A few weeks ago, Barbadians erupted in nationalistic pride when a tweet from African American racial justice activist, Samuel Sinyangwe, about the Emancipation statue in Barbados went viral. Sinyangwe was in Barbados and posted two pictures of the statue commenting that he had never seen anything like it in America, this type of monument displayed prominently and designed specifically to symbolise the breaking of chains and the power of black liberation. In his series of tweets, Sinyangwe stated that the story of abolition in America is whitewashed, celebrating people who fought to keep black people enslaved and erasing the efforts of black people who dared to resist. He concluded that “the fact that the conversation in the USA is about keeping/ taking down pro-slavery monuments, not building anti-slavery monuments, speaks volumes”.
The tweet attracted significant attention with many people posting similar monuments from around the world. This morning, someone on Facebook shared an article from Vox that Sinyangwe wrote yesterday about Bussa and the absence of similar statues in the USA. After those tweets in July, I did not find any follow up posts about his experience in Barbados and this article on Vox does not shed any further light beyond his feelings about Bussa, so I am unaware about Sinyangwe’s overall view of Barbados. As a racial justice activist and someone who appears to have an intricate understanding of racism and the effects of colonialism and slavery across the colonised world, I believe that Sinyangwe would have discerned beyond the symbolism of the Emancipation statue had he dug a bit deeper.
I know I will face a barrage of criticism from my fellow Barbadians for what I have written here and I know some of my friends and family will sigh and say “here he goes again, inviting controversy with his provocative views”. I even delayed publishing the article until I saw this Vox article but I am used to being controversial and the disapproval of my countrymen, whether they are of African, Indian or European descent, is nothing new to me. So here goes.
I do not get the impression from Sinyangwe’s tweet that he stopped at the Emancipation statue. Had he done so and read the inscription on it, he would have noticed the “Ode to Jin Jin”. It has been said that this short refrain was sang by the enslaved when they heard news of Emancipation. It salutes Queen Victoria (Jin Jin) for setting the slaves free. The irony of this inscription on a statue commemorating Emancipation is that it takes all agency away from the enslaved whose revolts against the institution of slavery were a major cause in its termination and places it solely in the hands of the white saviour, the benevolent Queen Victoria.
Statue of Lord Nelson in Heroes Square, Barbados. Photo courtesy of barbados.org
If Sinyangwe had ventured a short drive to the centre of Bridgetown, he would have encountered the statue of Lord Horatio Nelson, defender of British imperialist interests. Nelson sailed nearby but never visited Barbados and wrote disdainfully of the island. His statue was erected by white Barbadian colonists even before their counterparts in London had built theirs in Trafalgar Square. Some years ago, the Government of Barbados had changed the name of Trafalgar Square in Bridgetown, where the statue of Nelson is situated, to Heroes Square. Yet it was not courageous enough to move the statue that celebrates the British colonial and imperial enterprise. You see, the voice of opposition to unseating Nelson is too loud. It is led by white Barbadians and receives support from a significant number of black Barbadians. Sinyangwe would find parallels in the arguments espoused in defence of keeping Nelson statue where it is with those in the US protesting the taking down of monuments honouring a brutal past. They range from the farcical ones such as tourists come to Barbados to visit the statue so moving it does not make economic sense to the insidious ones about not erasing our common history, as if the oppressed are obligated to idolise their oppressors. The truth is that most of the people who oppose Nelson’s current location are not calling for the destruction of the statue and would find his repositioning to another area or to a museum acceptable. Meanwhile, in Barbados’ Heroes Square, a space meant to honour those Barbadians who contributed to the progress of the nation, there is one statue, that of Lord Horatio Nelson, defender of slavery, imperialism and colonialism.
This hostility to the mere mention of removing Nelson is symptomatic of the mental toll that the British colonial project continues to exert in Barbados. One only has to glance at the plethora of streets and institutions that pay homage to British royalty. Any calls to rename them to something more apt are met again with accusations of revisionism and erasure of history. Likewise, one only has to look at what the Barbados National Trust focuses its preservation work on to witness how those who command sway on the island feel about its history. If it is a plantation or great house exulting in whiteness and the grandeur of the lives of the enslavers, then expect the Trust to be at the forefront of conservation efforts. Anything venerating blackness, black Heroes and their contribution is left to the wayside by the Trust. Unsurprisingly, one of the past Presidents of the Trust is Sir Paul Altman, real estate developer extraordinaire and a man acclaimed by Barbadian politicians and most Barbadians in general as evidenced by him being awarded a knighthood in 2016. Altman is responsible for the sale of huge swathes of Barbadian land to rich white foreigners, many of them from the UK. Since his land development ventures have led to the environmental degradation of the island, the displacement of black Barbadians and the heinous overpricing of land on the island to the detriment of the average citizen, his claims of being a proud Barbadian are obviously limited to a white elitist Barbadiana.
