PRIME MINISTER David Cameron has urged Caribbean countries to “move on” from the “painful legacy” of slavery, but rejected calls for Britain to apologise for its part in the trade or pay reparations.
The above statement was reportedly made by Cameron in his recent address to the Jamaican Parliament. He reportedly went on to say that while he was aware that the wounds of slavery run very deep, the role of Britain in wiping away “slavery off the face of our planet” must also be remembered.
In essence, what Cameron is saying to the region is to shut up and forget about the past and the ongoing social, economic and psychological impact on our societies. Moreover, we are also to forgive Britain and not to expect them to repay us for the ills given their role in its abolition. It’s a position that I know many in the Caribbean also hold. There is a suggestion that to continually remind Britain of its role and to hold them accountable reinforces a cap in the hand approach to our former colonial masters. It is a position I personally find misinformed and misses the bigger picture of reparations.
Interestingly, for me it is certainly telling that the British prime minister would feel so comfortable and dare I say bold to make this statement in the Jamaican Parliament. His position is really a complete repudiation of the CARICOM position on reparations of which I am sure he is well aware. At the 34th meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held in July 2013 in Trinidad and Tobago, leaders had agreed to the establishment of a CARICOM Reparations Commission which is currently chaired by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies. The leaders had also agreed to setting up national committees on reparations, intended to “establish the moral, ethical and legal case for the payment of reparations by the former colonial European countries, to the nations and people of the Caribbean Community, for native genocide, the transatlantic slave trade and a racialised system of chattel slavery”.
Currently, such national committees exist in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The CARICOM Reparations Commission report directly to a prime ministerial subcommittee on reparations, chaired by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart.
Additionally in March 2014 at a meeting of CARICOM in St Vincent and the Grenadines, leaders unanimously approved the ten-point plan proposed by the CARICOM Reparations Commission to achieve reparatory justice. The plan includes a full formal apology, technology transfer and debt cancellation.
Perhaps Cameron’s boldness in his approach to the Caribbean’s stated stance is because while he tells us we should move on from slavery, the legacy of slavery has taught the British something about how they treat us. Interestingly, while some the members of the Jamaican Parliament were reported to be visibly upset by Cameron’s suggestion that we move on from slavery there was apparently loud cheering when Cameron indicated that his government would continue to pour foreign aid into the country. All of the angst over the issue of slavery and reparations by the British was seemingly wiped away by the promise of a few coppers.
Of greater interest Cameron also promised that the UK would build a £25-million prison in Jamaica using its foreign aid budget to house 300 of Jamaica’s citizens currently serving sentences in Britain. Basically what the British Prime Minister was saying to Jamaica is what they will do is to build Jamaica a prison so that they can send back to Jamaica all of the mostly born and bred criminals of Jamaican descent for the Jamaican society to deal with. Could you imagine! What is so amazing is that I am sure the British government and many of the other apologists in the region have missed the connection between what has been said, where it has been said and the continued modern day imperialistic domination of the region.
As far as I am concerned the British government is saying to us as region shut up about slavery and reparations and here is a couple of dollars to make it go away. Moreover, we should shoulder our responsibility for crime perpetuated on the British society by people from the region. As much I tried I could not find one response from any regional government to Cameron’s statement.
Indeed, as we are doing the British government has a right to put their position on the table and indeed we should be glad that it has been put forward so forthrightly. What
is important though is whether as we region we have the intestinal fortitude to stand strong on principle and not continually lulled into obedience by the promises of a few British pounds of gold.
Shantal Munro-Knight is a development specialist and executive coordinator at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre. Email shantalmunro@gmail.com