The Sins Of The Father

"Reparatory justice" to "compensate for slavery" is the latest scheme by black politicians of ...

Slave Emancipation Was Well Over
A Hundred Years Ago, Even In The USA

... the often failed and corrupt Caribbean countries, to grab more money off us. In this it differs little from the claims by some black Americans for the same thing from the white Americans.

"Our civilisation should understand the atrocities that took place during colonialism and slavery, and the fact that we have to bring balance by having open discussions ..." said the Prime Minister of Antigua, as the begging bowl was loudly rattled. They have even set up the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission to make their claims look all official.

He said the the UK should be paying for important institutions such as universities and good medicinal facilities in the Caribbean states. Oh and by the way we are going to become Republics in the near future. Antigua was made independent in 1981. While on St Vincent and the Grenadines banners were recently held aloft saying "compensation now" and "Britain your debt is outstanding" ... really?

The Caribbean islands were occupied by native Indians and then European colonists before the arrival of black African slaves. There would in fact be no afro-Caribbean population there now, if not for slavery, so if it hadn't happened, they would probably be white populated islands, and likely be British or French overseas territories. 

France had two earlier abortive attempts to abolish slavery in its colonies but re-abolished the institution of slavery in its colonies in 1848 with a general and unconditional emancipation. The Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the trafficking of enslaved human beings in the British Empire, while the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 abolished slavery and emancipated the existing slaves. So these claims are for a period that ended nearly two hundred years ago ...  If we are in that mode, perhaps we should claim compensation from the the Italians for slavery acts under the Roman Empire!

The Caribbean islanders are now calling on Britain, France, and other European countries to address economic development gaps in the region. However the fact is that they are often too small, and lacking in natural resources for their economies to really be sustainable. Many have never developed away from agriculture or some limited natural resources since independence, and they blame us for this .... however if they hadn't taken independence, we would have still run and developed the islands.

One solution would be for the countries to form a common market and one government ... such a solution would allow for economies of scale to be applied .... but they don't want that, and so remain tiny little island states. So wealth disparities between the island nations continue, with  Gross National Income (GNI) per capita varying from as little as US$1,200 to over US$64,000.

But as examples in 2020:

• Antigua and Barbuda $13,750.
• The Bahamas $26,070.
• Barbados $14,350.
• Cayman islands $64,000 (UK)
• Turks and Caicos $30,250 (UK) - 2019.
• Dominica $7,270.
• Dominican Republic $7,160.
• Haiti $1,320.
• Sint Maarten $27,680 (Dutch) - 2018.
• Aruba $27,120 (Dutch) - 2017.

Noticeably those that are not wholly independent appear to do better .... although offshore banking services and gambling appears to be the reason for some UK territories success. The Dutch islands appear to have safe high end tourism to thank.

So its no quelle surprise, that throughout the Caribbean, there is widespread support for compensation for the descendants of enslaved Africans, as they foresee billions of pounds or euros pouring into their hands. So as well as local reparation commissions, they have an interstate one as well the Caricom Reparations Commission, who advised by the British legal firm Leigh Day, have proposed a ten-point plan to get money.

The name Leigh Day has been in the news on a number of occasions including:

• Claiming settlements for approximately 5,228 Kenyans allegedly tortured, injured or killed by the British Army during the 1950's, winning £19.9 million in settlement from the British Foreign Office. It was later reported from Kenya that Leigh Day had claimed £6.6 million in legal fees, as well as rows over the fund disbursements, and even exactly who was to get the money.
• Representing Iraqis alleging illegal killings and torture by British soldiers. There was considerable controversy over these claims because many of the claims were declared to be false or exaggerated. In the report, Sir Thayne Forbes said the most serious claims 'have been found to be wholly without foundation, and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility'. 

 

I can't add much more about these two events as I am using public record to report them .... however I can say that to my jaundiced eyes it makes you wonder.