By Michael A. Dingwall

I found myself at a reparations forum held at Kingston College, Jamaica, on the 15th of April.  I must say that my hopes of hearing better arguments in support of reparations were not realized.  However, I did get a first-hand understand the tactics that those calling for reparations use – half-truths and emotionally over-charged and baseless arguments.

The main speaker, Professor Hilary Beckles presented several arguments that could never survive in any reasonable court.  The professor’s claim that Jamaica experienced genocide during slavery based on the 1.2 million persons who were sent here as slaves against the 300,000 persons who were here in 1884 is a good example.

What the professor forgot to mention was that that 1.2 million includes those Africans who were shipped here through out the entire slave period, many decades before.  Most of them would not have been alive in 1834 even if they have lived to a hundred.  By 1834, most would have already died on account of old age alone.  That 300,000 is a good representation of the number that would have been here even if there was no slavery.

The professor noted that the Durham conference said that slavery should have been a crime.  Of course, we in the 20th and 21st centuries can say anything.  The notion of slavery being a crime is perhaps the greatest example of how slavery has been taken out of its correct historical context.  The truth is that the average person in the 19th century and the centuries before saw slavery as normal.  I must mention that by “average person”, I also mean our black ancestors.

The Jewish holocaust also came up.  Any attempt to compare this with slavery is invalid for several reasons.  Anti-Semitism was normal in Europe during and before the holocaust.  So when Hitler was marching the Jews off to the camps supposedly to work as far as the average German knew, but actually for extermination, most Germans didn’t give the “worthless Jews” a second thought.

Hitler was fully aware that what he was doing to the Jews was wrong.  That was why he likened British reports of it as lies designed to discredit the Nazi regime.  Hitler was clearly embarrassed by the holocaust, that’s why he ordered the anti-Semitic posters all over Germany to be removed during the 1936 Olympics.  Notice that the extermination facilities were placed deep in the woods?  Indeed, had the average German knew what was really going on, Hitler would not have lasted and he knew it.

Slavery was very different.  Our ancestors in Africa openly and proudly exported Africans to the West, and as we all know, the Europeans had no moral qualms in buying them.

The professor noted that the British claim that slavery was important to them is a good argument that can be used to condemn them.  However, the African governments that were exporting slaves made the same claim.  Indeed, when Britain began her naval blockade to halt the trade, African governments sent delegations to Britain, urging a lifting of the blockade – so that their economies can be saved.  The maroons in Jamaica signed that treaty that obligated them to help preserve the slave system on account of their need to survive.

If it is right for the Africans and the Maroons to see the need for slavery to survive, why isn’t it right for the British too?

Then the professor noted that the reason why the British are being pressed more than any one else for slavery is because they got the most out of it.  But why should we damn the British because they were good at what they did?  Also, they weren’t the only ones to profit from slavery.  At one point the Ashanti was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa.  Theirs was an economy that was almost entirely based on the export of slaves.  Why aren’t they being damned too?

This argument is like saying that the only time a would-be bank robber is to be prosecuted is if he was successful in getting any money.  If he broke into the bank but didn’t get anything then he should not be charged!  Total nonsense!

As for repatriation, that plan is totally impractical – it cannot happen.  However, it would be interesting if the leaders of those calling for repatriation would lead by example and go back to Africa on their own, as many of them have the means to do so.  Alas, I am sure most really would not want to go – and for obvious reasons.

One last point – the issue of the Zong came up.  Over 140 slaves were thrown overboard to enable the slavers to collect on the insurance money.  Accounts like these were used by the professor to whip up emotions against European involvement in slavery.  However, it’s a pity the professor didn’t tell the forum about the millions of Africans who were killed in Africa, by Africans when they were being sent to the slave ships.

Did you know, for instance, that when the Africans were preparing slaves to be placed on ships, the excess slaves who could not be carried were not freed but beheaded by their African captors?

I am certain that when those of us who are demanding reparations go to Europe to plead the case; they will be seen as a laughing stock.  I have no doubt that the Europeans will run rings around these weak arguments.  It is certain – the Europeans have no reason whatsoever to pay us anything.

