BAHAMIANS could help determine the “current impact” of slavery on the nation as part of the effort to get slavery reparations from European countries.
That’s the proposal from the British lawyers who are advising CARICOM, the Caribbean Community organisation, which is suing Britain, France and the Netherlands for what could be millions of dollars in reparations for slavery.
CARICOM says it hopes to reach a settlement with the European countries and will only take legal action if talks collapse.
It set up a reparations commission to work out who should be paid and how much, led by Barbados historian Sir Hilary Beckles.
Martyn Day, the British lawyer who is advising CARICOM, told The Tribune: “Our proposal is that we work with a group of academics under Professor Beckles and people from each country to determine the current impact of slavery on each nation. We are awaiting the CARICOM response to that proposal.
“These are still early days and we are working out a protocol with the CARICOM group.”
Leigh Day, the UK-based firm set up by Mr Day 26 years ago, represented 5,250 Mau Mau in the claims against the British Government regarding the torture they suffered at the hands of the British colonial regime in the 1950s in Kenya. They negotiated a total deal of around £20 million ($32 million) for them.
Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, contacted the firm this spring to ask if they could assist in bringing a claim against the British and other governments in relation to slavery.
Mr Day said the request was “much in the light of the Mau Mau settlement.”
He said: “We advised PM Gonsalves as to the best legal route to take with the claims and then in July I made a presentation to the CARICOM leaders meeting in Trinidad of the legal route. This was a part of the resolution put forward by PM Gonsalves. The resolution was unanimously carried.
“Then last month I made a presentation to the meeting of the National Reparations Steering Committees re the legal case when it met in St Vincent.”
Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell told The Tribune last week that although no representative from this country was present when the decision was taken, the Bahamas was still bound by that decision. He said: “We haven’t defined a position taken at the last CARICOM meeting. We weren’t represented there. However, whatever was the decision that came out of the last meeting, that would represent our position.”
Mr Day said: “The first step will be to put letters together on behalf of each nation in CARICOM setting out to the British/French/Dutch governments the case. That is all about the issue of the impact of slavery on each nation today. It is too early to state quite what the figure being claimed will be.
“The claim will be on behalf of governments who would look to use any sums obtained for the benefit of their peoples. I can well imagine that if the claims are successful and a deal is agreed with the western governments that they would look to ensure the money paid out was used on the projects discussed.”
Comments
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
This has be among THE most ridiculous. I take it that a group of foreign lawyers approaches Bahamaland and says to them; Hey fellow government guys, get your "afro Bahamalander's" all worked up to engage all we legal services to launch one big joint litigation against the British Government as the primary defendant and guess what, we all stand to make some whopping billions upon a settlement in the billions and billions of dollars. Did I get this right? Doesn't matter a hoot that not a single Bahamalander thought he/she should be suing the Colonial Masters for what they did to black Africans. Comrades like I keep on saying, you just can't make this stuff up. Where theres lawyers there has be the potential of billions. There goes Minister Freddy's Knighthood, and them three names Hubert say he left on PM Christie's desk for submission to Her Majesty Queen Liz? What exactly is the percentage these nice, sweet lawyers going rake from the British people's public treasury's check payable to Bahamaland, in the billions? Who needs drill for oil sludge now we got's easy billions coming we way?
Tarzan 11 years, 1 month ago
Right on Tal. You are so right!
I mean for starters to whom does the money go (except the big part that goes to those lawyers you mention) and who owes it?
One of the most laughable aspects of racist thinking is the assumption that anyone knows what "race" they are. Once you go back four or five generations the grandparents of people who claim one "race identity" are likely to find some of the same progenitors as people who claim a different one.
Science has proved without any doubt that every human on earth had the same ancestors who walked out of Africa about 40,000 years ago.
When will these fools stop building their lives around "race". It's like the slave masters passed on the very most ignorant and evil aspect of their belief system to a large percentage of today's progressives.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
THE MONEY GOES TO DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES and it is owed by the countries that initiated the slave trade and or allowed it to take place in their colonies. The USA, too should be a defendant to this lawsuit because hat is where the most cruelty and mistreatment of human slaves took place. Need I go into details and even include the mistreatment of blacks after slavery was abolished. And Yes there have been a serious intermingling of the races. Even in Africa the native African knew the value of keeping, not only his race, but also his tribe pure by not intermixing with other tribes, (and if you understand this, then you know the claims that promiscuous sex caused the deadly aids epidemic that almost wiped the continent of all its inhabitants). But it was the slave masters who decided to intermingle with slaves, for his own pleasure and a proof of his virility, and also to produce a more gentle, less overbearing and physically threatening and brighter skinned offspring, known as the house slave. and the slave owners also inter-bred slaves from different parts and tribes from Africa, in hopes of getting slaves that were stronger, more tolerant to the sun of less submissive to diseases or whatever fancy was suited at that time
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
Co-sign. You are right. I was reading of class action suits where the plaintiffs were awarded millions, and a good chunk of it went to the lawyers. However, there will be no payout because the idea is ridiculous.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Why do you keep saying reparation money is 'easy billions?" You are talking about a situation where at least 10 million people lost their lives, another 12 million were uprooted and brought to a strange land where their liberty was snatched away, cruelty abounded and lives were changed forever, and tribal wars were started in Africa that continues to day. What value do you put on this destruction of human race that lasted many hundreds of years "comrade"?
