est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

, ,

Open Letter to Prime Minster Mottley and Minister King

Open letter to The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P. (Prime Minister) and
 The Hon. John A. King, M.P.(Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports)

 

Dear Prime Minister and Minister of Culture,

John_King
Minister of Culture, John King
mia_mottley
Prime Minister Mia Mottley

I am sure by now you are aware that people in Bristol removed the statue of slave trader, Edward Colston, and deposited it in a nearby river. With this act, people in that city sent a clear message to the world that they would no longer tolerate the glorification of accomplices in the commission of crimes against humanity and those who grew rich from their sordid involvement in human trafficking.

In the present climate when there is a heightened global awareness of the need for zero tolerance towards racism and its symbols, it is unconscionable that in Barbados, a country where over 95% of its citizens are descendants of enslaved Africans, that a monument like Colston’s in Bristol, sits in the heart of our capital city. It is an affront to the people of Barbados and to those all over the world who are standing up to speak out against racism that Nelson’s monument continues to sit in the heart of Bridgetown. It is long overdue that this odious tribute to racism be removed.

There are no longer any excuses that can be made for your government’s failure to remove it. I am therefore writing to you as a concerned Bajan to call on you to do the right thing and remove this affront to the people of Barbados and to all those who today are courageously raising their voice against racism.

It would be very fitting, if it was replaced with a tribute to Nanny Grigg and to the many thousands of unsung Bajan women whose self-sacrifice, ingenuity and struggle have played a decisive role in our people’s progress from the pit of degradation that the English slave masters threw us into.

Yours

Tee White

595 responses to “Open Letter to Prime Minster Mottley and Minister King”

  1. Khaleel Kothdiwala Avatar
    Khaleel Kothdiwala

    David

    I agree completely. You have in those few words answered your question of yesterday though more broadly – why do any and all human beings display partisan fealty to one cause, ideal, group, belief etc.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Good question and this blogmaster does not pretend to have the answer except to opine that as individuals we seem to have innate values that are activated by some seminal event especially if related to matters of the ‘mano a mano’ variety.

  3. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Nelson should have been at the bottom of the Careenage long time. Performing a useful function, by providing a nesting place for turtles, fish etc.

    No reason to waste time and money and effort putting him in a museum.

  4. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    Nelson ?

    Relocate him to the center of the street that bears his name. The Brit’s would understand.

  5. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Pointless arguing about the Nelson statue, It has to move, in any case, to make way for the redevelopment of Bridgetown.

    Most of Bridgetown is tired, dilapidated, dirty.

    The discussion should be what little is left to remain and the design of redevelopment.

    Parliament buildings, old Town Hall and the Careenage docks should remain for architectural and historical value.

    Everything else can go, sell to developers, to work within a modernised, attractive plan.

  6. BAJE Avatar
    BAJE

    Nelson should have been at the bottom of the Careenage long time. Performing a useful function, by providing a nesting place for turtles, fish etc.

    No reason to waste time and money and effort putting him in a museum.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    NOW THIS IS SOMETHING I CAN AGREE WITH 200%

  7. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    (Quote):
    So the caste system has no bearing upon me as a Muslim and a person who has never visited India. (Unquote)
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    What do you garner from the phrase “real untouchable origin”?

    You might not have visited India but your ‘genetic’ ancestors were from India.

    As a so-called student of world history you ought to be familiar with the fact that most Muslims in India have their cultural origins and social positioning in the ‘old’ caste system of India.

    Islam only became an ‘institutionalized’ religion (compared to Hinduism) in India sometime after spreading from the Arabian peninsula and attracting followers mainly from the lower echelons of the well-established caste system and who saw no way out of their eternal low caste status (even through many incarnations) other than by way of Islam which promised them paradise and social equality in the sight of Allah.

    This was effectively equivalent to what Christianity offered the black slaves after their physical liberation from bondage.

    It should boggle the mind of any intellectually sane person as to why another person who hypocritically preaches the uplifting of the Bajan downtrodden people and displaying the perfect symptoms of cognitive dissonance would fail to see any symbolic relevance in the removal of a statue which symbolizes every thing that is representative of black chattel slavery and oppression.

    Lord Horatio Nelson was a well known activist in support of the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself in the British West Indies.

    He was an ardent critic of William Wilberforce and sought in every political way to undermine Wilberforce’s efforts to end the system which carried the moral stench to what Hitler did to the Jews.

