo he says it’s irrelevant because it happened centuries ago but he is entitled to receive his inheritance ?? Speechless 😶

[@jackwiegmann]

Absolutely nauseating. Of course the man is in politics, too.

[@corvusglaive4804]

EXACTLY! 💯

[@TrollinOn22s]

It's time to change the name Drax Hall cause I've known Drax Hall growing up in Barbados, but never known the history.

[@JON-sm2wk]

Drax is a very nice man

[@corvusglaive4804]

@@JON-sm2wk let him prove it then

[@wonderman1918]

So youre telling me the representative of Dorset, their member of parliament owns a plantation?

[@guychase8611]

The Drax family also owned a much bigger sugar plantation in Jamaica 🇯🇲- but it no longer operates .

[@SpitfireMLG]

@@guychase8611 no, the family sold that in the 1880s if I’m not mistaken

[@saintclaire4897]

Yes...

[@Jenny-e4v]

Yes, he owns a plantation

[@MEOWMEOW-sw3bw]

Barbados WE ARE PROUD OF YOU! LONG LIVE FOR THE LOVE OF FREEDOM,TOGETHER WE RISE! LOVE FROM THE PHILIPPINES

[@emwa3299]

What a coincidence that the family who financially benefited from this slave plantation and latest inheritor is a conservative mp

[@bl00dhoney]

It's not a coincidence. Tories represent the interests of the landowning classes. For centuries that included enslavers and slave traders. He's carrying on the family tradition

[@covfefe1787]

@@bl00dhoney labour represents the interest of the rich London elite that want working class people to eat bugs for climate change. id rather have conservatives in charge versus a anti indigenous Labour Party .

[@bl00dhoney]

@@covfefe1787 I suggest you read the family history of Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax MP and Drax Hall - and about the hundreds of working class English, Scottish and Irish people who were snatched up, "spirited away" or "barbadoed" as forced labour on Drax's sugar and tobacco plantations before they turned to kidnapping and enslaving African men, women and children. Then you come back with comments about how the Tories (they existed before the Conservative Party) feel about the working people of these Islands.

[@odimarioehimare4251]

I'm Edo 🇳🇬. It is part of my bucket list to visit Barbados 🇧🇧. I'm married to beautiful black queen from Jamaica 🇯🇲.

[@Cybernaut551]

Cheers to Barbados! Live long and prosper. 🖖

[@margaretcampbell2681]

Yes is should be open to the public and reparations should be made

[@bigblob1623]

Congratulations Barbados! Being a republic isn't always easy, but it's the way to go!

[@bazle64]

The non white world is now decolonizing

[@saxglend9439]

@@bazle64 They are Chineseing

[@bazle64]

@@saxglend9439 well better than pork chopping

[@saxglend9439]

@@bazle64 Welcome to planet China. 🐕

[@TheWaveGoodbye-Music]

@@saxglend9439 Thank god, see, we always said communism will win ;)

[@haatpraat2993]

I find it odd that the very people like this Dracula ..sorry, Drax fellow can shrug off the inhuman suffering his ancestors put people through so that his family could become rich, stating it was 'hundreds of years ago' when in fact it is just outside living memory AND still accept compensation from the British government for their lost of being able to inflict physical, mental, economic and sexual abuse on an entire people until the year 2015! Families of British slaver owners were still being paid 'compensation' until 2015. Yet when the descendants of their victims call for Reparations, we get the same old mush ...'It was hundreds of years ago'. As far I am concerned the British and others, but particularly the British behaved worse in the Caribbean and the Americas during the 15th-19th centuries than the Nazis did in Europe in the 20th. Every life is precious, but at least the 9 million who died in the death camps died within months and never had to ensure a total lifetime of suffering as did millions in Caribbean.

[@sutikareoluwagbenga1272]

Why do you find it odd? I don't find that odd at all. It's the conscience that they never had/have that allowed their misdeeds to manifest in the first place. it still exists today,

[@matthewdarby9290]

Its not his fault his ancestors were slave owners

[@queenofthewhores]

@@matthewdarby9290 why should he benefit from his ancestor? He didn't do anything to deserve the estate.

[@matthewdarby9290]

@@queenofthewhores its not his fault his family owned it. Unfortunately we cannot change the past, we can either change it or accept it.

[@queenofthewhores]

@@matthewdarby9290 It's not his fault, fine. Then don't profit off it. Let's forgive and forget the past...but wait, not the cash tho?

[@everythingiseverything6328]

DRAX HALL IS A CRIME SCENE , CONFISCATE, INVESTIGATE AND DEMONSTRATE YOUR AGENCY BARBADOS 🇧🇧, NUFF RESPECT 🔥✊🏾

[@audreymcgready2031]

Congratulations Barbados. Well done.👏👏👏

[@saxglend9439]

Lervish

[@karisc123]