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
@John there were tribal wars long before slavery as there are tribal wars today .I N Sudan today tribes steal other tribes cattle ,children and women .It is not unusual today ,2013 , for one tribe to capture another tribes village and rape the women and children .You can type so type in "tribal warfare in Africa today " Also which part do the warlords owe that first started selling their prisoners of war to the slave traders then went to war just to procure slaves for the trans atlantic slave trade ,where millions died in the wars and the march to the coast .I f these warlords had fought the Europeans instead of enriching themsleves there may not have even been the "middle passage "
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
Comrade Tarzan wanna go 50/50 to invest in you and I opening a DNA Test Lab, cause you know even some them Spanish Wells folks be claiming how they forefathers came over on slave ships from Africa? Be the first time you'd hear rap music played on Spanish Wells. Don't you love it? I have supported Minister Freddy, even when there were good reason for doubts but even this loyal Comrade has me limits. Freddy ya slave potato thing is even too hot for me. Tempting even for my prejudice sister to join in on this law suit! My Bahamaland to live long enough to witness the day when ALL Men and ALL Women are treated equally, regardless if you originated from Britain, Africa, Haiti, Canada, Jamaica, South America, Middle East or the USA.
AMEN!
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
Tals about the last paragragh it says the payouts are going to be to the respective Governments after all the lawyers cuts So its going be up to the politico to decide whos DNA was enslaved and who suffered the most .I already rich family members getting" sufferen blessins"
UserOne 11 years, 1 month ago
Some good points. I think the biggest "current impact" of slavery is racism pervasive through all of Bahamian society. There is no amount of money going to fix that. Playing the blame game only keeps us stuck and unable to move forward and truly become one people.
lazybor 11 years, 1 month ago
money cannot repair history
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HarryBlack 11 years, 1 month ago
Most of you are missing the point that these European governments themselves are now admitting culpability to the repercussions of slavery. No one is trying to divide blacks against whites; the lawyers are seeking a mutual settlement in the matter. Additionally, this is no different from a wrongful death lawsuit, because while "money" wont bring back a loved one, it will help to minimize the psychological and other damages caused by the wrong. This is not about playing a "blame game", it's actually being sought in an effort to move forward.
countryfirst 11 years, 1 month ago
This is total BS
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
Bahamaland's 2013 Census Population Report taken after slavery compensation Law Suit was filed against the British, shows the entire white population from seas to shores across Bahamaland have been completely wiped out. Government Census workers found no Bahamalander willing to admit to being white.
john33xyz 11 years, 1 month ago
Grab ya cutlass - Let's Go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
freelance 11 years, 1 month ago
you know, its not about the money. Its about saying that what happened was wrong. We have really ignorant people who think Britain did us a favour by kidnapping us from Africa. We need it to be said, strongly, that that is incorrect. That millions of Africans and their descendents were wronged. WE need to know this because it is the only way we can heal, or 'repair' (hence reparations') from slavery, all of us black and white. I see this as a way to move forward together.
freelance 11 years, 1 month ago
OK. America, which is definitiely not a white country, has gone to war in the name of million of its citizens who disagree vehemently. In a democracy, the majority says what goes. Self-identified white people are a minority of the Bahamas, about 10-15% (and most of them are not truly 'white'). So, you can have your say, but you are OUTNUMBERED. No-one has to ask your permission for anything. Being White is not itself a qualification, you know? It just means that you lack melanin point blank, and tells us about your ancestors. It is not a privelege or leverage. It is just a colour.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
The effects of slavery are still visible in the Bahamas: We have governments that still believe that in order for anything to be successful they must bring in a foreigner (white) to run it. They are virtually re-enslaving Bahamians, with Ungodly tax burdens, so that the Bahamas can be a playground for the rich and the selected, rather than make these people pay for their own vacations. And also on the list many Black, Bahamian children are still uncomfortable in the classroom and afraid to learn. They forefathers used to be put to death for learning how to read. Hence we have a national grad average of a "D". Bahamian children, the descendants of slaves, are still afraid of John Crow!