    Why is there still so much outcry and anathema displayed against those who try to promote Nazism and its collection of symbols of oppression and genocide?

    Symbolism means a lot in the gallery of human culture; especially in the ‘realm’ of party politics.

    What kind of message do you think was sent to the same downtrodden masses you claim to want to uplift when the political organization you defend- in the same spirit of Goebbels’s defence of the Nazis- saw it fit to invite certain people deemed persona non grata in the world of high morality to the opening of that August House the very institution used as a vehicle for socio-economic change and justice?

  8. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    A Muslim who does not value symbolism. Wonder why they flock to Mecca even though they risk dying in a stampede.

  9. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    This FRAUD the people elected in May 2018, who is still polluting the parliament with her CORRUPTION…..thinks she is going to continue to keep a SLAVE SOCIETY intact…keep her own people IN BONDAGE so that she and her minority thieves and racists can continue to FEED OFF THE MAJORITY BLACK POPULATION for another generation…but she is so damn wrong….she won’t t even know when that racist slave society which was criminally maintained for the last 60 YEARS…against the majority with their OWN MONEY has been SHUT DOWN PERMANENTLY…..people with REAL intelligence know when to take a stand…but the CORRUPT like her NEVER DO…

  10. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Most of Bridgetown is tired, dilapidated, dirty.”

    that’s the only way a slave society that is CURSED with symbols of enslavers and their enablers would end up anyway…the racist statue sits right where BLACK slaves were sold, it’s insulting and disrespectful and continues the crimes against black humanity indefinitely……

    it’s no secret i can’t stand any of the sell out negros from either political party….but they too will hopefully soon start looking just like what they created for their own people while they refuse to tear it down, talking utter shite about she don’t follow trends…like someone cares about or even likes her corrupt ass, other than her repulsive fowls and fellow thieves….although nothing about any of them looks anything but corrupt, dirty and evil right now when you take a good look at them…..given all that we know about them..

    i want her to continue stubbornly maintaining a slave society and praising racists while robbing her people….more ammunition we get to work on dismantling and EXPOSING her and all of them while the world watches AND APPLAUDS…

  11. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Ms Fraud with her “fighting imperialism” LIES earlier this year while sitting as caricom chair and now suddenly she is “not following any world trend” to free the people and island from colonial symbols of racism and enslavement….can view on FB how much she is NOT LIKED and see how well it’s working our for her, a prelude to the future…….the hater of her own people who only see them as a means to enrich herself and her fellow racist thieves….seeking to keep the people in bondage generationally to benefit themselves only..

  12. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    I came across the following: seems like the backlash is about to begin. As I have said there is no way a native population is going to allow a minority recent migrant group to dictate how their history and culture should be defined.

    Fears of violence as far-Right groups outline plans to ‘defend’ statues in London this weekend
    Fears far-Right thugs may head to London to take on anti-racism protesters
    Ex-English Defence League leader, Tommy Robinson, called police ‘soft-handed’
    Several football ‘firms’ planning further demonstrations ‘prepared to use force’
    By REBECCA CAMBER and MARIO LEDWITH and JIM NORTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL

    PUBLISHED: 01:39 BST, 10 June 2020 | UPDATED: 10:00 BST, 10 June 2020

  13. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Your negro leaders are backward, greedy, ignorant, wicked, self-hating and corrupt.

    They are of absolutely no use to the majority Black population who elect and fund them and the whole island.

    https://youtu.be/dPliVVCV9bY?t=59

  14. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    The videos attached to the article show the color of the looters who were black so much for peaceful protesting.

    Nightmare on 34th Street: Shocking moment more than a dozen looters broke into Macy’s Herald Square and made off with $10,000 worth of merchandise amid protests
    Footage released on Tuesday shows looters stealing from Macy’s Herald Square
    Police said more than a dozen men entered store and stole $10K in merchandise
    The incident occurred just before 10pm on June 1, according to the NYPD
    That theft came just days after two men broke into a Macy’s in Brooklyn May 31
    In that incident, the thieves made off with $29,000 worth of jewelry, cops said
    Both incidents took place during riots which marred peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd

  15. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    The above post appeared in the: By VALERIE EDWARDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 06:57 BST, 10 June 2020 | UPDATED: 08:43 BST, 10 June 2020

  16. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    The following extract may interest some:

    UCLA college professor is suspended after refusing request for lenient marking of black students’ final assessments due to the trauma they have suffered from George Floyd’s death and civil unrest
    Gordon Klein, professor of accounting, has been suspended for three weeks
    Non-black students emailed asking for leniency in marking black peers’ work
    Klein replied that he had no idea who was black given the course was online
    He asked how he should grade people of multiple ethnicities
    Klein noted MLK’s fight for people to not be evaluated based on skin color
    UCLA’s Anderson School of Business described his email as ‘disturbing’
    A petition to see Klein removed now has almost 20,000 signatures
    Academics have defended Klein for ‘treating students on the basis of equality’
    By HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 00:49 BST, 10 June 2020 | UPDATED: 02:07 BST, 10 June 2020

    This is one of the reason blacks are not taken seriously.

  17. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    What are you trying to convey in your last comments? Hope you are not suggesting that because a minority group of people engaged in deviant behaviour the BLM cause that has provoked hundreds of thousands of people to protest is invalid?

    >

  18. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @RL

    “As I have said there is no way a native population is going to allow a minority recent migrant group to dictate how their history and culture should be defined.”

    Tell that to the so called new world which the white european has mainly taken over and rewrite the history thereof. you really does talk some shiite when you get ready, mate. wait dont tell me, that was a long time ago, lol

  19. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    robert lucas
    June 10, 2020 5:33 AM

    Dr.Lucas, you cannot be serious quoting and promoting the idiot Robinson, an extremist and racist. What the Londoners call a nutter. He and his ilk are also in the minority in the UK. It concerns me that you tried to pass this one off on the blog, as representative of the UK generally. Why?

  20. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Greene June 10, 2020 6:52 AM

    Expected your comments. Par for the course.

  21. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Robert is a sad weakling, he is just a spectator. not useful in helping create any positive changes for the African descended. He has not grown fully mentally yet and maybe never will, but is probably in his 50s by now or close, it is more than likely way too late for him……

    slave masters love weaklings, they can do whatever they feel like to them using the system as a weapon and all they do is sit and complain..those too can be left at the wayside, they are not house ni*gas…just weak ones but are just as dangerous to any building of a black nation and cannot be included…

  22. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ robert lucas June 10, 2020 5:33 AM
    “I came across the following: seems like the backlash is about to begin. As I have said there is no way a native population is going to allow a minority recent migrant group to dictate how their history and culture should be defined.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    But that is exactly what happened to the native population(s) of the so-called New World!

    What you are suggesting here is that the Amerindians were indeed an inferior species to the European and clearly not made in the image of the god of GP and John.

  23. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Let us make this clear. Floyd may have come amiss of the law at times and at the commencement of that incident. However that in no way influences the matter of his murder. As someone said above, no one can be prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. There is due process and ANY lawyer who has a brain will support this view fully.

    That said, do the others who are ranting on about irrelevant stuff that is outside that above, understand what they are advocating? Total idiocy, would be laughable if not so sad that supposedly educated people could come with such tripe.

  24. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Crusoe June 10, 2020 7:04 AM
    How did you arrive at your conclusion that I am promoting Robinson ? If you recollect, yesterday I predicted that there would be a backlash. I stated that the native population in the UK would not tolerate a recent minority immigrant group insisting that their history and culture be changed to suit the latter. How does that statement support Robinson when it was made prior to the publication of the article cited ? Do you feel that the native British are going tolerate the defacement of their historical monuments and in particular Churchill’s? If you believe so, you are really naive and are viewing things through rose-tinted glasses. One does not have to be a seer to have arrived at the conclusion I came to.

  25. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Wonder how the wife’s divorce is proceeding have they managed to get the assets fully in her name yet, before the civil lawsuits arrive?

  26. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    RL,

    i thought about not responding but could not disappoint a fellow Cawmerian.

  27. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    I do agree that Churchill’s will be untouchable. For one, I see no reason why his would be targeted, that would be getting silly. So yes, there needs to be a rational approach to conserve support. However, Robinson et al are lunatic fringe and no representative of most who will be rational.

    What I suggest is to watch the young people, who are angry, about more than racism. There will also be a push against conservative agendas, which the young have been subjected to for the last ten years.

  28. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David June 10, 2020 6:09 AM

    It is in response to some comments on this Blog which sort to suggest that, the looting was not being carried out by the protesters and that high-end looting was provenance of non-blacks. I am sure you would have seen my response to your comment about the eight thousand odd persons who were arrested.