Drax reportedly said that people cannot be held responsible for the crimes of their ancestors. Following that logic, then neither should people BENEFIT from the assets of their ancestry especially when crimes against humanity were committed to acquire them. But the greed of Capitalism somehow has no conscience - Blacks/Africans were their first free Capital. What an awesome Welfare State that was!! And we, the descendants, know the debt owed and spirits of our ancestors won’t let us forget… Additionally, what’s the other hurtful part of the legacy of slavery we have today? Up to this present time the defendants of Whites still carry the disdain for Blacks which they continue to hand down generationally. And they continue to teach all the newer Whites and others to continue to see blacks negatively. We are continuing to gradually succeed in bringing the shame that needs to be exposed of how brutal and harmful slavery was and continues to have its painful harms up to today. We the descendants of people owned by the White SYSTEM of enslavers, we all know who we are. We know who we are because AFTER ALL, WE ARE STILL CYNICALLY BRANDED BY THE ENSLAVERS’ NAMES. I’m looking forward to Barbados pushing and agitating for Reparations, including staking its claim on that Drax plantation as a national museum and monument to “never again” would Black/African people ever be enslaved. So proud of the continued progress out of slavery and arrogant colonialism. Kudos to Mia Mottley! May we have at least one more brilliant and enlightened Caribbean leader to help move us forward even faster. Until we receive Reparations, we have not vindicated our fore parents - Their spirits are depending on us,.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@zabocathief602]

🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@julioelado31]

Thanks for this great comment Karis u're a great analyts i have never such a touching comment so true of our situation for the past 600years once again Thanks so much

[@andrewhall2678]

Change your names go on to ancestry DNA and find your long lost relatives in Africa. Or pick a local African name

[@northernking6610]

Nationalize it. Why should that drax family benefit from it? Turn it into a museum

[@andrewhall2678]

The Drax family should use the profits to create a fund to enrich and uplift the lives of the people of Barbados.

[@LeComtedeSaintDomingue]

That's the job of the government of Barbados not the Drax family

[@lynnhaynes7715]

I've always been seriously pissed that the plantations open to public only represent half of the history. I told the owners of Sunbury this. You do the tour and they show you all the opulence and splendor of those days but show NOTHING and talk NOTHING about the slaves that enabled Brits to live in such luxury. Not even a reconstruction of a slave hut on grounds so visitors can really understand the truth about what happened. NO mention of the thousands of lives lost. NO mention of the lives lost right there on Sunbury....was disgraceful and disrespectful.

[@League-fix]

As a Ghanaian, all glory to the Lord Jesus Christ that at long last our families in Barbados have become a republic. We will visit them soon. God bless Barbados.

[@v.t.8752]

As a Barbadian it was very important for me to travel to Ghana to pay homage to my ancestors at Cape Coast and Elmina. I was told that I look Asante. This made me feel such belonging

[@reezak78]

@@v.t.8752 as a Ghanaian living in the USA..you are us Ghana welcome you anytime, and I will surely visit Barbados

[@v.t.8752]

@@reezak78 You are very welcome to visit. Remember to taste coucou our national dish. It is a descendant of banku

[@antoniobaret7928]

#Lisa Augusta you should study history before making such foolish comment ... Jesus was the name of the Slave Ship that brought our Ancestor from Ghana to here so how dare you glory the name of Oppressor ...... Barbados did not break ties with Britain because The Government of Barbados by legal definition is the The State Corporation of Barbados which is a Company owned by Britain Crown and still owned by them

[@lacinabakayoko4634]

To teach a black that a white man died for his sins and coming back to save him is insult to his intelligence. One greatest lie told you.you was born in sin not true you born divine.

[@toriesout2702]

If he isn’t responsible for his family’s past sins then he shouldn’t benefit from the financial gains either!

[@heiltd1286]

That's a fair point.

[@Lotsielots]

By your logic everyone who inherits anything from morally questionable people must give the assets away to charity, as they can't profit from say an uncle who was a murderer and a thief but left them a house.

[@heiltd1286]

@@Lotsielots Clearly there must be compensation for the ills of the slave trade. What I do object to is that this should come from the UK government. That means individuals such as Drax would be in a win win situation. When their slaves were freed, it was Drax who was compensated by The British Government and now, belatedly, the descendants of enslaved Africans are compensated, it's again the UK government paying the dues. The UK government paying means everyone in the UK including descendants of children working in mines and textile mills. No. That compensation should be paid and paid by the likes of Drax. If they're left with FA; good, my heart bleeds. BLM

[@MrBoliao98]

I disagree, most wealth disappears in two generations eg. The Vanderbilts. For the wealth to have survived the second world war, this family deserves to hold onto the money. Despite a 98% income tax in the UK, they held on. Meanwhile slavery disappeared in the 1800s, harping and harkening, these people are mentally enslaved, they refuse to let go.

[@marshhen]

I wish you would have included the response to this piece by the MP. You summarize his statement but it would have been good to have him interviewed on camera. How is it possible that he thinks this is defensible. The records of that plantation are not just private records now, they are records of a vast and extensive atrocity. How can they not have donated them already to the national museum for scholarship and research and education. That is what people do who TRULY believe in reconciliation. If he does not feel responsible, then, why not donate information and also permit researchers to find the burial grounds. What an irresponsible and backward person. He does not deserve to have that kind of secrecy over the collective past. Disgusting.

[@remiem-iw7uk]

You must understand that first of all, the English DO NOT TEACH their children about how England has benefitted from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and used it to gain wealth by starting the sugar industry. All English children are taught is that at some point there were slaves. This is why last year in Bristol, people toppled the statue of one of it's most celebrated figures during the protests after the George Floyd killing. He had built his wealth off slave trading ships. There is a old statement by one historian that "The streets of Bristol are paved with the blood of the slaves." The English people grew up thousands of miles removed from the atrocity. They genuinely don't know what they don't know. We would like to think that as a Drax, the MP has a bit better knowledge than the average Briton but given his likely having attended an exclusive boarding school such as Eaton, it is questionable what he really understands. British education needs to start owning up to the full gamut of activities the British have engaged in that built their fortune and that will put most of them at great discomfort to actually read things which were done to human beings for the profit of a few. It would also make them better understand that the imbalances their forefathers created overseas, are the reason why they have the types of immigrants they do.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

@@remiem-iw7uk well said , the people are slowly finding out by TV documentaries , time for change time for a Republican land .

