A Letter to President Macron: Reparations Before Restitution

Title: A Letter to President Macron: Reparations Before Restitution
Authors: Manthia Diawara
Media Outlet: Hyperallergic
Publish Date: Jan. 16, 2020

“Mr. President, I ask you to repair what you and your ancestors have broken in my home, before you restore the war trophies of colonial conquest. These days, restitution of so-called “African patrimony” exhausts me, because it is yet another ruse the West has devised in order to distract Africans from the real problems facing them. Maybe for you restitution is a noble gesture that sets you apart from your predecessors. But for me, Mr. President, restitution must come after reparations for the still ongoing pillage and despoliation by Europe and other foreign powers of Africa’s material and natural resources.”