May 2014 UNDILUTED Vol
20
UNDILUTED
CARICOM
Ten-point Plan for Reparations for Slavery
[1]
Full Formal apology
"The
healing process for victims and the descendants of the enslaved and enslavers
requires as a precondition the offer of a sincere formal apology by the
governments of
Europe
. Some governments in refusing to offer an apology have issued in place
Statements of Regrets. Such statements do not acknowledge that crimes have
been committed and represent a refusal to take responsibility for such crimes.
Statements of regrets represent, furthermore, a reprehensible response to the
call for apology in that they suggest that victims and their descendants are
not worthy of an apology. Only an explicit formal apology will suffice within
the context of the CRJP."
[2]
Repatriation
"Over
10 million Africans were stolen from their homes and forcefully transported to
the
Caribbean
as the enslaved chattel and property of Europeans. The transatlantic slave
trade is the largest forced migration in human history and has no parallel in
terms of man’s inhumanity to man. This trade in enchained bodies was a
highly successful commercial business for the nations of
Europe
. The lives of millions of men, women and children were destroyed in search of
profit. The descendants of these stolen people have a legal right to return to
their homeland. A Repatriation program must be established and all available
channels of international law and diplomacy used to resettle those persons who
wish to return. A resettlement program should address such matters as
citizenship and deploy available best practices in respect of community
re-integration."
[3]
Indigenous Peoples Development Program
"The
governments of Europe committed genocide upon the native
Caribbean
population. Military commanders were given official instructions by their
governments to eliminate these communities and to remove those who survive
pogroms from the region. Genocide and land appropriation went hand in hand. A
community of over 3,000,000 in 1700 has been reduced to less than 30,000 in
2000. Survivors remain traumatized, landless, and are the most marginalized
social group within the region. The University of the
West Indies
offers an Indigenous Peoples Scholarship in a desperate effort at
rehabilitation. It is woefully insufficient. A Development Plan is required to
rehabilitate this community."
[4]
Cultural Institutions
"European
nations have invested in the development of community institutions such as
museums and research centers in order to prepare their citizens for an
understanding of these CAH. These facilities serve to reinforce within the
consciousness of their citizens an understanding of their role in history as
rulers and change agents. There are no such institutions in the
Caribbean
where the CAH were committed.
Caribbean
school teachers and researchers do not have the same opportunity. Descendants
of these CAH continue to suffer the disdain of having no relevant
institutional systems through which their experience can be scientifically
told. This crisis must be remedies within the CJRP."
[5]
Public Health Crisis
"The
African descended population in the
Caribbean
has the highest incidence in the world of chronic diseases in the forms of
hypertension and type two diabetes. This pandemic is the direct result of the
nutritional experience, physical and emotional brutality, and overall stress
profiles associated with slavery, genocide, and apartheid. Over 10 million
Africans were imported into the
Caribbean
during the 400 years of slavery. At the end of slavery in the late 19th
century less than 2 million remained. The chronic health condition of
Caribbean
blacks now constitutes the greatest financial risk to sustainability in the
region. Arresting this pandemic requires the injection of science, technology,
and capital beyond the capacity of the region.
Europe
has a responsibility to participate in the alleviation of this heath disaster.
The CRJP addresses this issue and calls upon the governments of
Europe
to take responsibility for this tragic human legacy of slavery and
colonization."
[6]
Illiteracy Eradication
"At
the end of the European colonial period in most parts of the
Caribbean
, the British in particular left the black and indigenous communities in a
general state of illiteracy. Some 70 percent of blacks in British colonies
were functionally illiterate in the 1960s when nation states began to appear.
Jamaica
, the largest such community, was home to the largest number of such citizens.
Widespread illiteracy has subverted the development efforts of these nation
states and represents a drag upon social and economic advancement.
Caribbean
governments allocate more than 70 percent of public expenditure to health and
education in an effort to uproot the legacies of slavery and colonization.
European governments have a responsibility to participate in this effort
within the context of the CRJP."
[7]
African Knowledge Program
"The
forced separation of Africans from their homeland has resulted in cultural and
social alienation from identity and existential belonging. Denied the right in
law to life, and divorced by space from the source of historic self, Africans
have craved the right to return and knowledge of the route to roots. A program
of action is required to build ‘bridges of belonging’. Such projects as
school exchanges and culture tours, community artistic and performance
programs, entrepreneurial and religious engagements, as well as political
interaction, are required in order to neutralize the void created by slave
voyages. Such actions will serve to build knowledge networks that are
necessary for community rehabilitation."
[8]
Psychological Rehabilitation
"For
over 400 years Africans and their descendants were classified in law as
non-human, chattel, property, and real estate. They were denied recognition as
members of the human family by laws derived from the parliaments and palaces
of
Europe
and subjected to the ideology of racism that denigrated all things African.
This history has inflicted massive psychological trauma upon African
descendant populations. This much is evident daily in the
Caribbean
. Only a reparatory justice approach to truth and educational exposure can
begin the process of healing and repair. Such an engagement will call into
being, for example, the need for greater
Caribbean
integration designed to enable the coming together of the fragmented
community."
[9]
Technology Transfer
"For
400 years the trade and production policies of
Europe
could be summed up in the British slogan: 'not a nail is to be made in the
colonies'. The Caribbean was denied participation in
Europe
’s industrialization process, and was confined to the role of producer and
exporter of raw materials. This system was designed to extract maximum value
from the region and to enable maximum wealth accumulation in
Europe
. The effectiveness of this policy meant that the
Caribbean
entered its nation building phase as a technologically and scientifically
ill-equipped- backward space within the postmodern world economy. Generations
of
Caribbean
youth, as a consequence, have been denied membership and access to the science
and technology culture that is the world’s youth patrimony. Technology
transfer and science sharing for development must be a part of the CRJP.
[10]
Debt Cancellation
"
Caribbean
governments that emerged from slavery and colonialism have inherited the
massive crisis of community poverty and institutional unpreparedness for
development. These governments still daily engage in the business of cleaning
up the colonial mess in order to prepare for development. The pressure of
development has driven governments to carry the burden of public employment
and social policies designed to confront colonial legacies. This process has
resulted in states accumulating unsustainable levels of public debt that now
constitute their fiscal entrapment. This debt cycle properly belongs to the
imperial governments who have made no sustained attempt to deal with
debilitating colonial legacies. Support for the payment of domestic debt and
cancellation of international debt are necessary reparatory actions."
SOURCE:
CARICOM Reparation Commission
Back to Hot Calaloo
Back to Hot Calaloo
|