  29. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Crusoe June 10, 2020 7:19 AM

    I said that there will be a civil war and that natives will through out the recent arrivals ;history repeating itself. There will be a lot of blood shed.

  30. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    Correction : throw out the recent arrivals.

  31. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    Robert you are right and when the dog is tired of being wagged by its tale the backlash will be swift. It is like the game hot potato all the crazies will attack this or that but when the game nears the end they are long gone and some probably reasonable will bear the consequences.Might I suggest you melt down old horatio and re-cast a George Floyd statue, your tourism industry is dead anyway and will be limited to grandchildren coming back to where grandpa was born. May as well have something up they can relate to. they don’t teach history so there are few kids that know about what these guys et al , they only know jobs gates tony hawke etc .

  32. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    RL,

    you predicting a backlash or is it a blacklash is no great feat.

    we all know how they would respond. protection at any cost even if it is physical protection.

    in addition they will dig deep for any negative to show the protests in a bad light. they will dig into Floyd’s background to show that he is a criminal or an unsavoury sort, so no lone should mourn or agitate at his death.

    they will look at black on black killings and say they kill themselves, so what if a white cop kills one.

    they will say racism is not a factor nowadays once blacks become educated.

    they will say blacks bring this on themselves by not complying with the orders of cops.

    they will say black abortions is the real issue.

    some will say voting for Dems is the reason becos the killing happened in a Dem majority area.

    they will look at the places where blacks live and call them shitholes, so as to say these are not humans.

    they will look at black representatives and say look they get richer whilst blacks they represent get poorer.

    they will say looting is cheapening the protests

    they will even say that the protests are really to cover for the looting

    they will dig and dig and try to negate every thing the protest is trying to bring to light and they will even convince some black people that Floyd’s death is his fault so Black protest is not the answer.

  33. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    You must realise that @Robert is no longer an impressible youth. You are not going to change his mind, no more than you would the Jews who were part of Hitler’s SS.
    Respect his professional knowledge, his alma mater, but ignore his politics, which sadly, is very Barbadian. We have a prime minister, a Cabinet, senators and senior public officials and they have all remained silent on the George Floyd affair. They d not comment on ‘trends’. Not even the Bar Association has said anything. This is the Barbados Condition. This is historic, the distinguishing feature of being a Barbadian compared with, for example, a Jamaican.

  34. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    Poor Mia is swimming against the tide without a life jacket. Like Trump she is tucked away inside a bunker encircled and protected by a number of minority groups and a small coterie of uppity blacks.

    Meanwhile in the real world…..

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/george-floyd-buried-houston-live-updates-200609131614305.html

  35. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    impressionable…..

  36. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    MAM did say something

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/06/10/mottley-adds-her-voice-to-black-lives-matter-protests/

  37. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Might I suggest you melt down old horatio and re-cast a George Floyd statue,”

    best to melt it down and send it to Canada, where the indigenous alyuh ROBBED OF THEIR LANDS can make it into an image of the native children who were raped and murder and kidnapped…..it is documented Nelson hated Barbados and the slaves who lived on the island, can’t remember which country he preferred, it may very well be Canada though.

    glass houses…stones..

    “your tourism industry is dead anyway and will be limited to grandchildren coming back to where grandpa was born.”

    of course am not one not to acknowledge the half-right crazy….

    but first they gotta get rid of the skunks in parliament who have no clue what to do without another taxpayer paid consultant…ah don’t why the cousins in the palace don’t turn up and gather up all their half-human creations, am sure they can find work for them at Buckingham and Windsor seeing as they have for decades and through the centuries because of ancestral bloodlines….loved being house slaves/negros..

  38. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal

    “You must realise that @Robert is no longer an impressible youth. You are not going to change his mind, no more than you would the Jews who were part of Hitler’s SS.”

    ok i understand-lol

  39. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Look at Robert the weakling still trying to pin ALL THE LOOTING ON BLACK PROTESTORS…

    although there is evidence to suggest that a certain section of certain upmarket areas were looted by WHITES…he will soon come out and apologize that they are even being accused of being thieves too..

    the plight of the black weakling..