Altman is not alone with his formidable position and his ability to influence black Barbadian politicians. Numerous white Barbadians employ comparable clout as a result of their lasting economic control. Naturally, when white economic power is spoken of, white Barbadians cry racism and point to black businessmen and Barbados gaining independence in 1966. Yes the island is independent and there are black businessmen. Some of them are indeed very well off and some of them engage in the same corrupt practices of influencing public servants and politicians. Nevertheless, this does not negate the fact that white people in Barbados carry on doing as they please because 300 plus years of economic dominance with its concomitant structural inequalities allow them to. A justice system that treats white people, and rich Indians for that matter, totally differently to blacks is not unique to the USA.
The Europeans created a socio-economic, cultural, political and racial order in their colonies that ensured European pre-eminence and tyranny. This is not something that is simply overturned by a legal independence document. Neither is an arrangement in place for over 300 years just disassembled in a few decades, especially when there is an absence of any concerted effort to do so. Indeed, Barbadian and Caribbean academics including Bedford, Beckles and Carmichael have written about the smooth transfer of rule from the UK to British educated elites in the Caribbean, the confidence of the British in granting independence because they felt secure that the order they fashioned would persist, and the fact that after independence, the state did not embark on a radically altered form of relations with its citizens.
Whiteness, the hegemony of whiteness, the confidence of it, the centrality of it, underpins how everything in America works. While it is on full display there, it operates in a much more sinister form in places like Barbados where the population is majority black and the country is presided over by black people. We have a few white Bajans who try to disguise their racism and the structural racism entrenched in the country in academic terms. They assert that people in Barbados who speak about racism on the island are exaggerating especially as the island has been black led for over half a century. As if the brutal history of white reign and the structures engineered to enslave and exercise supremacy over black people can be erased in a few decades. They claim that it is improper to draw parallels between different countries like Barbados and the USA, as if the European colonisers were disjointed entities participating in separate colonial and imperial ventures at distinctive stages in world history and as if race was not an integral aspect in the colonisation of the world by Europeans. These are the white Bajans I like to call “the contextualisers”. They like to contextualise slavery and colonialism and excuse the genocidal actions of their white ancestors by contending that what occurred during those times was within a period when it was the norm. Therefore, people should desist from looking back into history with sullied 21st century eyes since when they do this, they will obviously regard everything that happened in negative terms. Then we have the Bajan whites who find themselves on social media, unable to resist the “freedom” the platform affords them to spout the most racist and bigoted diatribe against blacks, Muslims and minorities in general. Like Trump supporters they see nothing wrong with their heinous views but are quick to cry out racism and play the victim anytime the topic of race is raised in Barbados. Nonetheless, history reveals that wherever white people have been minorities in areas with a majority of non-white people, they have been the oppressors and not the victims. Barbados is not an exception to this stark reality. All the while, white Barbadians in general fence themselves off in enclaves, socialise among themselves and live a much removed existence from most Barbadians.
I return to street names and institutions that salute the British colonial link alluded to above. When it became independent in 1966, Barbados made a calculated decision not to become a Republic even though it was possible, as other former British colonies had done, to be a member of the Commonwealth whilst being a Republic. The thinking behind this decision was conservative in nature. Barbadians by and large wanted to retain the Queen as Head of State and maintain the ties with the motherland. Moreover, it was undertaken to reassure white Barbadians about their place in society. This did not matter for many of them, who unable to tolerate residing in an independent Barbados with black people theoretically in full charge, migrated to countries like Australia and New Zealand. Their choice of these particular two former British colonies was telling.