[@heiltd1286]

@@remiem-iw7uk That's a great point. Respect. Nonetheless it has to be said British people suffered, particularly children, in the Industrial Revolution. Also the British were genuinely inventive at that time with their engineering. What the history books teach is that from 1830s on The Royal Navy cracked down on slavery by other countries. Before that up to 1807 they were protecting the Slave Trade. The latter is rarely mentioned. As far as educating is concerned, one only need read the racist garbage spouted by certain individuals here. Invariably the grammar is so poor that one could barely consider them literate.

[@lorainecodrington5721]

Why should this Drax person, living in England, hold property in Barbados that has our History, and have a right to refuse, to allow us to gain entry into that knowledge. Surely, he is continuing his Slave Master behaviour, preventing us from gaining insight into our past, our Ancestral's life/history. Everyone wants to know about their Roots. Has he ever been to Barbados? Have we not got a right to access now we're a Republic? How can he be so mean as to hide our past from us?

[@covfefe1787]

@@lorainecodrington5721 then get the government to purchase the property off of him. it will costs tens of millions but if you want it so bad offer him a price after all he is the rightful owner of the plantation.

[@oldneo4309]

Over 30000 slaves died on that plantation- Drax should be totally ashamed by that. The only good thing that can come from bad past (MLK reference) is for the house to be given back to the people in Barbados and for them to benefit locally. Drax has more than enough wealth in the UK, unfortunately most rich titled people don’t have a moral compass.

[@plankton50]

Could you imagine holding onto that land? I wouldn't be able to give it up fast enough.

[@matthewbrooker]

Farewell Barbados. Hope this is an opportunity to shine a light on the wealth creation for British ruling classes that still dominate finances. Compensation? Absolutely!

[@heiltd1286]

Brilliant point. There are some great comments here. Obviously the racists have crawled out of the sewers to spout their bile, but nonetheless there've been great wise comments here

[@gingerbaker4390]

So they sell out to the Chinese CCP rulers. Que logic. ????

[@elana137]

When has the UK ever compensated anyone for their crimes against humanity?

[@gingerbaker4390]

@@elana137 I agree. Give California back to Mexico, Hawaaii back to natives, Alaska, back to Russia and the US Virgin Islands, well back to virgins I guess. .

[@Cybernaut551]

@@gingerbaker4390 Both CCP & the UK's dystopian empires have dangerous affects, respectfully.

[@keithmatthews718]

Good. Hopefully Jamaica follows suit too.

[@dominicclarke7875]

Yardies are violent drug dealing road men

[@saxglend9439]

I'm going back to Jamaica.

[@alanhanson9464]

Hopefully

[@1991-present]

@@dominicclarke7875 … Jamaica’s a very big island

[@johnson2joy]

@@dominicclarke7875 Behave yourself, go sit down and be humble......

[@aminauwera2646]

I am Rwandan lady who love equality, I cried for happiness to be live and see this time of my brothers and sisters reached this step. Yes this is first promising steps to others too. Congratulations, we Africans in Africa we loves you and we are here know that we have each other ad brothers and sisters this it is the time of united with your mother land Africa

[@alanhanson9464]

I don't belong to them either. It belongs to Kalinago and South American people. White people came then brought slaves from The Bight of Benin. I love the way people make it sound like the land was there's originally until White people turned up. And that White people was the one's that made people slaves. Bet they don't say the same things about the Africans that made the people slaves in the first place and traded and sold them.

[@davidmcintyre998]

Lovely sentiment Amina nearly had me in tears but i wonder if you could do something about you African Brothers who are crossing the channel using inflatable boats its very dangerous and here in England we are full up.

[@JupiterWisdom1111]

@@alanhanson9464 You can make excuses all day long, nothing will change the fact that yt people are evil end of story

[@uhuru1713]

@@davidmcintyre998 you are such a Hater..England got Rich from other Nations suffering..Congratulations Barbados from Ireland!

[@kalunda5560]

@@davidmcintyre998 go learn your history properly

[@michaellawrence7570]

Get let's hope Jamaica 🇯🇲 see sense and do the same

[@saxglend9439]

Let's go home.

[@sametoyoutoo8509]

Yup, please go.

[@petertownsend2255]

Jamaica is different mate ...Barbados is a playground for the rich English..we have far better institutions which look after our historic properties...national heritage trust, UDC just to name a few..Yiu can buy land in Drax Hall st.Ann Jamaica

[@Lando-kx6so]

After we take care of our decades long crime/murder crisis & our economy then we should look into doing this.

[@thejoin4687]

@@petertownsend2255 Good example is Rose Hall

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Congratulations 🎉 Barbados 🇧🇧

[@juniormartin3528]

richard drax must not hide behind his excuse.

[@rawbluecheese]

He lives with riches obtained through slave labour. What a vile individual he seems to be.

[@SpitfireMLG]

Wow. No wonder the people of the UK want channel 4 defunded. Totally biased reporting.

