Jamaica Calls For Reparations !

[tonyav]

Jamaica calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/jamaica-calls-for-britain-to-pay-billions-of-pounds-in-reparations-for-slavery/ar-AAeTzdS?li=AA9SkIr

[gl556tr]

Reparations? This has become a senseless fashion - they're all jumping on the proverbial bandwagon. 'Tis akin to demanding of current politicians an apology for an event that occurred decades, even centuries, ago. Anyway, Jamaica is getting a prison, which Cameron doesn't often hand out!

[Lynn_M]

Ludicrous though it sounds, this could well be on its way. For example, who'd have thought that Merkel would have flooded Germany with migrants after going on record as saying "German multicultural society has failed?"

More insane things have happened. The more I think about it, the more likely that it's going to happen

[Hypognosis]

//vetuste_ennemi
What about Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria and Benin? Weren't Africans from what are now these countries (not to mention many others in West Africa) the guys who actually caught the slaves for the Europeans to buy?
//

I am amazed that "Roots" hasn't been repeated on UK TV (at least not in peaktine on a major channel) but I still remember it from the first time around. The opening scene portrays Kinté having a casual stroll before being chased and caught in a net by a group of redcoats. Blazing hot sun, buttoned up collars, leather boots versus an unencumbered, shoeless, athletic type.

I think the author flatters the white portion of his target audience by implying guile was used to cause him to sprint towards the eventual net zone.

But why go to all this effort, per individual, at a time when you could collect them by the hundred? They could easily have been prisoners of war; a quick buck for the local big cheese.

And why sail the extra 500+ miles east, to the countries with the south-facing coasts, to do your catching, when they were readily available in a convenient port, on the west-facing coast, at the latitude where ships would hope to pick up the trade winds to take them west? That is to say they were headed that far south anyway, to catch the winds. Being able to sell British goods to African merchants (step three of the sugar triangle) and then not have to cross the Atlantic with an empty hold was part of the 'logic' to the operation but ship owners don't have time to hand for shore parties and hunting expeditions.

Long term colonial presence and systematic slave-taking (by the British army???) seems to be what is posited in this claim. In which case which countries did Britain hold; which were French, Portuguese, Dutch, German and so on?

[Hypognosis]

Incidentally, a year or two ago, I came across a blog by a black writer (USA-based) who posed the seemingly risqué question of "how much longer are we going to lay this guilt-trip on white people". He expands on it to say that many of them are thriving and middle class - they are doctors, lawyers, senior politicians, these days, should just chill out and get on with having a good time, including mixing more with white people.

I keep wanting to paste a link to it, here in AB but, on each occasion, I cannot persuade google to relocate the article, whichever search phrases I try. It is possible that he got taken to task over it and pulled it. Given all the racist police shooting incidents there, recently, it would now seem spectacularly out of date or inappropriate and been pulled by the author himself.

Anyway that is just the perspective of a well-off metropolitan USAnian, not a Jamaican looking to boost his countfy's economy.

Why request this now though, while the UK is down by £12bn already?

[tonyav]

Well here's Dave's answer.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/david-cameron-calls-on-jamaica-to-move-on-from-painful-legacy-of-slavery/ar-AAeXCf4?li=AA59G2

[viv41]

He definitely shouldn't apologise, it's not his fault !

[tonyav]

Exactly, none of us are responsible for what our ancestors may or may not have done.

[Hypognosis]

//tonyav

Exactly, none of us are responsible for what our ancestors may or may not have done.
//

Sounds like an argument against the principle of inheritable wealth, Yont.

(tic)

[DTCwordfan]

I blame those Vikings - and the Romans too, so Scandinavia and Italy should start the recompensation programme.

[murraymints]

and what about that blummmin wall that Hadrian built ? cheek o' the man..we need recompense for hurt feelings up here !

[Hypognosis]

As you probably know well, Vikings had slaves too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrall

I guess you could say that I am 'enthralled' by Answerbank. That is to say I've not been paid a penny by it.

[DTCwordfan]

Philip Parker's The North Men's Fury is a good history of the Vikings and gets into their societal structure etc, inc the thralls.