Barbados marked fifty years of independence in November 2016 but it is no closer to becoming fully independent. In the mid-1990s, the then Barbados Labour Party administration touted the idea of becoming a Republic and proposed a referendum on the issue. However, there has been no serious momentum to replace the current Governor-General who is the representative of the Queen of England with a Barbadian Head of State. Many black Barbadians are opposed to it with some considering it an unnecessary distraction in the midst of wider socio-economic problems, while white Barbadians are overwhelmingly opposed to it. The price tag for the Government’s activities to observe the island’s fifty year anniversary was hefty, amounting to about 7 million Barbados dollars, and many Barbadians questioned the need to spend this amount in times of austerity. What I found the most objectionable was that at its commemoration of fifty years of independence from the UK, Prince Harry, representing his grandmother, was the focus of attention and commanded centre stage at the behest of the Government of Barbados.
Thus, fifty years after becoming independent, important institutions like its police force and prison service maintain the moniker “Her Majesty’s” in their titles. Furthermore, sovereign decisions such as accreditation of High Commissioners to/from other Commonwealth countries including even members of the Caribbean Community require the permission of the Queen of England. Although this is a formality, I find it offensive that because the Queen remains its Head of State, Barbados must ask for her approval to accredit a High Commissioner to a sister Caribbean island.
The pride in this colonial relationship is deep-rooted and may take another few generations to disappear. The generation that was an eyewitness to independence is definitely not the one to modify the status quo. I remember an occasion a few years ago when a UK delegation met a former Ambassador and me to solicit Barbados’ support for a UK candidate seeking election to a UN body. The subservience displayed to the UK by the Ambassador who was in his 60s and the pride with which he spoke about Barbados being a former colony was not only nauseating but also reflective of the attitudes I have recognised in so many people of his age group. Similar sentiments stressing the positive values Barbados inherited from its British colonial masters were emphasised in varying degrees by former and current Barbadian politicians and civil servants I had interviewed for my Master’s thesis. The thesis had examined how Barbados’ identity, shaped by its colonial relationship with the UK, influences its foreign policy.
The current generation’s allegiance to the British colonial relationship perseveres. I had a few colleagues who saw nothing wrong with Barbados writing to the Queen to obtain permission to give accreditation to a High Commissioner of another Caribbean country. Admittedly, this type of mind-set in younger persons is infuriating and it bothers me when I read the ignorant comments of persons in their 20s, 30s and 40s regarding Barbados becoming a Republic. Some of their arguments are economic and based on a shocking and absolute lack of knowledge of how a Republic works, for example, that Barbados will lose the financial assistance it receives and depends on. Others are farcical pseudo-political claims such as the Queen being the fulcrum on which Barbados’ stability is based and her removal would trigger the descent into chaos of Barbados akin to Jamaica, Trinidad and African countries. Then there are the sentimental and frankly pathetic musings about a supposedly glorious colonial past. One thing is certain- they are all rooted in a serious lack of pride in self.
Barbadians will be aghast at this assertion about lack of pride. After all, we have Crop Over, that ultimate annual display of culture and national pride. Yes, Crop Over, that ode to the days of plantation when the white slave masters would allow the enslaved to celebrate the end of the crop. The end of the crop, signalling bountiful profit for the planters and a few hours reprieve for the enslaved from their arduous labour. Crop Over, the excuse for debauchery where anything goes in the name of culture and anyone who dares raise an objection to people practically having sex in public or to the objectification of women that is normalised by Crop Over music is labelled a prude. Fifty years after independence, the Emancipation Day march and remembrance that culminates at the Emancipation statue struggles to attract people. In contrast, Crop Over events at the same time of the year are sold out affairs even with their exorbitant price tags in harsh economic times.
Yes national pride where fifty years after independence, the wearing by black people of their natural hair in a black majority country remains contentious. Fifty years after independence, black students can be singled out for “unruly hair styles” that are actually just normal natural black hairdos whereas white and Indo Barbadians sport their hair as they please without censure. Fifty years after independence, the Royal Barbados Police Force insists on a dress code for its officers whereby natural hairstyles of black people are banned and treated as offences subject to sanction. The irony in this is that in the UK such a policy does not exist! Neat, unruly, orderly and such type of words are used to demand compliance with standards of beauty wedded to European concepts and are masks for the belief that natural black hair is unacceptable.
