CNN star Don Lemon was stunned into silence when he asked a representative of the British monarchy if King Charles III was planning to pay reparations for British colonialism that happened hundreds of years ago.
Video of the exchange quickly went viral.
“You have those who are asking for reparations for colonialism,” Lemon said about King Charles’ inheritance after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
“I think you’re right about reparations,” Hilary Fordwich, the royal commentator, replied. “But if people want it, though, you always have to go back to the beginning of the supply chain.”
“Where was the beginning of the supply chain?” she asked rhetorically. “That was in Africa. Which was the first nation in the world that abolished slavery?”
The first nation in the world to abolish slavery, Fordwich claimed, was the British.
“2,000 naval men died on the high seas trying to stop slavery,” she continued. “Why? Because the African kings were rounding up their own people and had them in cages. They were right there on the beaches; no one was running into Africa to get them.”
“I think you’re totally right. If reparations need to be paid, we need to go right back to the beginning of that supply chain and say, ‘Who was rounding up their own people and handcuffing them in cages?’ Absolutely, that’s where they should start,” Fordwich said, and suggested that maybe the families of British sailors killed fighting enslavers should be compensated.
“It’s an interesting discussion, Hilary,” Lemon replied.
Take a look —
CNN’s @DonLemon tells royal commentator Hilary Fordwich the royal family should pay reparations — immediately regrets it pic.twitter.com/LotCfBoAym
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 20, 2022