The government of Denmark recognizes the evils of slavery in its past, but it will not issue a formal apology or pay reparations to the U.S. Virgin Islands because there are no living former Danish slave owners or slaves to apologize or to apologize to, Denmark’s foreign minister said last month.
The formal statement came after the small far-left Danish political party Enhedslisten, or Unity Party, in November called on the government of Denmark to apologize for its role in the transatlantic slave trade. The Unity Party cited discussions with St. Croix activists and president of the African Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance, as well as a V.I. Legislature committee hearing on the topic. (See related links below)
The party, a coalition of several smaller parties called "Enhedslisten" or "Unity Party," or Red-Green Alliance, controls 12 seats in the 175-seat Danish parliament, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and the fourth largest left of center party. It is a member of the current governing coalition of parties.
"Denmark has a gruesome history with active involvement in slave trade," Unity Party foreign affairs spokesperson, Nikolaj Villumsen, said in a Danish radio interview, according to the Post. "An official apology is important for two reasons. One is to pay sympathies to the descendants of slaves and the other reason is to have a debate in Denmark about our slavery past," the Post quotes him as saying.
But that view is not universal. The far-right Dansk Folkeparti, which has 22 seats in parliament, said that Denmark shouldn’t be held responsible for something that happened "200 years ago." DF spokesperson Soren Espersen told Politiken newspaper in Denmark.
After Enhedslisten issued its statement, Espersen asked the Danish government what its policy on apologies and reparations. Espersen said before parliament on Nov. 17 that St. Croix reparations activist Shelley Moorhead "actually has been in the forefront of this, and it is not only an apology (they want) … it’s also money."
Acting Danish Secretary of State Nick Hækkerup responded to Espersen’s question, saying slavery is and was a terrible chapter in history that must not be forgotten, but that it is too long ago for apologies or reparations.
"I would like to make it absolutely clear that slavery is a black and dark chapter in world history. It is important that awareness of slavery not be forgotten," Hækkerup said. (Google translation of Danish language transcript)
He also pointed to a 2008 statement issued by the Danish government which similarly stated that slavery was a terrible atrocity and a part of Danish and world history, without any statement of apology for historical actions.
"We cannot undo the past, but we can and we must work to ensure that no one in the world to live in slavery. … What we can, must and will do is to focus on the present and the future and work hard for no one else to live unfree, no need to live in slavery, not to be victims of trafficking," Hækkerup said.
Espersen responded he agreed with the government’s position, saying the distance in time was important.
"I do not reject apologies for anything that has happened in the past, but they shall also be considerable closer than the very unfortunate chapter in the Danish colonial history," Espersen said. There have been examples with Greenland, a former Danish colony, "pretty much in our lifetime, or at least in our parents’ life where it may be appropriate" for an apology, but not in a situation this far back in time, he said.
"We know it’s been terrible for the slaves that were taken. We know it has been a cruel part of Denmark’s history," and it is shocking today that people were treated that way, Espersen said, before asking Hækkerup to confirm his statement meant no Danish apology.
"We deplore the fact of the persistence of human trafficking and modern slavery," Hækkerup said. "But it is not the practice … that Danish governments apologize for past or previous governments’ policies. There are a few examples where the Danish government has apologized for past actions. Common to them is that the people concerned or immediate descendants of the people, who were still alive – and that is in fact also that, as the author puts into the comments – there is also a temporal distance," he said.
In response, Nikolaj Villumsen, foreign affairs spokesman at Enhedslisten told the Source,
"Enhedslisten still thinks that an apology is needed and the right thing to do." (Thanks to Danish historian and journalist Steen Uffe Tommerup who acted as a go-between.)
"Enhedslisten recognizes the fact of being the only party in the Danish Parliament who thinks an apology is the right thing to give, but we will stick to our belief. Therefore Enhedslisten will continue to work on keeping the debate alive and to get Denmark to make all aspects of our colonial history available in both Denmark and the Virgin Islands," he said.
Asked to comment, Moorhead said he had not asked for an apology.
"Nowhere in the history of ACRRA can anyone find that I or the organization have pursued an apology from the Kingdom of Denmark," he said in an email. "The emergence now of the debate on an apology may perhaps be inspired by the Virgin Islands Reparations Movement, but in no way is organic to the Virgin Islands and is not influenced by Virgin Islanders and, truth be told, it was originated in Denmark by interested and concerned Danes."
Moorhead went on to describe the movement Denmark has made since 2004, including the 2008 statement, before concluding that Denmark should and ultimately will apologize.
"When viewed from the vantage point of Virgin Islands leadership, we find that Denmark over the last decade of USVI reparations advocacy has in fact made many concessions. … So, as much as they decry that they "won’t," we are seeing that they will, and by the year 2017, I promise you that Denmark will apologize to the people of the US Virgin Islands," Moorhead said.
"One thing about reparatory justice is that the perpetrator doesn’t get the right to decide the terms of the judgment. So when we see Danish officials shirking their nation’s responsibility to account for the crimes against humanity perpetrated against the people of the Danish West Indies, it is only because the prosecuting entity has yet to present the evidence in its case.”
Moorhead said he had planned to travel as part of a delegation to Denmark in December to meet with officials and academics there, but had to cancel at the last minute. He said Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis had met with him and agreed to fund and participate in the delegation, and then backed out at the last second, forcing him to cancel.
Francis denied this when reached for comment Friday.
"I did not make any commitment. We met and I asked if the government of Denmark would be involved, and said if that was the case we would need to do some research first," Francis said. "I explained that any agreement would have to be between the two governments, and the government could not sponsor a private citizen’s delegation to a foreign government.”
Francis confirmed his opinion “remains the same.” He said, “We need to get together and decide as a people and a government what it is we want to accomplish between the Virgin Islands and Denmark," and until then the government cannot fund private citizens to negotiate on its behalf.
"I did not make a commitment,” he reiterated. “There is only one governor and he will have to make those decisions."
Author’s note: This story was made possible by the invaluable assistance of Danish journalist and historian Steen Uffe Tommerup.