[@helloworldtv3663]

Congratulations Barbados!! we wish you All the best Ahead 🙏🙏 -From RWANDA🇷🇼🇷🇼 located In Africa +2 GMT. Thank you!!

[@cobravoadora]

Live long to The Republic of Barbados

[@saxglend9439]

The Chinese Republic of Barbados.

[@mr_imperfectiongamingchann1962]

@@saxglend9439 doubt that.

[@saxglend9439]

@@mr_imperfectiongamingchann1962 China has given Barbados £400m.

[@FBISHOJI]

Won't last long

[@expatlifestyle6069]

His family still owns it! Why is it his choice to open it up to the people? It’s time for the newly formed republic to make specific demands

[@JKLoans]

Private property is still a thing; and, it is his to do with what he may. Appreciating the historical value (and, I certainly do), the Barbadian government should present the Drax family with an offer to purchase. Anything short of that is up to Mr. Drax and his family.

[@Jstar697]

His family are criminals and for the interest of Barbadians whose relatives are buried there it should be nationalised.

[@artl7796]

@@Jstar697 Horrific really isn't it.

[@dominicclarke7875]

I hope Belize follows

[@saxglend9439]

I'm going back to Belize. It's sunny there.

[@laraolayinka5151]

Well done Barbados, may the rest of the Commonwealth follow

[@sandman8993]

No commonwealth games for Barbados

[@laraolayinka5151]

@@sandman8993 boo hoo! 🙄😂

[@alanhanson9464]

It would be better if we give them the slaves and there families back to them that they sold us. Think we have the receipts somewhere

[@robertomeara3469]

@Pe Ba A dictator took over in Zimbabwe called Mugabe and Britain done f all there simply because it didnt have the power too.Well done Barbados,offload the Commonwealth next.

[@sweetpepper13]

@Pe Ba Brits haven't given a toss since they extracted the last of all the wealth to build their empire so pray tell what would be new?

[@davidmiles-hanschell]

It is never too late to learn my Nation's history.

[@saxglend9439]

History is a thing of the past.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

@@saxglend9439 well said Roman Slave

[@russelledwards001]

@@saxglend9439 yeah, obvs.

[@saxglend9439]

@@russelledwards001 History is a mystery.

[@andresmora5192]

Now only Australia and Canada are missing.

[@bl00dhoney]

The white settler colonies? Also, you missed off Aotearoa New Zealand

[@q11q40]

@ Black Hawk how will they benefit, unlike Barbados, they are settler colonies.

[@lindagill1793]

My ancestors..great -grandfather GILL a sugar plantation owner from England...had his Mansion ..I was in claimed & donated to Barbados...for low income housing( I believe). When visiting there. I was treated as royalty...it was so beautiful!XOXO i Love my father's land & it's PEOPLE! MY PEOPLE! my father's mother was born there.

[@CobinRain]

My message to the people of Barbados: the,past is another country; they do things differently there. And face the truths about your past: your ancestors were not enslaved by Europeans; they were enslaved by other Africans and sold on for money or trade goods. So the slave episode in your family was set in place in West Africa. Learn about the past without rancour…it was terrible in different ways for almost all of our ancestors. But slavery has been gone for over 200 years. And the descendants of those slaves are free people and owners, jointly, of their own lovely little country. And as for Drax Hall I feel it should be made an historical monument. Here is Wales every bad thing you can think of happened to our ancestors and now the castles of those who oppressed us are official ancient monuments where we take our children for history lessons …..and picnics.

[@lonalxaia]

I have no idea why so many black people in the Caribbean deliberately ignore that part in history also reading the posts the Africans.

[@cherylharewood2549]

Congratulations Barbados

[@pedrojemmott6120]

Need to question the legislators,not the person who inherited the land. Barabados is a symbolic Republic

[@user-dd4onX]

Respect to them for being brave enough to become one. Some of us are now crying republic with we're moving on statements to prince Andrew and his wife.

[@jamesgaughan1368]

Super jealous of Barbados. Hope Canada leaves the commonwealth as well soon

[@alanhanson9464]

We hope you do to. Why we need to protect you people from America i will never know. Good luck

[@jpw6893]

Barbados aren't leaving the commonwealth.

[@Robertsmith001]

@@jpw6893 They will soon

[@jpw6893]

@@Robertsmith001 fine, bye bye

[@q11q40]

Why? Your country won’t benefit

[@tyrone5066]

Sue the British government. Sue the family.

[@saxglend9439]

Lervish

[@alanhanson9464]

Sue the Bight of Benin, West Africa for selling and trading there people

[@heiltd1286]

@@alanhanson9464 "THERE" people. You haven't even an elementary grasp of English. They're/there/ their is something that a 10 year old of reasonable average ability should understand.

[@heiltd1286]

@@alanhanson9464 It's THEIR in this context you illiterate racist clown.

[@alanhanson9464]

@@heiltd1286 you lost again. You have no knowledge of what you talk about. You have no knowledge of the history of Barbados. The only thing you can come back with is, you can't spell 😂😂😂😂🤣. Go have a debate in a school playground with other kids.

[@blessed7871]

I believe the Drax family stronghold on the plantation is an insult!!!, just as the queen of England is no longer head of Barbados state Drax family today should no longer still be plantation owners….are they still waiting for slavery to return? If No one can be held responsible for what happened in the past? so why is richard Drax and his family still be responsible as the Drax hall owners then? Perhaps as the responsible owners to date they should pay compensation for their ancestors evil atrocities?

