Hundreds of years ago, the Drax family set up a sugar plantation in Barbados where dozens of black slaves worked
All this has turned into problems for current British MP Richard Drax.
Drax is the Conservative MP for South Dorset. He owns extensive land in England. His 56 square kilometre estate is the largest private property in Dorset. At the same time, according to The Guardian, the key to this wealth was the slave-owning past of the Drax family.
Thus, in the seventeenth century, Richard’s ancestors James and William sailed to Barbados. There they developed a commercial model for a sugar plantation, employing African slaves. The concept was so profitable that it was copied.
In 1807, Great Britain outlawed the slave trade, and in 1833 it banned slavery itself. Around £20 million in compensation was paid to slave owners at that time. A database created by University College London showed that Richard Drax’s ancestor, John Sobridge received almost £4,300 for freeing 189 slaves.
“The Drax family caused more harm and violence to the black people of Barbados than any other family. The Draxes built, engineered and structured slavery,” said Hilary Beckles, chairman of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission.
He said Richard Drax must now apologise to the African people and make amends. The latter Beckles wants to discuss with Drax personally.
The Guardian notes that now, as a wave of opposition to the Western world’s dark historical past sweeps across the world, the descendants of slaves have become animated and are pushing for the redistribution of Drax’s property. They see it as “the proceeds of a terrible crime” committed centuries ago by long-dead Draxes.