Philosopher_King 11 years, 1 month ago
One of most devastating and lingering effects of slavery and colonialism is the self hatred and low image of self that still prevails in this country among the descendants of those enslaved. No amount of money can heal that, but some well placed resources used to place an emphasis on exposing and eradicating it through education can begin to minimize the effects. We can't deny the dynamics of subtle psyche repeated almost everyday on this website and in our culture of Europeans/white= beautiful, ethical, pristine, superior cultured, wealthy, godly, intellectual etc... Africans/blacks= untrustworthy, brutish, savage, sexually charged, intellectually inferior, ugly etc. With those undertones comes the sense that criminal behavior is inherently part of black culture so rather than it being viewed as socio-economic symptomatic we refuse to rehabilitate many offenders and say let's punish them. We refuse to invest in real education of our predominantly black poorer youth and then point to their lack of intellectual achievement as evidence of they are inherently inferior and lastly we revere foreign ideas and visions for our nation i.e. particularly that of Europeans and their descendants as superior and any brought forward by blacks as inferior or nefarious. In the end look at the vitriol that most on this site spew at even the thought of reparations; even though the slave masters were compensated monetarily( the equivalent of Billions of today's $s) for their lost of free labour source by the UK government at the ending of slavery. I guess that was considered a good business/economic decision. Yet any talk of compensation for those who were ripped from their homeland, psychologically abused and broken through seasoning (the systematic process of prepping new slaves to be more amiable to their condition), religiously brainwashed to believe a blond hair blue eyed god wanted them in this inferior position and traumatized to the point they and their descendants view themselves as inherently inferior to their former masters and ugly, you'll scream why should they get a dime.
UserOne 11 years, 1 month ago
Philosopher_King, you have elaborated on the point I made. I agree completely that education is needed to eliminate these destructive attitudes. Unfortunately, I don't believe any money received would be allocated to this end because people don't recognize this self-hatred. They turn it outward against the white Bahamian or white foreigner and accuse them of being racist when in actual fact it is within themselves.
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
The self-hatred and low image that you speak of, is not caused by slavery. Case in point. Walk into any bank, lawyers office, store -- anywhere where women work. How many Black women do you see with natural hair -- none! It is all straightened with enough toxins to keep Chemical Ali going for years. It is pasted, flattened, laced with weave and lacquered down. Why? Because the globalization of American culture dictates that beautiful women have straight hair. Why are rich Japanese women getting plastic surgery to make their eyes less Oriental? Is is because of endemic low self-esteem caused by losing World War II -- nope.
Don't get me wrong. Blacks do have low self esteem. But let's look at why. Specifically, let's look at young Black males. Over 75% of them were raised by mothers younger than 30 and no father figure in sight. Is that a result of slavery? No! It's been 200 years since Blacks were enslaved. Many Blacks have bootstrapped themselves into society (myself included) and carry no low self-esteem baggage.
Why is the Black young male in the Bahamas in trouble? Because he has been disenfranchised by his family situation and by the government of forty years that was supposed to hold, cherish and espouse our best interest at heart. Instead we got corrupt kleptocracies that held us down and hold us down to this day.
If Ping hadn't been a racketeer, drug-running crook, we would have had a far different society than we have today. It is our own fault. Just as a child has to stop blaming his parents for a lousy childhood, and assume the responsibility of adulthood to make something of his life, we as a race have to do the same.
The consequences of accepting reparations means that we have sat on our asses for 200 years with a problem that we are too stupid to fix ourselves. And that would be the message that we would be passing to the rest of the world.
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
It's difficult to restrict a law suit for slavery compensation against just the British as the primary defended and not remember that whites in we Bahamaland were not the only ones who owned slaves. While we're in the suing mood, why not reclaim all the billions of dollars of acreages of Crown Lands passed over to both foreigners and we own "specially selected" people, for nothing more than pennies on the dollar, if any monetary value was even exchanged, to the many land pirates, of which many are still amongst us? When will the people's government proclaim for ALL to understand, that ALL beaches anywhere in Bahamaland, are there for the natives and tourists to use freely? That all beaches are Crown Lands and that means they are owned by the people. When will Bahamalander's demand that the people's government put a stop to the transfer of crown lands? Has economic slavery really ceased to exist just because the natives have for many years now been in control of the people's government? Comrades right at this very moment your government is preparing to turn over thousands of acres of crown lands to both foreigners and "special" Bahamalander's, for no more than a song and a dance. At this very moment security guards are ordering Bahamalander's off crown land (the people's) beaches.
smallbiz 11 years, 1 month ago
Young Bahamians see this and all they can see is quick free money, just like oil, robbing, or free government hand outs. While they are at it, they should sue the African families that enslaved them and first sold them to the white man. But of course there is no money in Africa so it's not worth it. Get off ya ass and get to work.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Why dont you stop insulting young Bahamians? Most of them are willing to work and when they can find jobs they do. Why are you trying to insinuate that crime is a black thing when the biggest crime in history (slavery) was pulled off by the white masses. Even today white folk continue to rape Mother Africa of her natural resources.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
John blacks rule Africa today ,check out Nigeria and the oil wealth the leaders "steal" while the people starve ..