Michael A. Dingwall, Kingston – Jamaica.

To contact the author: [email protected]

Related story:

Party issues ten demands for reparations

From Tribune242

THE African People’s Socialist Party-Bahamas has requested that the National Reparations Commission consider and adopt its case against Europe for Reparations for the genocide of the indigenous people and the enslavement and colonisation of African people in the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

The APSP-Bahamas said they recognise that the reparations issue has to be the property of the masses if it is to be a significant political question.

However, they added that reparations are due for slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism and for the “ever-expanding discrepancies in the conditions of existence between Europeans and Africans in the Bahamas, Caribbean region, and worldwide”.

“The APSP-Bahamas believes that The National Reparations Commission must look at the material conditions faced by the African working class in the Bahamas and the Caribbean because it is the African working class that bears the full brunt of slavery, colonisation and neocolonialism,” a statement from the group read.

“The African working class in the Bahamas is faced with a deteriorating capitalist based social system that has led to job losses, high rates of unemployment, failing small businesses, endemic poverty and crime. At the end of last year, the Department of Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate in the Bahamas is at 16.2 per cent and unemployment among youth (people aged 15-24) is at 30.8 per cent with the youth jobless rate for residents of New Providence and Grand Bahama considerably higher than any other age group.

“In 2012, it was reported that just over 4,000 private homes in the Bahamas make use of outside toilets, unconventional toilet facilities or are without toilet facilities at all. That same year a local newspaper reported that government statistics show that the number of Bahamian households surviving on less than $5,000 per year has increased by 83 per cent in the past four years. And a recent international report indicates that the Bahamian life expectancy at birth is on the decline, and violent crime and disease are two major components of this decline.”

The group has asked that the National Reparations Commission adopt in its case against Europe for reparations for the genocide and enslavement of indigenous and African people in the Caribbean the following recommendations:

• A full apology by Europe and Europeans in the Bahamas for the crimes of genocide, slavery and colonisation against the indigenous and African people in the Bahamas. Public spaces must also be created to reflect the historical and cultural significance of the indigenous and African people of the Bahamas and Caribbean region.

• Reparations for the hundreds of years of slavery, colonial oppression, exploitation, terror and deprivation that continue to be experienced in the Bahamas by African people to this day.

• Monies received by Bahamian slave-owners – as compensation for their loss of free African labour following the Emancipation Act of 1833 be paid to Africans in the Bahamas. This payment can be in various forms, including money, land and valuable assets in the Bahamas, for instance. This payment must also be used to ensure that the basic necessities of proper and adequate food, clothing and shelter are controlled and/or owned by every African in the Bahamas.

• An end to the parasitic relationship that exists between Europe and African people in the Caribbean. For centuries, European companies have fed off Africa and African people without putting anything towards African development. These global companies are allowed to operate in the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean and they are made to pay little or no taxes and no social responsibility is imposed on them. These companies must be required to pay taxes that will benefit the people and be required to develop social programmes for the development of Africans in the Bahamas and the Caribbean region. These companies must also be required to pay African workers living wages.

• Free health services and an immediate upgrade to the healthcare system in the Bahamas to deal with the colonially based plethora of illnesses and diseases that afflict our people subsequent to slavery and during the continuing colonialisation of African people and the abrogation of their right to self- determination.

• The immediate removal of all European intelligence and military forces from the Caribbean and Africa and an end to all counterinsurgent interventions in the Caribbean, Africa, and South America.

• European governments, corporations and financial institutions renounce any claims of debt from the Caribbean and Africa, which has been responsible for the development of the European economy.

• That the British Museum and all museums throughout Europe return all the artifacts that were stolen during the genocide of the indigenous people and during the enslavement and colonisation of Africans.

• That reparations be paid to Haiti by France as repayment for the billions of dollars that Haiti was forced to pay France following the struggle for abolition of slavery and the creation of the First African Republic in the Western Hemisphere on January 1, 1804.

• That Europe discontinue any involvement in the economic quarantine and imperial aggression against Cuba.

For more on this story go to: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/apr/14/party-issues-ten-demands-for-reparations/

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