D espite reports that the UK attempted to keep reparations off the formal agenda for the Commonwealth summit attended by King Charles and the UK prime minister, they are in the air . British Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch is among those detractors who have argued that it is African nations who should apologise for the transatlantic slave trade. It may seem like a spectacular case of whataboutery (it is) but it also touches on an enduring tension in some Black communities surrounding African involvement in capturing and enslaving people. This week, I speak to two historians to sort fact from fiction.

‘Shameful chapter’ … King Charles addressed Britain’s involvement in enslavement on a visit to Antigua and Barbuda. Photograph: Victoria Jones/Shutterstock

When discussing slavery, we should be “honest about the whole history”, Kemi Badenoch wrote in a recent post on X .…