Prime Minister of Barbados Freundel Stuart
Barbados and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states will go the route of diplomacy and not protest on the issue of reparations for native genocide and slavery, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said during a press conference on the final day of the 26th inter-sessional conference of CARICOM heads of government in Nassau, Bahamas.
Stuart stated that the issue was not going “to be an overnight initiative,” but one in which the entire region was “irrevocably committed.”
“… There is going to be no retreat on the issue of reparations. But the point has to be made that we do not pursue the issue of reparations on the basis of protest; we are pursuing the issue of reparations on the basis of engagement,” he stressed.
Saying that regional leaders would do nothing to undermine the current relations between former slave trading nations by embarking on a confrontational approach, Stuart gave the assurance that leaders would not turn their backs on the history and the legacy which has been bequeathed as a result of slavery and native genocide.
“We contemplate, therefore, as a first measure, having a discussion with designated countries—former slave trading countries—to see what areas of agreement exist and whether there can be an amicable and civilized resolution to our differences,” he explained.
The prime minister made it clear that regional governments were not trying to get sizeable monetary compensation from the former slave trading nations through court action but to remind them of the impact of slavery on persons in the Caribbean.
“There is a legacy with which we are dealing, and what we are trying to sensitize former slave trading nations to is the existence of that legacy and to the connection between that legacy and their actions in the 17th, 18th and part of the 19th century,” he said.
Stuart, who chairs the prime ministerial sub-committee on reparations, stressed that achievements would most likely not be realized in the short-term.
“We have to take the long view on this issue recognizing the legacy that we are fighting did not take shape overnight and, therefore, it is not going to be dismantled overnight, but we have to start somewhere starting with the pursuit of reparatory justice,” he said.
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So 'massa' has infiltrated the movement, basically? And they just need to look at the history of the US–how they undermined Callie House's reparations & pension movement for former slaves who were STILL ALIVE AT THE TIME. So the oft repeated refrain that we hear now when reparations is brought up is BULL: No one currently alive was an actual slave. Welp, when Callie House was seeking reparations, THERE WERE STILL LIVING FORMER SLAVES and the US govt STILL hounded this woman's movement.So let's just be honest. They got 250+ years of FREE labor that they are STILL benefiting from TODAY & have NO intention of EVERY paying for it. That's the truth of the matter. They are just too cowardly to say it. These greedy, reprobate, ungrateful mofos are the original welfare recipients YET we are always portrayed as wanting a 'hand out'.
Boooo!
Haiti was the first nation to push for reparation, instead the US and France bullied the small Island to pay France an equivalent of 22 billion in todays money for the sacrifice that they did to liberate themselves from slavery. This is a case of the victim has to pay the rapist policy. The US and the West are the rapists that keep on rapping.