King Charles Can Keep His Apology, Black Folks Need Results

King Charles III is touring the Caribbean for nine days, but it won’t be a pleasant trip for the big homie. Errybody and their mama is talking about his need to apologize for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. But I have a quick question: What good will an apology do?

Black folks have become so accustomed to accepting symbolic gestures that we mistake them for progress. A university apologizes for its ties to slavery. A corporation acknowledges its racist history. A politician gives a speech about racial healing. Everybody claps…and then what?

The institutions remain wealthy while Black communities are underfunded. And the people who suffered are still waiting for change. Apparently, saying you’re sorry has become an acceptable substitute for actually doing something.

Look, an apology and a dollar won’t get you much from the corner store. Anyone can say they’re sorry, especially when saying so doesn’t cost them a thing. An apology doesn’t require a check or a policy change. All it does is allow powerful people to feel less guilty about historical injustices while keeping everything they gained from those wrongs.

Some are demanding reparations from Britain, and they should. But let’s keep it 100. Black folks aren’t getting one red cent. How do I know? History. When Britain abolished slavery in 1834, it compensated enslavers for their loss of human property. The formerly enslaved got nada, zilch.

The people who profited from slavery got straight cash, homie. The people who were enslaved got empty promises. Now, nearly two centuries later, we’re hoping an apology will somehow move the needle? Forgive me if I’m not holding my breath.

Why are we waiting for the people who benefited from slavery to tell us that slavery was wrong? Do we really need King Charles to confirm that our ancestors deserved better?

They can keep those empty words. Britain must sit down with Caribbean leaders and negotiate a reparations package with real money attached. The UK needs to fund schools and public health programs in that region. There is also a need to investigate how British institutions accumulated wealth from slavery and establish concrete, actionable plans for restitution. And we need to put Caribbean leaders in charge of deciding where that money goes.

CARICOM (an organization of Caribbean countries that work together on regional issues) already has a 10-point plan demanding that former colonial powers address the damage caused by slavery and colonialism. What’s missing is Britain’s willingness to negotiate and pay.

King Charles can apologize until he’s blue in the royal face. But if Britain isn’t willing to put some money behind those words, why do we even care? Black folks have got to get over this obsession with demanding empty gestures from people who have no intention of making us whole. We don’t need another apology tour. We need results.