Brazil, The Largest Western Hemisphere Recipient In Transatlantic Slave Trade, Begins Considering Reparations

Brazil, the country with the largest Black population outside of Africa, has entered a new stage in its slow process of addressing the legacy of slavery and racism in the country. But as the debate over reparations begins in Brazil, the country’s Black and mixed-race citizens still wrestle with fundamental issues of race and identity. Major Brazilian financial institution ‘asks Black people for forgiveness’ Inspired by reparations efforts in the United States, Brazil has recently made moves toward providing acknowledgement, apologies and perhaps even compensation for its extensive history of slavery and anti-Black racism. In December, experts recommended to a committee of the Brazilian Senate that the government should provide compensation for slavery. The most prominent result of this process so far has been a governmental investigation launched against the Bank of Brazil, the nation’s second-largest bank, for its historical ties to slavery. The probe into the bank has led to the institution apologizing for its role in the slave trade.  According to The Associated Press, “Today’s Bank of Brazil asks Black people for forgiveness,” a representative of the bank said at a recent public forum about the impact of slavery in the country, adding that “directly or indirectly, all...