  40. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    NELSON WAS A HERO TO BARBADIANS

    Admiral Horatio Nelson Popularity came because of the impression he made on Barbadians at the time, resulting in them purchasing the statue and land when he died, naming it Trafalgar Square and paying tribute to the Admiral by erecting the statue because they felt Grateful they were saved from the French by Nelson. Barbadians Cannot Dismiss that Lightly because we have a Different Present Narrative, that we want to Fill with our Opinion!

    There’s a plaque on the statue that reads: “This statue in honour of the hero the inhabitants of this island erected A.D. MDCCCXII”….

    This Sanitation of History is by no means a Small thing to simply be ignored, it leaves coming Generations is absolute Ignorance to be manipulated to repeat the mistakes that we can learn from those who went before us.

    It Seems to Freedom that there are Segments of the Barbadian Society who Consider that our History only starts from about 1937. What happened to the Previous in which All Barbadians Irrespective of Ethnicity, Shade, Creed or Persuasion toiled to build a Nation out of a Jungle of Trees, Rocks and Soil. They did so often against great odds, utilizing the Technology and manpower that was considered suitable at that time.

    In this process Locals were from time to time assisted and or protected from the Vagaries of External forces for Example Wars and the threat of Invasion. Please Refer to my Previous Comments as to why Nelson was Considered a Hero to Bajans in those days…

    If Barbados says or wants to be an All Inclusive Society where Every citizen despite their Ethnicity, Religion or Persuasion should be Entitled to have or Want to have what they deem to be a Hero to them. The Name ‘Trafalgar Square’ was Changed to ‘Heroes Square’ which is Hence Appropriate as Nelson was a True Hero to Barbados.

    It is therefore Unacceptable if we want a Just, Even and Equal Society that a certain Element, even if the Majority should inflict their concept of a Hero upon the Rest of the Society. Therefore what Freedom is saying, we cannot change our History because of what some people think. It is Ours, it is Part of us and we should embrace it and move on.

    When we Erase History we will not learn from those who have gone before… The Left are famous for Rewriting and Erasing History. That is the Practice of Leftism to Deceive and Propagandize others and not Conservatism!! The Idea of Conservatism is to Conserve, Preserve and Encourage that which is Good!

    Freedom thinks that Heroes Square should be Expanded and the Present Treasury Building should be Demolished…It has outlived its Usefulness and that whole Area should be incorporated into Heroes Square and Erecting more Monuments and Statues to the Heroes of Barbados.

    LEAVE NELSON WHERE HE IS, HE OWNED NO SLAVE AND DID NO TRANSPORTATION OF SLAVES.

    http://overtown.org.uk/cw/Charles_Waterton/barbados/Barbados-High-Street-Bridgetown-1895-l.jpg

  41. Khaleel Kothdiwala Avatar
    Khaleel Kothdiwala

    @Miller June 10, 2020 2:15 AM
    “a statue which symbolizes every thing that is representative of black chattel slavery and oppression.”

    You brilliantly display a partisan slant in the above statement. I have said that Lord Nelson symbolises a number of things in much the same way that other historical figures symbolise a number of things. He is a complex character. But persons will only see what they want to see. You believe him solely to to symbolise slavery and oppression whereas Altman some years ago would have articulated what he saw as positives arising out of the statue. I believe in balance, and acknowledging both.
    I shall leave Donna who as ever delights in risible fatuousness.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    This discussion indeed perfectly symbolises one of the reasons for the continual marginalisation of a large segment of the black population in a country like Barbados. The black political and intellectual elite focus upon vanity projects with very little real-world consequences which allows them to avoid much more substantial and worthwhile change. I would be very interested to know the clear and present danger which the statue of Lord Nelson poses to contemporary Barbados by remaining there. I would be very interested to know the fantastic benefits which accrue from his removal. 140 comments later, the discussion has simply afforded a convenient method of avoiding substantial issues. I am never one to impose myself upon others, so you are under no compulsion to feel similarly. I view this discussion as worthless, in a world where so many obstacles stand in the way to enacting meaningful change, it is thoroughly useless as well as remarkably silly to waste time on Admiral Lord Nelson

  42. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    @David
    We are humans and by definition are allowed to attach emotion to our actions. This defines us as humans.
    ####

    Thank you for this comment. It brought a light on for me. I have been perplexed that we even have to be having this conversation in Barbados in 2020. People in England get it and that’s in a country that invented modern racism and practised it across the whole globe causing untold human suffering. Even people in Belgium, which for years celebrated the mass murderer Leopold II, get it. How is it possible that in Barbados, where 95% of us are African descendants and should naturally be at the forefront of the global demand to respect African humanity, there are still people who don’t get it. Then your comment made everything fall into place. We are dealing with an emotional response. It’s an emotional response that is rooted in a fundamental disrespect for African life and African humanity. If you read the 1661 slave laws of Barbados, you will see the lineage of this emotional response and it has coursed through the veins of this country since 1627 when the cursed English slavemasters arrived. Unfortunately, it has quite a few African descendants under its influence.

