The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

RASTAFARIAN Priest Rithmond McKinney yesterday rejected the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to The Bahamas, saying their presence in the country flaunted Britain’s centuries-old oppressions and injustices on our ancestors.

He also said that watching Prince William and Kate play Nyabinghi drums in Jamaica during their tour of that country “was a slap in the face” to all Rastafarians.

“It’s like someone raping you today and then coming back that same day and saying ‘Yeah, I raped you and so what?” Priest McKinney, head of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress (EABIC) Bahamas branch, told The Tribune yesterday.

“Well, it’s the same thing with them coming here. They know what was done to our ancestors and I call them ones rent-a-rastas that allowed them to play our ceremonial drums. That was a complete slap in the face by them sell out Rastaman them that allowed that.

“The Royal family they gat all kinds of artifacts and gems stolen from us during the slave trade. They have them held up in museums and such. What artifacts and jewels did the black people steal?”

While in Jamaica, Prince William and Kate were met with demands that the Crown pay reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade.

According to USA Today, Prince William expressed “profound sorrow” for slavery during the visit, although he stopped short of offering the apology demanded by protesters who are also seeking reparations.

Prince William made the comments during a dinner in Kingston.

He echoed the words of his father, the Prince of Wales, who described the slave trade as an “appalling atrocity” during a visit to Barbados last year, when that Caribbean nation severed its ties to the British Crown and became a republic.

“I want to express my profound sorrow,” Prince William said earlier this week. “Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened.”

In response Priest McKinney said: “That’s even worse. No apology? This is why we are fighting for the rights of all black people because the oppression continues. It’s not just the oppressions of the Rastaman them, it’s the oppression of all, for you and everyone.

“The highest title they give us is sir and ma’am. That’s because no one is higher than them. That’s why we greet you and say empress. This is why we are fighting for all.”

Regarding the Royals’ visit to The Bahamas, the Bahamas National Reparations Committee issued a statement earlier this week questioning why this country was left “holding the bag” for much of the costs of the trip.

“There is no doubt that the Organising Committee (has) done a stellar job in accommodating the British Royal family, and by many standards this trip to accommodate the Royal family will be seen as a resounding success. However, once William and Kate have passed over the newly paved roads, driven by the freshly painted walls, and waved to the schoolchildren who have been pulled out of their classes to stand and watch them go by, what will the Bahamian people be left with?

“We, the members of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC), recognise that the people of The Bahamas have been left holding the bag for much of the cost of this extravagant trip. Why are we footing the bill for the benefit of a regime whose rise to ‘greatness’ was fueled by the extinction, enslavement, colonisation, and degradation of the people of this land? Why are we being made to pay again?

“This visit commemorates 70 years since Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne of imperialism - more years than The Bahamas has been a sovereign nation. The BNRC asserts that we as Bahamians must have a clear understanding of what this trip truly means.

“We are not beholden to the British monarchy in any way and we do not owe them a debt of gratitude for anything - not for our culture, religion, or system of governance. Instead, the monarchy has looted and pillaged our land and our people for centuries, leaving us struggling with under-development, left to pick up the pieces,” the committee said.