Last week I found an interesting article in the Gleaner; seems the Jamaican government has authorized a commission to look into the matter of reparations for the descendants of persons formerly held as slaves on the Island. Hmmm. Now that's interesting, because whenever this topic surfaces in the media, it's usually focused on the experience of Blacks in the United States - I suspect because of our particularly crippling legacy here and the substantial impact the institution has had on American society in general, and race relations in particular. So I did a double-take of sorts when I first scanned the headline, because for me, the cumulative effects of Slavery, Jim Crow and Institutional Apartheid have always somehow felt more ominous than accounts of Slavery that existed on the Caribbean Islands where the practice fell away (in Jamaica's case as early as 1838) far sooner than it did over here. I suppose that's technically true, but given our propensity to sometimes limit our curiosity to events that only take place within our borders, a critical sense of perspective would be lost by holding on to that particular view.
Given my own family's history as related through stories passed down by my parents and other relatives (see factoid about my Maternal Great Grandfather included in my Profile), I obviously have some very specific feelings on the subject. The household I grew up in wasn't overly demonstrative, but we were affectionate none the less, and not shy about expressing it, which was consistent with the degree of importance we attributed to all things familial. When we hosted guests or visited with other relatives, I was the type of child who liked to listen in on the adult conversations - hanging back on the periphery of the grown people talk to decode, absorb and digest; for invariably some nugget of useful data could always be gleaned about the people and places from whence I had come. Subsequently, I've always felt this connective thread back to my ancestors and often wonder about the challenges they were forced to endure; whether it was Slavery and the Civil War, Jim Crow hostilities in a bitter, Confederate-loyal South Carolina, Dem Hoovy Days (which is how my Grandmother referred to the Depression Era government of Herbert Hoover), or the challenges of the Civil Rights movement - hence, the connective thread I mentioned earlier...right down to my own experience as the first person of color to attend the Catholic Elementary school in the small Midwestern town where I grew up.
Obviously, my particular focus has been good in many respects - chief among them, the fact that I have a clearly defined sense of who I am. But I'm just now beginning to appreciate other aspects of the Diaspora that until now, had failed to attract my notice; such as the more obvious fact that the stain of Slavery left a much larger footprint - one that extended beyond the shores of the this country and subsequently led to other, equally harmful conditions - policies and programs such as the prosecution of Britain's Sus Laws back in the 80's, Color Stratifications and the debate over racial quotas at Universities in Brazil today, or the overall lingering impact of Colonialism – vis-a-vis the Uptown vs. Garrison mindset still lingering in certain segments of Caribbean society. As for the article, it appears the idea was originally floated back in 2007 by then Opposition Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Henry. During the highly charged election cycle of that year, and subsequent return to power for the JLP, the movement stalled somewhat, but since then has recently been reintroduced by current Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange. It will be interesting to see how this plays out; and especially how the United Kingdom, and I imagine to a lesser extent Spain, respond to the commission's findings. In taking his response, the Gleaner quoted MP Henry as saying:
"My position is that the United Kingdom Government paid the slave owners and they have not yet paid the slaves and therefore my position is the same amount you paid the slave owners you must now pay the slaves, compounded over the period of time".
Hmmm. Yes, I think this is going to be very interesting indeed. On some level, I concur with MP Henry's basic assertion (at least one I assume he's making) - that governments and society as a whole, share a collective, moral obligation to confront the crime of Slavery and the attendant, long term effects that have been perpetrated on vast segments of the populace. However, I'm still debating with myself as it relates to the specific form that redress should take. I'll have to continue thinking about that - especially in this new era of Obama. Perhaps I'll have to make that a topic for a future post :)
Given my own family's history as related through stories passed down by my parents and other relatives (see factoid about my Maternal Great Grandfather included in my Profile), I obviously have some very specific feelings on the subject. The household I grew up in wasn't overly demonstrative, but we were affectionate none the less, and not shy about expressing it, which was consistent with the degree of importance we attributed to all things familial. When we hosted guests or visited with other relatives, I was the type of child who liked to listen in on the adult conversations - hanging back on the periphery of the grown people talk to decode, absorb and digest; for invariably some nugget of useful data could always be gleaned about the people and places from whence I had come. Subsequently, I've always felt this connective thread back to my ancestors and often wonder about the challenges they were forced to endure; whether it was Slavery and the Civil War, Jim Crow hostilities in a bitter, Confederate-loyal South Carolina, Dem Hoovy Days (which is how my Grandmother referred to the Depression Era government of Herbert Hoover), or the challenges of the Civil Rights movement - hence, the connective thread I mentioned earlier...right down to my own experience as the first person of color to attend the Catholic Elementary school in the small Midwestern town where I grew up.
Obviously, my particular focus has been good in many respects - chief among them, the fact that I have a clearly defined sense of who I am. But I'm just now beginning to appreciate other aspects of the Diaspora that until now, had failed to attract my notice; such as the more obvious fact that the stain of Slavery left a much larger footprint - one that extended beyond the shores of the this country and subsequently led to other, equally harmful conditions - policies and programs such as the prosecution of Britain's Sus Laws back in the 80's, Color Stratifications and the debate over racial quotas at Universities in Brazil today, or the overall lingering impact of Colonialism – vis-a-vis the Uptown vs. Garrison mindset still lingering in certain segments of Caribbean society. As for the article, it appears the idea was originally floated back in 2007 by then Opposition Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Henry. During the highly charged election cycle of that year, and subsequent return to power for the JLP, the movement stalled somewhat, but since then has recently been reintroduced by current Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange. It will be interesting to see how this plays out; and especially how the United Kingdom, and I imagine to a lesser extent Spain, respond to the commission's findings. In taking his response, the Gleaner quoted MP Henry as saying:
"My position is that the United Kingdom Government paid the slave owners and they have not yet paid the slaves and therefore my position is the same amount you paid the slave owners you must now pay the slaves, compounded over the period of time".
Hmmm. Yes, I think this is going to be very interesting indeed. On some level, I concur with MP Henry's basic assertion (at least one I assume he's making) - that governments and society as a whole, share a collective, moral obligation to confront the crime of Slavery and the attendant, long term effects that have been perpetrated on vast segments of the populace. However, I'm still debating with myself as it relates to the specific form that redress should take. I'll have to continue thinking about that - especially in this new era of Obama. Perhaps I'll have to make that a topic for a future post :)