[@iconmax7450]

Is it just me but these old plantations look creepy and spooky

[@hourbee5535]

Reparations for Barbados! Becoming a republic is only the beginning!

[@jpw6893]

Lol

[@icecreamcake1457]

Richard FINANCIALLY benefits from his inhumane, barbaric, slave-holding ancestors, which makes him very much accountable for their actions. Plus, HE has perpetuated his ancestor’s legacy of slavery and colonialism. Citizens of Barbados should also fight for reparations.

[@pduffy421]

What crime have your ancestors committed perhaps. Should you be held accountable if one of your ancestors was a murderer or robber? Yes, I think you should!!! Sad cretin.

[@sandman8993]

Absolute nonsense! Your mind has been poisoned.

[@JackGinny]

You aint getting nothing!

[@Lolalai]

@@saxglend9439 You should be comparing like with like. What happened in Barbados is akin to what happened with the Nazis and the Jews in Germany, the only difference with the Barbadians being that it happened on their own land. The Nazis benefited from the extermination and plunder of the Jews' wealth, in the same way Barbadians suffered genocide, extermination and plunder at the hands of the English. So, it is only fair that they get their land back and reparations for all the harm done to them.

[@heiltd1286]

Don't refer to this scumbag as "Richard".............refer to him as Drax. That conveys the contempt in which he and his whole rotten family should be held.

[@coraljones4300]

How is that man still willing to hold that name, it’s like he’s proud of his ancestors and what they did. He calls it ‘regrettably’ the understatement of the year!

[@My_dailyL1fe]

Now that Barbados is a country why can't the government seize the land of drax Hall and kick this guy out and finally have access to that land and claim it as their own

[@thesoulbrother8636]

I was wondering the same thing. Why is he able to hold on to ill gotten gains.

[@smoozerish]

Happy to see Barbados get rid of the last vestiges of its colonial past. They have suffered enough at the hands of a racist and xenophobic nation that is little britian.

[@saxglend9439]

You sound racist and Xenophobic.

[@sametoyoutoo8509]

Not our fault you're weak losers 🤣

[@Land-of-reason]

I know Richard. He is neither racist or xenophobic. He is a very decent man. Your comment about little Britain says a lot about yourself.

[@Jules-fx2sc]

So the Drax family is still profiting from the misery his ancestors inflicted on enslaved people, yet he tries to distance himself. The british govt only repaid the loan they obtained to compensate slave owners in 2015. I was fuming, as a british taxpayer, when I discovered I had paying such people like the Drax family. How disgusting. Whilst enslaved people received no reparations at all!

[@jpw6893]

So the people in charge will be giving up their titles?

[@darthsigil]

Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population. The past builds creates the present and inspires the future. When Haiti created its first constitution they outlawed foreign ownership of lands. After the USA invaded they forced Haiti to change that part of the constitution. The USA has also bullied other African, Caribbean and Latin American countries to not pass land ownership laws or to reverse land ownership laws. The only African country exempt from the USA’s policy is Liberia. If you know Liberia’s history, you know why the USA ignores their land and voting laws. Mind you America still has colonies and I am not talking about the military industrial complex. Iran nationalizing its oil. Cuba reclaiming colonized property/land from businesses is why the current relationships are what they are. The USA does not believe in sovereignty or self determination of other countries. They helped France extort money for being free and tge island Haiti. Haiti paid all of it and it broke them. They fought for freedom and had to pay to stay on an half an island that France already ruined by over farming, which killed the soil. Spain was much kinder to its half of the island. They paid for exhausted dirt. No ride to Africa was offered. That would be too expensive. Russia has done nothing that France, The UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and most of Europe hasn’t done and continue to do. They say you can’t blame the current people for their past mistakes. LOL The USA stole Hawaii after their Queen assisted the USA in good faith. Now the Hawaii’s homeless is mostly natives. They could of given Hawaii back at anytime. Nope. A coup and ridiculous referendums that allowed white American, who out numbered the Natives, to vote. I am simplifying, because there were some other treacherous deeds that led to the Kingdom of Hawaii’s demise. No good deed goes unpunished.

[@andreasdaunfeldt8188]

The plantation should be open to the ppl of barbados 🇧🇧 I think the owner doesn't want the historians to find out how brutal the slaves was mistreated before buried,. And that's why they want to protect they ancestors ( plantations name.

[@gson56]

Evil can be passed down in a family tree

[@heiltd1286]

Look at Richard Drax

[@afrakanaswahilitv5520]

Drax Hall must be nationalized and profits to go to my Afrikan Barbados people. Kenya stands with our Barbados brothers and sisters. Here in Kenya we are also demanding full compensation for all the MAUMAU fighters and for the loss of life we experienced during British occupation and colonialism. "Tuko pamoja milele daima dawamu."

[@daiu48]

RGPEED -aka Conservative MP for S. Dorset has managed to avoid parliamentary and public scrutiny over his family wealth derived from sugar plantations and slavery - until now. Dorset uncovered, Dorset Eye and an article by Nick Hayes on this politician’s background (A very English theft: how the countryside was taken from the public, using profits from slavery), help to provide important information - not forthcoming from the elected representative in the House Of Commons.

[@mathildap.7705]

Drax Hall should be a museum for the people of Barbados and not a real estate (asset) for the descendants of slave owners. This is ridiculous. The Drax family should be sympathetic to the pleas of the people and release the property back to the people. Period. Who will want to hold on to a piece of real estate with that type of history? Hmmm...it says a lot about the heirs of this place. Do they still feel entitled? That's a scary thought.