    Those who are afflicted with this condition, fly into an emotional rage when they are confronted with the demand that African life be respected. The unreconstructed racists lash out in all directions and condemn those who make this demand as ‘mobs’, ‘thugs’ and ‘looters’. Then it turns out that when others are the mobs and thugs and are doing the looting to enrich themselves, this opposition to these activiies melts faster than a snow cone in the hot sun. They are left exposed as being opposed not to mobs, thugs and looting but to the demand that African humanity and life must be respected. When their emotional rage subsides enough that they are able to formulate an argument, they come up with the feeble nonsense of opposing those who ‘want to erase history and change the past’. Now even a person with two brain cells, one of which isn’t working, would have more sense than to think that anybody can change the past or erase history. They can lie about history. They can even destroy historical evidence but no-one can erase history or change the past. But it’s hard to think straight when you are emotionally agitated. Anyway, I have some advice for these preservers of history. You can leave us Africans alone. We know what we’re doing and we’re good. However, there’s plenty of work for you to do elsewhere. I’m sure you know that in Europe, you cannot find a single statue glorifying Hitler. You can get to work there. Explain to them why it’s wrong to erase history and change the past and get as many statues of Hitler up as you can. Good luck with your work.

    The others realising that if they take the same road as the unreconstructed racists they will get the same blows, decide to take another tack, which they think is more sophisticated. They declare that upholding African humanity puts a wedge in the society and there is a multiplicity of views so we should ‘leff the statue’ where it is. But stop right there. When you put up a statue in a country of 95% Africans to glorify an acccomplice in crimes against the majority, you have put a wedge in the society right then. And when in 2020, you demand that that affront to African humanity should stay in place, you drive the wedge even deeper. There’s not an event in human existence over which there isn’t a multiplicity of views. Slavery, apartheid, lynching, even sexual abuse of children all have a multiplicity of views. The issue isn’t the multiplicity of views, the issue is what stand does each individual take in choosing between the multiplicity of views. Do they associate with the views that advocate for human suffering and degradation or do they associate with the views that uphold human dignity and justice. Each indvidual has to make their choice and be judged accordingly.

    Sensing that these dubious arguments might not quite do the job, they have another one up their sleeve. You are detracting from solviing the scourge of social injustice in the country they declare. But since when can human beings only do one thing at a time? Do we have to choose between breathing and seeing? Why can’t we take the statue down and address the problem of social injustice in the country at the same time? In any event, why would anyone trust claims that an individual is concerned about social injustices afflicting a mostly African population when that same individual cannot even respect African life?

    Barabdos was once infamous on the west African coast as a place worse than hell for Africans. We have come a long way through real hardships and at the cost of many sacrifices. I’m confident that we’ll continue to advance. In this effort those who respect our humanity and make common cause with our effort wil make themselves known, as will those who oppose us. We should make note and draw the relevant conclusions.

  43. Khaleel Kothdiwala Avatar
    Khaleel Kothdiwala

    @Tee White
    “But since when can human beings only do one thing at a time? Do we have to choose between breathing and seeing? Why can’t we take the statue down and address the problem of social injustice in the country at the same time?”

    Ask any of those radicals or anyone who pushes for meaningful change in society, which is so often impossible, how difficult it is to even make one step in the right direction. So yes, like everything in life, you have to prioritise things which are of fundamental importance. The Admiral is not of fundamental importance to any of our social woes which I outlined last night.

  44. David Avatar
    David

    @Tee White

    Constructive comment.

    What we have maybe an identity crisis. We see ourselves as Eurocentric. We are not chicken or fowl -we do not have a top of mind affinity for our African lineage because of how we been educating ourselves. There is also the failure of our large professional and middle class to lead in this area.