The impression one may derive from what I have written is a Barbados plagued by racial strife. That is not my intention. Barbados has undeniably made socio-economic progress since independence with quantifiable gains in the areas of education and health. The island boasts an extremely high literacy rate and there is a growing middle class. Political stability is a hallmark of the island. Even so, the fact is that the conservative nature of Barbadians has also nurtured an environment where questions of race have failed to be confronted frontally, openly and honestly. The term social contract has been used by some to explain why an island with such a brutal past has not erupted into violence and instability. I argue that the social contract is in reality a tacit agreement between economic and political elites to preserve the status quo albeit in a modified form. Economic elites maintain their grip on the major cogs of the economy and even allow some new entrants, particularly from the small Indian community. These relative newcomers some of whom have amassed much wealth and apply their own form of economic dominance and manipulation, add another dimension to race relations on the island. Theirs, though, is a story that has to be told in a separate article. Black Barbadians hold political control and socio-economic advancements have benefitted black Barbadians for the most part. Even so, at its core, the construct of the island in a way that advantages whites endures. I believe strongly that this structure could have been dismantled after independence to bring about a truly transformed society functioning in the image of its people and that this could have been achieved without causing political instability. However, Barbadians in general and especially those with political authority are conservative so the social contract was the method purposely used as the island proceeded into the post-independence era.
Fifty years after independence, we have an island in economic ruin where the rich, overwhelmingly white and Indian, insulate themselves from economic hardship and all of its associated inconveniences. The much vaunted black middle class lives in a state of astronomical debt. Unemployment figures continue to climb steeply. A large proportion of the island’s land is owned by rich white foreigners and Barbadians pay stupendous rates if they wish to own a piece of the rock, as they refer to Barbados. Much of the coast has been destroyed by tourism based
133 responses to “Barbados: The Harsh Truth Behind the Symbolism of an Emancipation Statue”
There is no statute in the ancient collections specifically adressing “European slaves”. Some of the oldest statutes refer to “Negroes or other slaves”, whereas from the second half of the 17th century on the statutes narrow the wording to “Negro slaves”. I assume “other slaves” refers to Indians.
One could argue that the treatment of Irish and Scottish folks during a short episode in the 17th century below the standard of indentured servants was a historical fact, but illegal under contemporary English law – whereas the slave codes happily provided extensive rules to justify every cruelty against Africans. In other words, the Irish-Scottish and African case is very different from a legal perspective.
Sadly Bush Tea, racists like June Naime are far more typical of those who employ the bible than you yourself are. If there were a many million fewer of her and a couple more like you I might be persuaded to take the bible seriously. By their fruits ye shall know them.
(I honestly had nothing to do with June Naime showing up to prove my point about the racism corruption and evil that people build using the bible as a cornerstone.)
Sad But True!
By the way we do not pay taxes the Government Takes our Taxes. Taxation is not voluntary it is forced. I have been writing for a few years now, that the solution to pilfering by way of Taxation by Governments is the System of Governance meaning Socialist practices of robbing Peter to pay Paul and until we come to understand that Socialism is a Godless Conspiracy Masquerading as Political Philosophy, we will continue to be deprived, the only intent of such, is to rule over others for Control and Profit.
More than a failed state, it’s a failed SYSTEM. It’s called Socialism and it sooner or later fails everywhere. Its motto is, “When at first you don’t succeed, fail, fail again.” In the free, competitive private sector, failure is something you learn from, so you can succeed in the future. But in the public sector under socialism especially, failure is merely an excuse to fail even more spectacularly later because all that matters is intentions, not results. Let’s hope that in Venezuela, the hour of liberation is near and that lessons will be learned from this horrific flop spelled S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-M.
https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444.77256.376776419037747/1375767105805335/?type=3
Addendum.
There is “An Act for the prohibition of landing Irish persons”, dated 1644 for Bim.
Slavery Is Colour Blind and has No Age Restraints!!
Protest against Child Labor “ABOLISH CHILD SLAVERY!!” in English and Yiddish 1909 Labor parade in New York City
http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/17ea6b8343e244d4ac5af1160f5c5f7f/girls-march-to-abolish-child-slavery-a1rfp6.jpg
This is not Black versus White, or Left versus Right or Jew versus Palestinian, this is a Good versus Evil, Freedom versus Tyranny and the culprit from the beginning of time has always been the Adversary. We have our eyes so Clinched where they want us to in Stirring Up Racism that we are forgetting the others that suffer Great Atrocities right now in real time…
A Rose by another name will still smell as sweet in much the same way Slavery to a Slave is STILL SLAVERY!
