The CARICOM Reparations Commissions are ineffective

Oct 12, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

With the reparations fight for slavery continuing to gain traction globally, especially in the U.S., we must take a detailed look at our own reparations claim in the Caribbean along with those who are representing us. Turning our eyes to the CARICOM Reparations Commissions (CRC), we must ask ourselves, what have they accomplished since being created in September 2013, almost a decade ago? Browsing their website, caricomreparations.org, it quickly becomes apparent that there are no accomplishments. Not a single one.

Now let’s turn our eyes to their most recent communications on their own website along with posts on their social media. Last article posted on caricomreparations.org, March 1^st, 2021. Last post on Twitter, March 1^st, 2021 (@caricomrc). Last post on Instagram, February 17^th, 2021 (@caricom_reparations). Last post on Facebook, February 28^th, 2021 (@CariRepCommission). According to their member’s page, by my count, there are 17 members from 11 Caribbean nations. With the topic of reparations being a sensitive and extremely important one, anyone who takes it seriously would not be missing in action for over one and half years. This is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable.

The CRC’s Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice is inadequate and needs to be addressed. Not one of these ten points calls for direct COMPENSATORY JUSTICE (monetary payments) to the Descendants of Caribbean Slavery. What was the purpose of slavery and colonization? As simply put, the purpose was for the intentional maldistribution of land, wealth, and resources. When we look at these 10 points, they do not adequately compensate for this maldistribution to those aggrieved.

Let’s quickly and concisely take a look at these 10-points:
1. Full formal Apology – while an apology would be appropriate, actions speak louder than words. Our former enslavers, former colonizers, and current oppressors have not taken any serious actions to show their remorse. It is 2022, over 150 years removed from slavery being abolished, and ‘Prince’ William on his visit to Jamaica earlier this year expressed his ‘profound sorrow’ for the slave trade and stopped short of a formal apology. We do not need to wait on one. The best apology is changed behavior and we can see in the present day, white supremacy and oppression is still rampant all over the world. We must remember that a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.

Repatriation – “The descendants of these stolen people have a legal right to return to their homeland.”

While I agree with this notion, if Descendants of Caribbean Slavery want to repatriate, the onus would be on the Governments of the collaborators that helped gathered our ancestors and sold them to Europeans. Will European Governments force African Governments to issue citizenship, allocate land and resources, and create repatriation opportunities? This would require financial compensation to these African nations. African nations have not, in significant numbers, offered repatriation to the Descendants of Caribbean Slavery. Why would they start now?

3. Indigenous Peoples Development Program – the original inhabitants of the Caribbean were systematically wiped out and land stolen from them. They deserve compensatory justice, however this should be a complete separate claim from the Transatlantic Slave Trade for the Descendants of Caribbean Slavery. This requires monetary payments.
4. Cultural Institutions – “European nations have invested in the development of community institutions such as museums and research centres in order to prepare their citizens for an understanding of these Crimes against Humanity (CAH).”
It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to build these educational and cultural institutions. Europeans teach in their museums that Christopher Columbus was a great man and an explorer who “discovered” the New World. As we all know, he was one of the biggest robber, tyrant, rapist, and murderer in history. European crimes against humanity would be downplayed, inaccurate, and showing Europeans in the best light if we left it to them. As Malcolm X once stated, “Only a fool would let his enemy teach his children.”
5. Public Health Crisis – this is a direct result of a lack of resources that can be tied to slavery and colonialism. Our physical and emotional trauma carried over by slavery and colonialism along with our nutritional experience and lack of a “developed” healthcare infrastructure requires significant resources. This requires monetary payments.
6. Illiteracy Eradication – it is the responsibility of our households and educational systems to teach and educate our people. We have seen the ongoing discussion for years regarding Jamaican teachers emigrating abroad for higher compensation. Three Caribbean nations rank in the top ten for the 2022 human flight and brain drain country index (Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti). Monetary payments would alleviate this issue.
7. African Knowledge Program – “the forced separation of Africans from their homeland has resulted in cultural and social alienation from identity and existential belonging.”

Though a program similar to ‘Brightright Israel’ would be practical, this may not be something every Descendent of Caribbean of Slavery may take advantage of. ‘Brightright Israel’ affords every Jewish young adult the chance to explore Israel at least once in his or her lifetime and completely free. Every Descendent of Caribbean Slavery should be afforded the opportunity to explore Africa and learn more about their ancestral roots. This should be something established IN ADDITION to monetary payments.

Psychological Rehabilitation – there is a stigma around mental health in the Caribbean and should be taken as serious as one’s physical health. We have generational trauma from slavery and colonization that we carry in our DNA and passed on from one generation to another. This needs to be seriously unpacked and addressed. We lack the resources in the Caribbean to adequately address and resolve these psychological issues. This requires monetary payments.
Technology Transfer – If we look at Japan post-WWII, they embarked on a. unrelenting push to become as technologically advanced as Western powers. They became the 2^nd fastest economy in the world at that time due to their economic intervention and development of their own version of state-subsidized industrial capitalism along with the aid, assistance, and transferred technology from the U.S. to Japan. Let us also remember in addition to this, the U.S. paid reparations to the Japanese interned in camps during WWII. Over time, with resources, the Caribbean could establish STEM-based curriculums, along with a steady funding for scientific research that would eventually get to the state of developing our own technologies. This requires monetary payments.
Debt Cancellation – this requires monetary payment one way or another to some party or another.

My first proposal would be to disband the CRC or remove them as representatives for our reparations claim. I cannot understand for the life of me why this commission would be featured on caricom.org as the face of Caribbean reparations when they have accomplished absolutely nothing since being created in 2013! My second proposal would be to reject this 10-point plan. Our ancestors were enslaved to generate wealth for European powers. That wealth continues to be passed down generation after generation, while the Descendants of Caribbean Slavery are passed down poverty generation after generation. Additionally, we (you and I) of the grassroots, need to continually beat the drum demanding we be financially compensated for the atrocities committed against our ancestors and holding our elected leaders accountable for pushing this demand. We owe it to our ancestors and our progeny to be uncompromising about this. In his 1968 speech called ‘Two Nations of Black America’ addressing America, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “we’re coming to get our check. England, Spain, France, Amsterdam, Portugal, Sweden, and Denmark, the Caribbean is coming for our check.

Regards,

J. Pearson