[@grahamt5924]

So nationalise all the property in Barbados then.

[@bopdawg1082]

Having become its own Republic Barbados has the right to eliminate passed aggressions against its people and pursue retribution from Drax because he and his family are still citizens of the British Empire who enslaved the people.

[@LeComtedeSaintDomingue]

No it doesn't because the current owner is not responsible for what his ancestors did by this logic you could charge someone or fine them today because their great grandfather killed someone It's ridiculous and pathetic really. Blacks have such an inferiority complex it baffles me

[@sutikareoluwagbenga1272]

How naive of you to think that the horrendous historical events of the criminal past will ever be revealed to the victims of the tragedy. To contemplate the very thought that the records of the tremendous profiteering on the backs of slaves will ever be shared is testimony to your naivete.

[@JRCMRamos]

How about the money that came from the slaves' work, did he inherit it?

[@Competitive_Antagonist]

It probably got lost over all the generations. I'm very sleep-deprived, so my attention is poor right now. It appears that this Drax politician now owns the house, but he's opening it to the public. I hope if any money is made from this that at least the vast majority of the profits go towards some kind of reparations. If I inherited such a property, I would feel like such a monster to profit from it.

[@Lolalai]

In an indirect way, he did, because he inherited the privilege and the power that comes from belonging to a family that is wealthy; who made their wealth, among other things, by trafficking, exploiting and torturing other human beings. Richard Drax MP's wealth is estimated to be around £150 million approximately as reported by the Guardian. I say approximately because I am sure there is plenty that will remain undeclared in some offshore trust or elsewhere in a tax haven: out of sight and out of reach

[@alanhanson9464]

I think West Africa traded most slaves for weapons. They did get lots of money to but think it only went to the some families and dictatorships. Don't know who he is referring to.

[@heiltd1286]

@@alanhanson9464 More illiterate racist trash from an individual beneath contempt.

[@koffi3415]

They should be compensated with an apology from the British government.

[@mucheruh6385]

kenya loves 🇧🇧Barbarossa... live long

[@JayeshPatel-ct5ps]

I'd like to know how much land in the Caribbean islands is still owned by foreigners.

[@lonalxaia]

It belongs to the Kalinagos.

[@glenfordburrell2133]

Barbados, Montserrat and Barbuda are also the resting places of over a 100,000 indentured labourers and convicts. Mainly of Irish Ancestry. Today one can still hear the remnants of the Irish dialect - which is mistaken believed to be West Country English. Throughout the Caribbean as far away as the Gulf of Darius (Central America). There are also "burial grounds" on the island of Hispanola, Today known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic where the bodies of over 40,000 British Red Coats are laid to rest. 13,000 of whom most definitely were Irish. The Irish lilt can also be heard in and around Jamaica especially in Brown's Town, Irish Town and Lionel Town. Brown's Town is also the Birthplace of the father of Kamala Harris.

[@corvusglaive4804]

Yes. Every person of Caribbean descent knows this.

[@SpitfireMLG]

Irish were very common slave owners in the Caribbean. That’s why so many Jamaicans have Irish surnames today

[@shiprahyahisrael6200]

Mr Drax has benefited from the doings of his fore parents just like we were punished for the doings of ours.....

[@wendywolfman]

You know Channel 4 love this

[@kevindunne5753]

Congratulations to Barbados on their independence from Ireland 🇮🇪

[@gingerbaker4390]

Lol the Irish were the biggest slave owners in the West Indies and Southern USA.

[@heiltd1286]

@@gingerbaker4390 Well they weren't. It was the English and Welsh( obviously a tiny minority of those nationals). The Scots were a good way behind and the Irish further. The involvement of Jews is a problematic one and something almost impossible to discuss honestly lest one be accused of anti Semitism. One need only look at surnames in The Caribbean and among Blacks in the US and observe Jones, Williams, Griffiths, Davis etc all being very common. An occasional Murphy crops up occasionally.

[@gingerbaker4390]

@@heiltd1286 Rubbish you're in denial. Go to St Lucia and look at parish records of the plantation owners. All Irish. There are lot of black with Irish names Delany, O'Neil etc. The movie Gone with the Wind was about an Irish plantation owner. The catholic empire enslaved most of Americas and Carribean. Why would the Irish who were part of that. have been an different. ?

[@heiltd1286]

@@gingerbaker4390 You're in denial of the facts. In fact in St Lucia the slave owners were, I'd guess, originally French. The country is Roman Catholic unlike other Caribbean islands that are mostly Protestant. Certainly those that were part of the British Empire.

[@gingerbaker4390]

@@heiltd1286 You don't even kniw correct history The British took over lands in the Carribean owned by the Spanish, and French because they were at war with them. They subsequently freed the enslaved Africans and many worked for the British. There is no slavery on Crown land. Slavery only happened in the US , which wasn't Crown land. The Irish were the most slave owners. Some of the slaves in America escaped (undergroud railroad) to Canada where they became free men under common law. It's the same today when people claim asylum in the first safe country. Some even travelled and settled in England. They kept records That's how we know about it.

[@thetruth5059]

Congrats!! It's long overdue but better late than never.

[@francisryan1845]

Great news that Barbados is finally letting go of the English chains that held them enslaved for centuries. And the English like Drax shouyld be held reponsible for the deeds of his forefathers and repay monies that were lost to the people of Barbados.

