Dear Editor,
I saw a funny news item on local television recently. The new Government of Jamaica has reconstituted the cause for reparation in a new reparations council. During her presentation in Parliament, the culture minister stated that this new council demonstrates the seriousness of the Government of get Britain to pay reparation, supposedly for the sins of slavery. These politicians will never stop, will they?
Jamaican governments over the years have created all sorts of reparations organisations to advise it on the best way to get the British to pay up. I think it started with a reparations committee, then a commission, now it has created a council. All of these organisations have prepared and submitted what clearly have been useless, baseless and biased reports that have been stashed on some shelf to gather dust.
The activities of the Government clearly have had absolutely no effect on the British. Britain, as we all know, has more than its own problems to worry about now. Indeed, its very unity is now at stake. Wonder why anyone thinks that the British will ever be crazy enough to hand over reparation money in the name of a lost cause, when the British have repeatedly made it clear that the issue is a dead horse?
As many people, including myself, have said repeatedly, the British have a very solid legal, historical and moral case to ignore calls for reparation. Indeed, most Britons, I am sure, see this call as nothing more than an intellectual exercise for those who have far too much time on their hands – and obviously too little understanding of history.
However, as I have said, the Jamaican Government must at least appear to be doing something. Many of our own politicians would rather this reparation ghost finally goes away. But, in order to keep these very noisy people quiet, our governments over the years continue to set up these committees (or whatever they call them). The Government can then claim to be doing something.
The majority of Jamaicans don’t even know what this reparation business is about. This is testament to the complete failure of these reparation bodies to understand that, even here, most of us have moved on. I remember attending one reparation gathering at a Kingston high school that failed to attract many — except students who were obviously forced by their schools to attend.
So on we go with another reparation organisation that will achieve absolutely nothing.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.
com
I saw a funny news item on local television recently. The new Government of Jamaica has reconstituted the cause for reparation in a new reparations council. During her presentation in Parliament, the culture minister stated that this new council demonstrates the seriousness of the Government of get Britain to pay reparation, supposedly for the sins of slavery. These politicians will never stop, will they?
Jamaican governments over the years have created all sorts of reparations organisations to advise it on the best way to get the British to pay up. I think it started with a reparations committee, then a commission, now it has created a council. All of these organisations have prepared and submitted what clearly have been useless, baseless and biased reports that have been stashed on some shelf to gather dust.
The activities of the Government clearly have had absolutely no effect on the British. Britain, as we all know, has more than its own problems to worry about now. Indeed, its very unity is now at stake. Wonder why anyone thinks that the British will ever be crazy enough to hand over reparation money in the name of a lost cause, when the British have repeatedly made it clear that the issue is a dead horse?
As many people, including myself, have said repeatedly, the British have a very solid legal, historical and moral case to ignore calls for reparation. Indeed, most Britons, I am sure, see this call as nothing more than an intellectual exercise for those who have far too much time on their hands – and obviously too little understanding of history.
However, as I have said, the Jamaican Government must at least appear to be doing something. Many of our own politicians would rather this reparation ghost finally goes away. But, in order to keep these very noisy people quiet, our governments over the years continue to set up these committees (or whatever they call them). The Government can then claim to be doing something.
The majority of Jamaicans don’t even know what this reparation business is about. This is testament to the complete failure of these reparation bodies to understand that, even here, most of us have moved on. I remember attending one reparation gathering at a Kingston high school that failed to attract many — except students who were obviously forced by their schools to attend.
So on we go with another reparation organisation that will achieve absolutely nothing.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.
com