No Thanks and Don't Return,Prime Minister Cameron !

The Caribbean Is One Nation.


Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group
Prime Minister David Cameron
The Mahogany Coconut Group prefers to leave the window dressing and puerile debate, to others who are more “brilliant”. We try mostly to put our case or points of view directly and allow others to sit in judgment. And so it is with the offer of the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who on a recent visit to Jamaica, offered to build jails in Jamaica, for those Jamaicans who are now imprisoned in England.
Jamaica Prime Minister, Portia Simpson has correctly turned down this insult disguised as some magnanimous act! Ironically, the British PM literally dismissed the calls for Reparations and told us that it was time to move on from slavery and forget the quest for reparations. If a politician had told a Jewish community to move on from the holocaust, his career would have been effectively over.
However reality informs us that since our former colonial slave masters saw Blacks as chattel, it is almost impossible to believe that they would want to consider paying for the murderous sins they committed. In their heads, Blacks meant nothing then and to even consider the reparations for the transgressions they committed would be an acknowledgement that we are of some value. It is a point that they cannot get past because deep down they still see Blacks as inferior.
We cannot imagine a British Prime Minister telling the President of America, that Britain would consider building jails in America for Americans, who have broken British law, so that they may be imprisoned in the US. In other words, Caribbean nationals who commit crimes in Britain are not seen as even fit to remain in British prisons.
As we ponder on these issues, it becomes very clear, that the region must stop expecting anything of real value from our former slave rulers. We are often too willing to accept the crumbs they throw at us and this empowers them, to use our vulnerable positions to be insensitive to our struggles.  However Cameron did not stop there; he also said that Britain had helped to abolish slavery and we had come through some “dark” periods together.  We don’t remember this part of history because we don’t recall the British being slaves. The millions of Blacks who were annihilated by Cameron’s forefathers would no doubt have a different view. We hope Cameron makes this his last trip to the Caribbean!



Comments

Ruel EL said…
Well said Brother Skinner!

Popular posts from this blog

International Women's Day : Our Caribbean Women, Our Hope

Protecting our Culture and Economic Development

Task Force on Food Security Needed