[@Lolalai]

Or give the land back to the people of Barbados

[@saxglend9439]

Lervish

[@alanhanson9464]

Yeah let them struggle on there own. Hope you don't come begging for charity or help

[@heiltd1286]

@@alanhanson9464 "Let them struggle on THERE own" Lol. Not just a racist, but an illiterate racist.

[@alanhanson9464]

@@heiltd1286 thats part of the independent you know. You can't say you want from us already.

[@imaniife5437]

Our government needs to focus their time and money on things like this instead of wasting money on Glendairy.

[@shemushemu9534]

Congratulations Barbado

[@laurencevanhelsuwe3052]

Can't you file Freedom of Information requests to get those records?

[@briantime3762]

No because its from a private property right?

[@alanhanson9464]

@@briantime3762 West Africans never kept records of there people they sold and traded as slaves

[@remiem-iw7uk]

@@alanhanson9464 But the English did and built up ports like Bristol off slave trading. The largest fleet of slave ships was based there but they don't teach you all in school about the way Britain became "great" and you overlook the depth of what went on in the Caribbean and elsewhere because you as a people were insulated and far removed from witnessing first-hand the results of your atrocities. One historian wrote "The streets of Bristol are paved with the blood of the slaves". Plantation ledgers show actual itemised lists of PROPERTY, so they list slaves - including gender, age *and monetary value* - right among furniture, animals and provisions like flour, and barrels of salted meat etc. imported for the plantation. This is because once the slave ships landed in Barbados, which was the first port-of-call, the humanity of the African was stripped. Captured people who might have been relatives were separated further from family - some ending up in other colonies. Under the law, *1 slave was literally 3/5 of a person*. Conversely, across Africa a person maintained their humanity even if enslaved. In some cultures a person could sell themselves into slavery to repay debt. Once repaid however, they could reclaim freedom. In some cases, a slave actually rose to become the leader of the society they became a part of. Others became enslaved as captives of war. Humanity was not downgraded though. No such possibilities existed in the West Indies nor the British North American colonies for the enslaved Africans. Persons ( abolitionists ) questioned the morality the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the plantation slavery system and campaigned for their end. e.g. William Wilberforce. They were ignored. Once the Industrial Revolution began to take shape in England, the sugar industry began to decline and this softened folks up to abolish, in 1807, the slave trade only. Slavery continued in the British colonies until 1834 then the newly emancipated slaves went through a 4 year transition period called Apprenticeship. In 1838 they now were to be paid workers and pay varied considerably from colony to colony. In Barbados, its tiny size and geography, meant the majority of former slaves remained stuck on the plantations they were born on. Now they had to pay to rent the land on which they and their foreparents were born. If for any reason they and the planter or overseer fell out, they would be forced to leave the plantation with all their belongings and seek work elsewhere. Hence the origin of the Bajan "chattel house" came about; so-called because it was movable property. By 1840, Barbados passed the Police Act and the Police Force was established. Vagrancy Act was passed soon after Emancipation as well and meant if a worker had to leave the plantation, he or she could be jailed for sleeping on the roadside. *So no kind of compensatory land or rent-to-own provision was made for them! BY CONTRAST, THE ALREADY ELITE LANDED GENTRY PLANTATION OWNERS OF THE CARIBBEAN PETITIONED FOR AND WERE COMPENSATED BY THE BRITISH GOV'T TO THE TUNE OF £20 M for "LOSS OF PROPERTY". In addition, Immigration laws were deliberately created to block the black workers from migrating to bigger and less densely populated colonies like British Guiana (now Guyana) where they could earn far better pay and buy larger tracts of land. In BG, Trinidad and Jamaica, East Indian - INDENTURED NOT ENSLAVED - workers were brought in to create a buffer between the planter class and the former slaves. Let's be clear: their living and work conditions were not good in the least bit! Unlike the former slaves though, they had 7 year contracts at the end of which, they received either paid passage back to India or a plot of land of their own! The African and African- descended populations were deliberately disadvantaged from progressing. Tension exists in Guyana and Trinidad to this day between Africans and Indians as a result. Chinese were also brought into the same 3 colonies the Indians were. There is so much more that can be said but that is for YOU and others who don't know, to actually research for yourselves. I've given you a lot of points to go from but will throw in the Slave Codes and the Masters and Servants Act as well.

[@MrResearcher122]

Barbados always felt to me like West Country,England. It's only when you enter their lovely beaches, you feel it's truly the Caribbean.

[@thecalmwayhome8483]

The wealthy can’t take their riches with them when they die. The luxuries of this life is only for a season and will stand as a witness against these wicked people on that great judgement day. Our people have not suffered in vain.🌷

[@singatakberpura]

Next will be India - it wanted to leave the commonwealth in the 1960s when it became a republic but the government of UK begged India not to and gave them an exception to be a republic and still be a part of the commonwealth - free people don't have a queen free people choose their queens

[@bl00dhoney]

India is already a republic.

[@jkally1]

@@bl00dhoney you didn't read their comment. They said India became a Republic in the 1960s but remained part of the commonwealth

[@bl00dhoney]

@@jkally1 they said "NEXT will be India". Barbados hasn't left the Commonwealth.

[@davidmcintyre998]

Is there anyone called Bob Smith in the Indian Parliament?

[@MrDragon1968]

I think your confusing the Commonwealth with the monarchy. Barbados hasn't left the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth has plenty of republics.