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
The president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, claims to have just a net worth of $8 million American dollars. That's what he claims. Prior to being president, he was a just a school inspector. Go figure.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Blacks may "rule" in Africa just like they fo in the Bahamas But Africans are still being ecploited because white men control thrr wealth
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
John i think most leaders of African nations control there wealth , just like 42 black men in parliment control the 7 billion dollar GDP of the Bahamas ,and every cent of government revenue ,,
becks 11 years, 1 month ago
Ok....so lets say for example that Britian has to pay.....now the money comes out of the public exchequer/ ministry of finance....that money is from taxes that people of Britian have paid to the government. So in effect the descendents of those people who never owned slaves are being punished for something others did.....doesn't seem very fair to me. On top of that, the strongest and most effective anti-slavery and abolishonist groups were in the UK and they effectevily were the ones who forced the UK to stop and outlaw slavery....now the descendents of the very people who fought and sometimes died to stop the slave trade and free the slaves are to be forced to pay for the crimes of others???? That would be obscene.
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
What could have possibly been more enslaving than for the governments (FNM/PLP) have they ran their own damn horses in the numbers referendum? And, might I remind you that it was Hubert himself who said that he had been made aware of red shirt candidates accepting campaign donations from numbers "bosses." Come clean red shirts leadership, name those party candidates?
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Ok since yall have problem with the descendants of slaves being paid. How about allowing Blacks to have the free labour of 20 million white folk over a 300 year period. Today that is roughly the equilivant of 100 million slaves for a 900 year stretch. Give us yourbrightest and strongest.. from Harvard and Princeton abd fron Oxford and Whales..But two wrongs don't make it right so we'll take the money!
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
What does a cetaceous sea mammal have to do with slavery?
becks 11 years, 1 month ago
Ok...but you got to pay for all the food,housing,medical care and clothing.
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
Listen white beuy, you better stop enslaving the Africans and Blacks of the Bahamas. You might get nicked for reparations. And while you are at it, please stop giving Blacks an inferiority complex, because it is causing crime to spiral out of control in the Bahamas. You slave owner you. You are responsible for the ills of Bahamian society. Shame on you. It's all your fault that the Black women all have weave 'n ting, and hate being Black. So just cut it out right now, share some of your money, and the Bahamas will magically get better. Got it?
John 11 years, 1 month ago
I didnt confuse you. Who was mining all the gold and diamonds and other minerals? And who was killing the elephants for their tusks and the leopards ..o never mind...i know we should stop blaming "whitey"
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
2 jOHN the Arab slave trade lasted from 650 until the 19 th century .Qatar went to a Queens coronation in the 1950 w/ their slaves .The Arabs enslaved Europeans ,Blacks , other Arabs etc ,who should the desendants of this people blame for everything,, .The jews have been persucuted since time immortal their self esteem seems all right .Blacks rule Africa now but you claim the whites still have control ,so are the massively rich leaders selling there people out and making them live on less than 1 dollar a day,,.
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
Comrades if we go after the British taxpayers for billions of dollars the chances of any Bahamalander ever again being Knighted by the Queen looks quite dim. Comrades I can't be the only nosy one wanting to know exactly who in the hell are those three Royal Knighthood's Hubert says he left on he desk for PM Christie to dispatch to Buckingham Palace?
audleymitchell 11 years, 1 month ago
Is culpability heritable? If it is in the case of slavery, it should be concerning other issues as well. Think of the idiocy of it all.
banker 11 years, 1 month ago
Another voice of reason!