    #identitycrisis

  45. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Wuh if they pulled down that tiefing fraud Columbus’ statue, set fire to it and dropped it in a lake in Virginia….who the hell is shitstained nelson. Maybe the house negros in parliament can move it into their homes and admire it as much as they like 24/7.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/christopher-columbus-statue-virginia-down-fire-virginia-racism-protests-a9558151.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1j9CeyItl4Wl1vPHq0rMmUh8pROFgNfoCSoajkl1c6zdwjZyt_y-DT5fM#Echobox=1591783665

    ?A statue of Christopher Columbus was toppled, set on fire and thrown into a lake amid anti-racism demonstrations in Virginia overnight.

    The monument to the Italian explorer, which had been positioned in Richmond’s Byrd Park until Tuesday night, was brought down amid chants to “tear it down”.

  46. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    Another racist thief, enslaver and criminal Cecil Rhodes got pulled down since 2015, 5 years ago, becuase, South Africa is having none of it….and knew it would take generations to erase the stench of criminal theft of African’s resources, racism and apartheid from the South African landscape.

    The mistake Mandela made was not chasing out all those evil minority racists who are still poisoning that environment with their hatred today, but eventually, they too will be gone….

  47. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    “Mottley: Govt not going by trends”

    wuh loss muh belly. lord come fuh yuh wirl

  48. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Hal
    You are on the wrong side on this issue. The new more enlightened Barbadians will call for the removal of Nelson. Our generation failed miserably in continuing the work of people like CLR James, that you so admire. How can we defend Nelson and then talk about a freedom square. The leftists/ progressives of our generation allowed the movement to be taken over , at least in Barbados, by some very skillful opportunists. No wonder then that Nelson is still there . It has to go before any freedom park or freedom square is opened. It’s a shame to have Nelson lording over the most prominent spot in capital city. Hopefully the young gentleman (Downes) will succeed in this new effort. It goes to show that young people of all persuasions ( Mr. Kothdiwala included ) are prepared to engage. That’s why I respect Kothdiwala’s enthusiasm although on this topic , we seriously disagree. If this new generation can be civil and engage each other with integrity and respect, they may just continue the work our generation so easily abandoned or at the very least refused to complete.

  49. charles skeete Avatar
    charles skeete

    where will it end?
    after Nelson then we will have to knock down George Washington house marketed as a tourist attraction and then Nicholas Abbey and Sunbury House and then Parliament buildings and then the Anglican church
    one day some perceptive Barbadian historian or sociologist in the course of his research might might stumble upon the remarks of our Father of Independence which suggested that the son of a carpenter is not suitable to be a Prime Minister of Barbados. He might found the remarks offensive an call for the toppling of the statue of Barrow in Independence square

  50. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The ignorant and BACKWARD just don’t know when stop…they prefer have a physical structure glorifying white european criminals, thieves, rapists , enslavers and racist supremacist, rather than have monuments dedicated to their own ancestors… to the victims of european criminals and they cannot see how twisted and fundamentally fcuked up their repulsive slave minds still are…

    “It’s an emotional response that is rooted in a fundamental disrespect for African life and African humanity. If you read the 1661 slave laws of Barbados, you will see the lineage of this emotional response and it has coursed through the veins of this country since 1627 when the cursed English slavemasters arrived. Unfortunately, it has quite a few African descendants under its influence.”

    “I’m sure you know that in Europe, you cannot find a single statue glorifying Hitler. ”

    the only reason there are holocust museums is so they NEVER FORGET that those crimes CAN NEVER BE REPEATED….because Germany is well aware of the total racist assholes in their midst….and when they get triggered as they were recently and had to be put down, anything can happen…..only low crawling no good leaders in Barbados would want to glorify and advertise criminals and their evil hatred of Black people..

    “Barabdos was once infamous on the west African coast as a place worse than hell for Africans.”

    and that is exactly what the house negros want to keep in place, the hell on earth for the African descended Black Bajans who have been criminalized for CENTURIES if they DARE practice their African spirituality, only recently i found out it was A CRIME to identify with your own African spiritual identity, Bajans were not allowed…they pretended to change the law recently …but the concept of silently outlawing everything African never changed……if a black bajan sees another black bajan wearing African head gear, a simple head tie, they do not know what to do with themselves….tthey become all confused and HATEFUL, that is the end result of centuries of beating the African ancestral spirit out of them…

    But that same African spirituality is what will be the end for the go nowhere, know nothing but tiefing, deceitful pretenders for leaders..

Older Comments
1 2 3 4 5 … 12
Newer Comments

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading