- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 02/Aug 04:20

About that grandfather back pay

DARA E HEALY De Verteuil, Gomes and De Lima O’Brien, Grant and O’Connor Fill their bank books and built their empire From the sweat of meh grandfather …No house, no land, no bank book, no pension To leave for he grandchildren Ah want me grandfather back pay Yuh hear what ah say They owe meh grandfather back pay – Grandfather Back Pay, Mighty Chalkdust THIS IS the story that former enslavers – whether here in the Caribbean or across diaspora – would like us to forget. They would prefer that we “move on” from the profound injustice of emancipation, where, after forcing Africans to work for centuries, only the people who enslaved them were rewarded. In fact, the planters deliberately destroyed the crops and animals of the Africans. It was part of what Dr Claudius Fergus calls “scorched-earth operations against the enslaved to ensure that when physical emancipation came, they would have no economic leg to stand on.” In Tobago, Dr Rita Pemberton also confirms that the “white ruling land-owning class was determined to prevent the development of a black land-owning class.” And so, here we are in the 21st century, attempting to correct historical wrongs and somehow make our way into the future. This movement towards atonement, accountability and healing is called reparations. It is grounded in the crimes against humanity that were committed by enslavers and the generations of families who are still negatively impacted by an immoral history. The European nations that enslaved Africans maintained that under the laws of enslavement, the people being traded back and forth across the Middle Passage were not human, but property. For instance, the 1668 legal code in Barbados clarified that Africans (including babies and children) were to be viewed as "Estate Real," that is, legally tied to the assets of the plantation, similar to buildings or land. According to this justification, no crime was committed, no harm was done, therefore no compensation for labour is owed. Case for the Crown. Well, not so fast. Enslavement fuelled the development of European societies on a scale that was previously unimaginable. To protect these business interests, enslavers maintained a level of terror that was both clinical and brutal. After branding freshly purchased Africans with a hot iron, enslavers would apply palm oil “which caus’d but little pain; the mark usually well in four or five days…” The 1661 slave code of Barbados included slitting and dismembering the noses of Africans who were accused of crimes; castration was described as a “favourite slave punishment.” Dr Hilary Beckles points out that the Nuremburg Trials, held after WWII to address the crimes of Nazis, specifically addressed retroactive justice. Caricom has developed a ten-point plan focusing on reparations for “enforced African enslavement and native genocide” of indigenous peoples. The regional body has, among other recommendations, highlighted ongoing challenges of public health, debt and psychological rehabilitation. However, it occurred to me that there has been a palpable silence and lack of discourse about confronting historical wrongs right here in TT. Chalkdust’s calypso encapsulates the dehumanisation, disappointment and emasculation that did not end with emancipation. It is as if we now accept that from 1783 to the present day, the imbalances in our society are as they should be. We have not called to account the people whose families profited from the reparations paid to owners of enslaved people by the British government, the very people for whom Chalkdust’s and many of our ancestors laboured. Further, reparations here has been a timid, lacklustre affair. An entire UN Decade for People of African Descent slipped by with barely a murmur from our state-appointed, sometimes-in-session National Reparations Committee. Disgracefully, a second UN decade was announced to rectify a global lack of action, but as I was informed by a UN representative, “there is no money” for relevant projects. So, to the heirs of slavery who have quietly been enjoying the fruits of their forefather’s legacy – tap into whatever decency you have and acknowledge your moral role in righting atrocities of the past. Step out of your affluent shadows and actively participate in the healing of our nation. It is not only about back pay, but addressing the persistent trauma and inequities faced by people of African heritage. We all walk on the shoulders of our ancestors; time for you to face this truth and walk with honour. Dara E Healy is a performing artist and founder of the Idakeda Group, a cultural organisation dedicated to empowering communities through the arts The post About that grandfather back pay appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.