John 11 years, 1 month ago
The facts are clear and certain: 1. That the Trans Atlantic Slavery did exist. 2. That the slaves were all black, and taken mostly form the coast of West Africa. 3. That the slave owners (before emancipation) were all white and originated from Holland, France and Europe. 4. That they slave owners benefitted tremendously due t the slave trade that lasted hundreds of years. 5. That many slaves and/or potential slaves lost their lives, either in transit or on the slave plantations. 6 That many slaves were mistreated and subject to cruelty. 7. That there were serious negative effects due to slavery on those enslaved. 8. That the cruel and inhumane treatment continued for almost a century after slaves were freed, discrimination, separation, laws that made blacks 3/4 of a human. 9 that many (female slaves were raped, violated as girls young as 12 and 13 and many forced to bear children for their masters. Many of the children were taken away at an early age. 10 That many male slaves were used as 'Bucks" travelling from plantation to plantation impregnating female slaves at the master's request and also servicing his mistress (on his request or behind his back). 11 That many male slaves were uprooted from their families and sold off to other plantations and masters, having to leave wife and children behind, only to start a new family and breed more children, only to have the same thing happen again. 12. That slaves were punished and even killed for learning to read. 13. That their religious rights were infringed upon if not taken away totally. 14. That their diets were changed significantly, and many had to learn to make use of things for food items that would otherwise be thrown away: chittlings, pigs ears, nose, tail and feet, same for cows sheep and goat. They also learned to eat chickens necks, feet hearts and gizzards.
Ok there's at least 14 points that everyone could agree on. Now lets go back and make a cause and effect list and we can see how the free black tribal warrior or king or prince, captured on the coast of Africa, sold into captivity evolved into the Black persons they are today. I need my money and ain't ashamed to ask for it!
JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago
Since you appear to know the historical causes and also appear to believe that these causes have shaped who you are today, why don't you share with us "how the free black tribal warrior or king or prince, captured on the coast of Africa, sold into captivity evolved into John today, based on your 14 points above".
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
What if Johns lineage goes back to the African Kings that captured other Africans and sold them to the slave traders ,should then John have to pay ??
John 11 years ago
If my lineage goes back there, then how did I end up in the Bahamas as a descendant of slaves? geesh!
John 11 years, 1 month ago
If there was no slave market and no duress then this would not have happened read your history books. It was written by the White man!
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
the Arabs were taking slaves out of the top of Africa long before the europeans ,they even enslaved europeans .If the African warlords fought the europeans instead of supplying slaves there would of been no "middle passage " Do you blame your lot in life on something that happened 200 yrs ago or on BTC not ripping off the public so you can stand on the road side and sell phone cards w/ unsubstainable commisions in the private sector .
JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago
I appreciate that slavery was pernicious and evil, on that we agree, but let's move the discussion along from centuries ago to today and I would still be interested in "how the free black tribal warrior or king or prince, captured on the coast of Africa, sold into captivity evolved into John today, based on your 14 points above". It is not a trick question, I am truly and sincerely interested in the answer that supports your position. Educate me!
Ocaba 11 years, 1 month ago
So your motivation is monetary "... I need my money and ain't ashamed to ask for it!"
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
Fact number is not factual ,many of the slaves ,and yes i think slavery of anyone is horrible ,were captured inland by more dominate african tribes ,the Ashanti,s , and marched to the coast .Many died being captured and the during the march to the coast,,John learn to google before you make blanket statements ..
UserOne 11 years, 1 month ago
Regarding point 3; check your history - there were black slave owners as well. Add a point 15. Africans sold Africans into the slave trade - are we going after Africa as well for reparations?
becks 11 years, 1 month ago
Just as long as you remember John that the majority of those black africans sold into slavery were sold by their own black chiefs,kings and warriors. The African slave trade did not and could not exist without the willing participation and collusion of all those black Africans too. So are you prepared to sue their descendents and the governments in Africa too??
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
Caricom's main claim against the British is that slavery condemned the region to a poverty level that still afflicts it today. Come again? I mean I am all for tossing the Queen and her dysfunctional Royal siblings out of Bahamaland. It's another matter to now claim that the British condemned we Bahamaland into poverty. This case goes far beyond being a nuisance or an abuse of the court's process. Has this even been discussed behind those secret cabinet walls? If so, a bunch of gone temporarily insane elected officials must be sitting around that all powerful cabinet table.
AMEN!
TalRussell 11 years, 1 month ago
PM Christie many Bahamalanders still are going without regular paychecks. Do you really want to be remembered as the PM who mysteriously appears out of nowhere with foolishness like numbers and constitutional referendums. Now, Bahamaland's government is thinking, if there are no paychecks we might as well paint this billions of dollars pie in the sky. PM you must either take control over your government or the people will take control over their Bahamaland. Who says they have to wait all the way into 2017? PM has the cabinet even discussed this lawsuit against the British? Have you discussed this with your own elected House of Assembly MP's? PM here we are investing our tax dollars off to promote we Bahamaland as a modern tourism destination. A place to visit and spend your tourism dollars, yet we are telling the entire world, that because of the British slave trading days, still we remain a backwards, improvised country? PM if I can say one thing about this new thing of your government, I'd call it stupid. Will this lawsuit result in all we Haitians goi'in from rages-to riches, benefiting from double a dipp'in payout windfall, one share from Bahamaland and another share of the billions from their Homeland of Haiti?
