truth2power 11 years, 1 month ago on Why were Bahamians not told about suing Britain?
Why were Bahamians not told about suing Britain?
Dear Editor,
I experienced a range of emotions after reading your piece. At first I was livid. I read and reread sections with a fire in my gut. Then I became perplexed. How could you suggest that demanding reparations from "Africa" was a more appropriate redress to the legacies of slavery and colonialism than the current action being taken by CARICOM member states? How could any moral person observing the evidence contend that Britain should "be sending us a reparations bill"? Finally, calm set in. I knew I had to respond to this (for lack of a better phrase) heaping pile of S**T.
The version of history you narrate poses slavery as an age old problem that was finally overcome with the dawning of the "Age of Enlightenment", a time when the powerful in Europe became civilized enough to understand the barbarism of the institution of slavery. The British were the leaders of this charge and thus the most civilized and favored of empires. In fact, the good old Brits were nice enough to let some of that good old civilizationizing rub off on the otherwise backwards former slaves,"After centuries of colonial rule, education and training, many have moved from a history of slavery to a future of heads of industry and leaders of nations". We owe our nationhood to their good graces didn't ya know?!
Now I believe in love and I try always to lead with empathy. I want to understand you. Is there some secret guilt in your heart that is alleviated by this one-sided, watered down vision of world history? Maybe you take some comfort in dredging up the fossilized discourses of the days when white rule meant something. Does it make you feel more in control in a world you can barely recognize?
The reality of the situation is that people the world over are beginning to take a critical look at the way the past and the present are linked. A dwindling number of them support your conclusions. You can no longer hide your venom behind the illusion of learning and authority. I SEE YOU. You can no longer pretend to be continuing a grand civilizing mission on people like me. I REJECT YOU. In other words dear Editor, you have no clothes.
One day, far in the future, someone will come across this piece and remark on how far we have come as a nation. We will progress with civility, dignity and honesty in spite of you. Our reparations will be won.
Time alone will tell.
HarryBlack 11 years, 1 month ago on Bahamas suing UK over slavery
Bahamas suing UK over slavery
The difference with enslavement by Arabs or enslavement by Africans of Africans, is that those slave masters/traders did not compensate the individual slave owners at emancipation. (The European governments essentially said, "we are so sorry we have to free your workers, here's 20 million dollars.") In other words, the crime of the European governments is better documented and more recent in time. Consequently, the case that reparations are owed from said European governments, is easier to prove in a court of law today. If a case that documented the damages of others, from other periods of time could be put together and be as strong as the case against the European governments, it would. However, what I see happening with some of these comments amounts to an attempt to detract from the obvious fact that the Europeans were the only ones stupid enough to leave such a clear paper trail of their wrongdoings, affording Caricom the opportunity it has today. I say sue the living @!#? out of them...