[@roboldx9171]

Drax. Give it Up. Give it Back.

[@joeycottone7755]

Give it back?

[@andreaduguid7975]

Whilst he can't be blamed for what his ancestors perpetrated centuries ago, he is certainly a direct beneficiary of it. He owns the title for Drax Hall. So distancing himself from the burden of guilt, while benefiting from it, is hypocritical to say the least. If what they did is so regrettable, then cede the property to the people of Barbados.

[@taytk8005]

Sad that till todate the British Monarchy and Government have FAILED to return all the Antiquities, Antiques looted from Barbados They also need to pay massive compensations for all the innocent Barbados natives genocided and forced to work as slaves labours ETC ETC Expressing words of regrets alone is total insincerity

[@onikaconstantine8861]

Love Barbados 🇧🇧❤

[@Musika1321]

Congratulations dear Barbados. Scotland next!

[@saxglend9439]

I agree - free England from Scotch oppression.

[@q11q40]

It’s funny because you have got an Englishmen as your profile pic.

[@graemewight2975]

Trouble is a brewing.

[@guychase8611]

Barbados 🇧🇧 is now a Republic - they should Nationalise Drax Hall with zero reparations to those privileged ,entitled Drax’s - simple solution. !!! DO IT !! ASAP !!!

[@chuckbrooks2271]

Barbadian people should compulsory acquire this plantation and all the land ..

[@kimberlycrossley6134]

The Republic of Barbados 🇧🇧 need to bring in a Bulldozer to remove This Plantation House.

[@quieneselpatron790]

Britian relatively recently finished paying descendents of slave owners in the 2000s. Drax had to be one of them. There's no way he'd be where he is right now without his family history. If he wants to separate from his ancestors let him give up his name or his inheritance.

[@yakopro49]

I just hope Barbados doesn't get lost for a century celebrating there independence... be happy, celebrate, but now real serious business of the country is at stake... the world is watching. what will you do different to better the country, better the people mentally, spiritually and physically... enhance the education system please focus on the hard sciences mathematics economics and such...

[@justonecornetto80]

Barbados has been independent for 54 years.

[@seantitus2769]

I have direct ancestors who were white people from Connecticut who lived for three generations in Barbados. I don’t know what they did there, but I can imagine. I’m sorry.

[@chimapatrick7978]

Wow congratulation to Barbados...

[@clancywiggam]

Each day a little smaller...

[@allanwilliams2079]

Drax Brothers made an investment. They developed that investment. At that time it was perfectly legitimate to do what they did. The effort now, to change the reality of history, is nonsense. New laws were made to change the relationships and conditions going forth from the passage of these laws. New laws can never change the events which happened before they were passed.

[@timbo9200]

Richard Drax just lost his seat and I am very happy. His forefathers were the first people to set up slavery in Barbados in the 17th century. Over 30,000 slaves died on Drax plantation, but he won't allow any archaeologists on site. I have been on his plantation, though he doesnt know it. He is a billionaire, who is the biggest landowner in Dorset, and owns huge tracts of land in Yorkshire and Scotland. That's fine, but all the money that made his family comes from slavery! Yes, he should pay huge reparations to the people of Barbados. Fund schools, hospitals, bursaries etc. BTW, I am a white, middle class, and ex army.

[@verniepeart2040]

We in Jamaica is familiar with this name because they had property in Jamaica with the similar name. The School name Jamaica College is a educational institution created from the will left by The Drax family in Jamaica

[@burrenmagic]

AmAzing reporter. Well done C4.

[@niriop]

I don't buy this idea, repeated endlessly, that they actually buried people underneath agricultural land--it has to be a poetic metaphor. It would make no sense to do that.

[@remiem-iw7uk]

@niriop Barbados which was colonised in 1627, is only 166 square miles in size. It had 503 sugar plantations at its peak of profitability. Enslaved Africans were imported from around the 1670's until the abolition of the British Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807 but slavery itself only officially ended 1834. It meant the imported Africans and then their Barbados-born descendants lived and died on the plantations - where they were also buried. No metaphor.

[@niriop]

@@remiem-iw7uk No, I'm talking about buried under actual arable land, not in an area that was set aside for burial. Even then, it seems odd to keep talking about slaves being buried there, when in such settlements people of whatever status were born, they lived, they died, and they were buried within the parameters...it's just a strange thing to focus on. Also: why did you tell me all that? It had nothing to do with what I was asking, and I already knew all of that anyway.

[@Handsome.Liberian.African]

Wow the really took our relative😭😭😭💔💔💔 Africa love you!

[@lonalxaia]

Africa is very much guilty.

[@guychase8611]

“Deeply Regrettable” - hey snatch DRAX HALL BACK AS PROCEEDS OF CRIME - and RICHARD DRAX can truly mean his shallow words !!🤣😂

[@amindra963]

Congratulations Barbados! Time to address the National trauma.

[@sbrewster1653]

Needs to be returned to the people of Barbados sooner than later.

[@oriordan1980]

This is difficult. Generational wealth made the drax owners have wealth to build on . I feel we can move on however the slave owners should never have been compensated for the end of slavery .

[@leecoping8114]

Barbados broke ties with the UK in 1966

[@beckysuperswag]

"fabulously" rich? seriously? word choice is important. there's nothing fabulous about money that comes from such a vile and horrifying business. And they were never slaves. they were human beings who were ENSLAVED. There is no such thing as a slave.