Philosopher_King 11 years, 1 month ago
My final points on this subject are that Wealthy European and the descendants dominance of global affairs, culture and economics for 500+ years through colonialism and economic imperialism has left all people of color globally fighting with image of self. For many years I too was opposed the concept of reparations; on the grounds direct payment for Billions to descendants of slaves many of whom are emotionally and mentally crippled would not resolve their underlying problems created by the residual effects of slavery and the racial discrimination that followed. Let us remember the European slave owners looked at plantations and slavery as purely an economic venture and demanded compensation for the lost of their slaves and were reward for it from the billions from the coffers of their governments who collected mountains of taxes and fees off the exports of these farms. Yet some how many of you refuse to see ANY monetary value in the centuries of "FREE" labor that was provided by the African slaves, and need to compensate for the residual effects of leaving millions of them psychologically broken in these foreign lands with no capital and in many cases landless and dispossessed unable to truly fend for themselves and still having to be subservient to their former overseers.. Also that the wealth of the former colonies generated is still being perpetuated and held by the European nations that exploited these lands and people, it didn't evaporate or dissipate over the years; in fact the financiers and land holders still getting richer off of it. So there is monies in their coffers for these payments to be paid or at least the judgement/settlement to stand as a symbol of the restorative justice.
Further more when at the time Europeans finally came to understand the abhorrent moral injustice slavery was and decided to end it the world was moving toward an industrial age where these former small island colonies had little chance of being major players economic globally or even succeeding economically for the majority of their inhabitants. What many of us forget is that these colonies were developed to benefit the select few wealthy absentee land owners, international merchant traders, their financial backers and the Kings and Queens of Europe not for poor European peasants or laborers who came to these colonies seeking their fortunes after slavery, and certainly not for us of African heritage who have been left behind. So as our tiny nations struggle to find real economic relevance merely 40-50 years after they divorced us through so called independence due to the fact we become to expense to maintain without "FREE" slave labor and plantation exports to tax, we should aggressively pursue getting some monetary re-payment for our forefathers and mothers exploitation and use it to further our difficult development in to viable economic entities for a majority of our inhabitants not just a select few.
UserOne 11 years, 1 month ago
They divorced us through independence? Didn't we "divorce" them? Didn't we request independence?
countryfirst 11 years, 1 month ago
This is total foolishness and if any money is recovered by the government only the corrupt politicians and their cronies would see any money.We Bahamians need to hold ourselves responsible for this country going backwards by allowing these politicians to sell us dreams instead of encouraging education and hard work,they keep promising jobs but we as a people need to start creating our own jobs.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
CHECK THIS OUT: J.P. Morgan is about to be fined $13 Billion for the part they played mortage scam that led to the collapse of the housing market and helped fuel the current global recession. This is just the fine on one company of a number that will be penalized. So if they can meet out penalties of this magnitude to individual private companies and these companies have to find the money to pay, who says three wealthy countries cannot find money to pay for slave reparations? The damage done was much, (did I say much) more severe and lasted for a much, much longer period, so why should they not pay? I wants my reparation money: MY mansion, my Bentley and my yatch ( Did I spell it right?) is waiting to be bought!
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
A fool and his money are soon parted .So your going to give your money right back to the white man buying their status symbols ..
becks 11 years, 1 month ago
No John, you did not spell it correctly.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Maybe is because I's still have a slave mentality, massa! Obama has education, I was sccared to learn to read and right
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
i can,t believed you commented that black children today are afraid to learn to read or write b/c 200 yrs ago slaves were not allowed to read and write .Sometimes the lengths that you stretch your brain matter is scary ..
John 11 years, 1 month ago
If we use a bible illustration, when the Isrealites were brought out of Egypt and into the wilderness waiting to enter the promise land, they continued to build bricks made of clay and straw. They had no use for them but some 70 years after they were freed from slavery they continued to do the job that was theirs as slaves..so yes some Black kids do have some learning difficulties as a traumatic result of slavery that caused some of their forefathers to be put to death.. Every time I look at books I see a hangman's noose...So I will use some of my reparation money to open reading clinics .. and help them get help from those fears of learning to read...for kids black or white or colored or Hispanic
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
NOT ONE BLACK CHILD IN THE BAHAMAS TODAY IS AFRAID TO LEARN TO READ B/C OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR FOREFATHERES 200 YEARS AGO ,,BRO YOUV,E GONE MAD,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
becks 11 years, 1 month ago
You really are a moron John.
