Benedict Cumberbatch is aware of his family’s history of slavery. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
Did you read that Benedict Cumberbatch and other descendants of slave-owning families could be sued by the government Barbados? Boy, has that information been taken out of context and even officials from the Caribbean island government have already come out to clarify the situation.
First things first: The British newspaper The Telegraph published that the Caribbean movement for peace and integration would sue the descendants of plantation owners (and therefore slaves). pay for historical repairs.
However, a member of Barbadian government He has already come out to clarify what was published by the British tabloid and said that at the moment No redress was sought from the Cumberbatch family.
To understand it a little better, the Caribbean country lived under the rule of the British monarchy 396 years and in An independent republic was proclaimed in 2021 (remember our beautiful RiRi at the ceremony?).
What the Telegraph Said vs What the Barbados Government Says
The Telegraph interviewed the Secretary General of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, David Dennywho said that the descendants of slave-owning families should pay reparations.
“To all descendants of white plantation owners who have benefited Slave trade should be asked to pay reparationsincluding the Cumberbatch family,” he said.
The same newspaper reported that David Commissiong, Vice President of the National Reparations Commission, said that this application was “at an early stage”.
However, after all the excitement this tip has caused, David Commissiong himself published an open letter in the Barbados Today newspaper assuring this his words were taken out of context through the British medium.
“To date, neither the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission nor Barbados have officially submitted one right to repair against a European family,” he said in the letter.
Continue reading the story
He added that it would be easier for these working groups to focus on legal entities such as governments or corporations rather than a specific family.
Benedict Cumberbatch. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Wire Image)
What does Benedict Cumberbatch have to do with slavery in Barbados?
The actor who is a big part of the Marvel Universe to play the Doctor Strangeis Descendant of a slave-owning family.
In 1728, his great-great-grandfather’s great-grandfather (much like his great-great-great-grandfather) bought a plantation in the Cleland area of northern Barbados. The family had up to 250 slaves.
The UK abolished slavery by 1833, but do you think slave owners would lose money any time soon? No sir, nothing like that. The British government itself asked for a loan and paid compensation for “losses” of slaves.
This wool is produced together with the profits of the plantations (processed with slave labour). Fortunes inherited by British families from generation to generation, and this largely enables them to maintain the economic doldrums in the present.
This is the case Benedict Cumberbatch’s family.
The actor has spoken about it in a few interviews and accepts it It’s part of the family history that weighs on him.
He has even admitted that one of the reasons he chose to star in films like Amazing Grace (2006) and 12 Years a Slave (2013) was because of that face your family history.