John 11 years ago
I agree, now wha'ts your excuse?
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Ok so if reparations money cures all the ills in the Bahamas and other so called African countries, (black folk) what will it take to cure the same ills in the Anglo Saxon communities (white folk)? Furthermore what is to stop white men from getting high of crystal met and going home and sleeping their sister, or even his mo..(lets not go there) Who are the major perpetrators of mass shootings in the USA? And white collar crime? Watch one episode of Alaska Cops and see how white folk break into other white folks homes and violently beat them and rob them,,,or watch how some get ' pissy' drunk then lay down in the snow and go to sleep and cops have to patrol and take them and put them in a cell so that they don't freeze to death; SO Repeat after me:" Take the sty outta ya own blue eye, before you try to make me cry"
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
US homocide rate 4 per 100,000,,Bahamas homocide rate 27 per 100,000...
John 11 years, 1 month ago
The gangs and the gang culture, which included murder and mayhem were imported from the US. In parts of South America hundreds of persons have to be locked in jail to avoid being slaughtered by gang members who, were deported there from the USA. If we change our culture in this country to trying to save our young males rather than following the mandate in the US in the 70,s and 80' and 90's to destroy young black men and to make the black family dysfunctional and eventually obsolete, then we will see a turn around. Are the persons who already committed murder, some more than one, being let out of jail by design? If you understand that Africans sold other Africans into slavery, then how can you not understand the mentality of some people who run this country and some who are in law enforcement and others who have responsibility for the justice system? Their aganda is not their own.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
come on dude , its time to take some responsibility and quit blaming everything on the white man ..what is destroying the black family unit is a 75% illegitimacy rate ,here and america ,,once again our hommocide rate is 27 per 100,000 the US is 4 per 100,000 ..have some self pride ,,i don,t see any americans in montell heigths blowin holes in peoples heads ..who sets the agenda here is 42 black men in parliment ,thats what independence was about ,,,your continual blaming another race for your short comings makes it appear you have no will of your own
John 11 years, 1 month ago
FACE THE FACTS JACK: the illegimate rate is a direct result of slavery. Did you read my previous posts on this but not comprehend? Do you not know that slaves were forced to breed, like every other farm animal? Male "Buc" slaves were taken from plantation to plantation, like a stallion horse to breed with young, female slaves. Families were separated and sold off to different slave masters. Some male slaves fathered children that they never saw and others that were snatched away from or that they were taken away from at infancy. Is it your conscience that causes you to pry so deeply into the wrongdoings of your white race to Black people or is it your racial prejudice that want you to portray what is going on in Montell Heights as a standard for Black Bahamians? or Black people in general. Or maybe you begrudge the fertility of the Black race...God's instruction to them was "go forth and multiply", Since virtually every Black person living in the Bahamas is a product of slavery, then of course their habits and behavior reflect that 500 year period in their history. AND 100 plus years is a short time to correct everything, especially when those who uprooted them and enslaved them were not too happy with freeing them and so that set many traps to continue their destruction as a race.
John 11 years, 1 month ago
man is a product of his heredity (genes) and environment (500 years of slavery and mistreatment) get it? got it? GOOD!
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
@ john ,dread you don,t even know what color i am ,,what you continually say is the black man has no will of their own and that Pindling ,Ingraham and Christie are either so dense that the white man tricks them at every turn or so corrupt they sell out there brothers for a vaugely defined white plot to destroy the black man ,,get a grip bro its 2013 it took a lot of white votes for Obama to be elected twice .My apologies that BTC no longer has the sh##tyest equipment and outrageous minute rates so the government can provide you with a living selling phone cards ,,
John 11 years, 1 month ago
Obama GOT WHITE VOTES BECAUSE NOT EVERY WHITE PERSON THINKS THE WAY YOU DO...SO WHEN IS YOUR BOOK COMING OUT? ARE YOU STILL CALLING IT, MY ABSOLUTE fACINATION wITH bLACK fOLK, tHE BahaMas EDITION"?
I NO LONGER SELL PHONE CARDS FOR A LIVING, I SHINE SHOES, SO YOU CAN CALL ME "SHINE"
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
Bro your on a whole other trip
concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago
so god only instructed black people to go forth and multiply ,,,you need to pull out your story book and read all about slavery in the old testament ,,are you really saying that the black illegitimacy rate is b/c of slavery ,,John you are basically saying people lack self control b/c of something that happened 500 yrs ago ,,john you paint the black man as weak willed ,easyily tricked ,willing to sell out his own ,,wow bro how about some pride ,next your going tell me the white man is able to do it b/c they are wicked and use the powers of the devil ,,bro your a riot..
John 11 years ago
No that is what you are trying to paint us as. Despite the short comings in our history, Black people have made many positive strides and progress in the last 50 years. In fact Blacks have come from the slave house to the white house. They excel in every sport and in the USA they are starting to take over the ranks as mayors, police chiefs, in governmental agencies, in education. In South Africa where apartheid has only recently ended, they are taking back the land that was stolen from then and turning it into productive farmland, Young, Black children can go to school without the fear of being bombed or riddled down like paper dolls, or returning home to find their entire families slaughtered. The old negro gospel said "WE SHALL OVERCOME" and despite the traps still being laid out in our path, Blacks are progressing, but it was never our intention to do it at the expense of any other race. Not meaning that we should or will not seek compensation for the wrongs that were done to us, or the rights that were taken away from us. In fact some of the strongest arguments that favor reparations are posted by concerned citizen, rory and others, who in this day and time, openly display their hate and despise for Black people. Just list the things they say about Black Bahamians especially. The only argument they put forth against reparations is that the potential beneficiaries of compensation are BLACK.. Notice how they attack you personally when you put forth valid points to which they disagree. White Bahamians do not behave in this fashion so obviously they are foreign or paper Bahamians RACISM is still alive folks!
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
Your out there John ,i list the things that are going wrong w/ us as Bahamians , the break down of the family etc ,,, THERE are many good black people and some bad ,just like white people .I just don,t presribe to the theory that in 2013 ,there is some dark room somewhere w/ old white power brokers plotting to keep the black man down . I believe in personal responsibility .You don,t know what color i am or nationalities ,did you really pull out that old "foriegn or paper Bahamian"" nonsense ..I am born and bred Bahamian but if i wasn,t would that make me any less of a person?? I truly believe you should get some money ,the slave trade has left you personally w/ esteem issues ,paraniod , and with an image of white people from the Alaska highway patrol ..Dude your pridictable ,calling people foriegn as an insult ,,John your a sad little man .
John 11 years ago
I may not know what color you are but I know you are not Black. I may not know from which nationality you originate from, but you are not an original White Bahamian, they will never spew the racial venom or make the degrading remarks about Black Bahamians and Bahamians in general and other posters that you against people in this forum, in an effort to silence their opinions. Yes I do believe in personal responsibility but when one set of people have full control over another set of people for 500 years, They control where they work, when they work, what they wear, what they eat, what they learn: they are in control of their health, their reproduction activities, their religion and you say that the white slave owners are not responsible for many of the ills that black people face today, then you are beyond sad, you are sick! Now be a man of your word (put your sickness aside) and name three retailers you know that are happy with their top up profits else you are also incredible!
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
oh no the dreaded insult "i am not a bahamian " why b/c i point out the fact that we have a 75% illegitimacy rate ,so speaking the truth is something a Bahamian would not do ? I named one reatailer on the island i live ,i,m not feeding into your OCD that the government no longer runs BTC as a social service at the cost of progress so people can sell phone cards and MS Bartlett can use it as a clearing house to get contracts in TCI ,,, "
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
ARE the germans responsible for the ills the jews face today ,??
John 11 years ago
I don't care what reparations can or cannot fix. So no need to transpose what I said You said that reparation money should be used to fix the ills of Blacks and I responded by asking what will be used to fix similar ills in some White communities. Don't use me to advance your racist agenda. There is no war between Black and White Bahamians But if money is paid I will enjoy mines to the fullest...How does grey poupon taste while being chauffeured in a Bentley? On the way to a mansion in Lyford Cay...or on a yacht in the ocean? Are both your eyes black? they mussy beat you bad bey!
John 11 years ago
When will The Tribune implement the ignore button so that you can block posts from from certain people?
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
@john just exercise some self control and don,t read post from people that you don,t agree with,,lmao
EddyC 11 years ago
Asking for reparation is completely and utterly nonsense... Those who needed reparations were the people who suffered from slavery and suffered the horrors of slave owners. Today, black people (notice I did not say African-American because if you don't live in Africa you're not African) do not suffer anything from slavery anymore... Black people are equal especially in a country like the Bahamas in which the Black community is definitely not a minority. In 1991 the Swiss government was offered to give billions of dollars to American Jews because of the Holocaust... that money did not belong to them. The American Jews were Jews that suffered nothing from the Holocaust and had been established in the United Sates for many generations. They simply received money that did not belong to them. I am not against paying tribute or respecting those who suffered from slavery, but no one today deserves reparation. How are you suppose to hope for equality if you acknowledge that there is a difference. The only way forward is by truly being equal... no differences between white or black people. The second you start giving Black people additional rights that white people do not have, the true meaning of equality is threatened.
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