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/coal/bp34.jpg
@ PLT
Still don’t get your point.
Why would ANYONE not use the bible in their attempts to achieve their ultimate objectives – whatever those may be?
It is a powerful book by all indications -(your doubts notwithstanding). It has been around more than ANY other book, is printed in more languages, has survived longer and is an ongoing best seller in multiple cultures.
Shiite PLT, if you were the Devil himself …. would YOU not grab it for all it is worth?
You should NOT be persuaded EITHER by fewer idiots using the bible OR by more bushmen doing do…
Right now, the albino-centric philosophy has been embraced globally by over 99% of ALL peoples. Success is defined and accepted in ‘economic’ terms….
This is obviously shiite … as we will SHORTLY all die and leave the materialistic accumulations for others to enjoy….
So…
Are you saying that YOUR acceptance of this materialism is based on mostly the fact that so many others do so?
Perhaps you may care to highlight to me where in any of my contributions I “told an outright lie on (you) that (you) always criticize BU.”
If you interpret my reference to “PEOPLE” as a SPECIFIC REFERENCE to you, then I’m forced to bow to your superior intellect.
And there is the possibility that diverse people who share similar thoughts have similar writing styles. This fact was proven when Grenville Phillips II used my writing style as his basis to erroneously assume he knew who I am. Many people, including me, have the ability to change their “writing style” when the occasion necessitates it, therefore making it difficult for anyone to make a positive identification.
You do not have to enter your “real name” when applying for an e-mail address or to join facebook. Any individual could use any name to make contributions to facebook. So now you would reduce, demean and degrade yourself to” convince us otherwise.
However, I would likewise advise you to “don’t feel bad, I do the same to (you), I (usually don’t) read the first sentence or paragraph and ignore the rest cause ya can tell it`s a waste to read,” because similarly to a stuck DVD, you post the same shiite over and over and over (ad infinitum) again.
Perhaps you are confusing me with YOU re: “complain on BU incessantly and consistently.” Whereas you choose to COMMENT on EVERY TOPIC on BU (as is evidenced by the NUMEROUS, IRRELEVANT contributions you post on a daily basis), I LIMIT my comments to those articles I choose to offer a contribution.
It is okay to use your “real name????” on facebook to address parochial issues, such as taking down Nelson’s statue, renaming President Kennedy’s Drive or the roads in Bank Hall that are named after England’s royalty. Or describing politicians as liars, scumbags, thieves or corrupt. That’s par for the course for them
However, it is a different situation for you to use your “real name” to assassinate people’s character (a practice that is so often undertaken by you), without providing the relevant documentation to substantiate your accusations…… you will run the RISK of being SUED for defamation of character.
This is a dangerous and malicious act; hence, your preference for BU where you can REMAIN anonymous and spew racist hatred and pejorative remarks to malign others.
Therefore, I’m putting to you that to protect your identity from the legal ramifications or reprisals as a result of sharing intelligence. You would have used a condemn relayed that information to the police using a pseudonym.
However, using multiple posts to respond to critics may be defined as the rants of an immature individual.
@Bush Tea
My point is that if I were an omnipotent benevolent deity I would create my revaluation in such a way that it would be useless to the June Naimes of the world.
I do not materialist “albino-centric” materialism despite its global popularity, popularity is of no consequence to me; I pay attention to the way things or ideas function in the world and judge them by their merits
revalation^
Online hate crimes should be treated as seriously as offences in person according to new guidance for prosecutors in England and Wales.
The pledge to toughen the response to online abuse is part of revised Crown Prosecution Service rules for hate crimes…………
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said: “Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and that is why it is a priority area for the CPS. It can affect entire communities, forcing people to change their way of life and live in fear.”
There is no hiding place and the internet does not recognise national boundaries..
Naime is trying to dilute the effects of slavery on Africans and their descendants, there is no doubt there were white on white crimes perpetrated by the british and other whites against each other because they are masters at practicing eugenics, pretending they are superior, even to each other……all of that the likes of Naime should be taking up with the brits, dont know why she is complaining to us, personally, I dont care about white on white crimes, it only highlights how very evil some whites can be.
but what Naime is trying with her false advertising could never compare in scope to the vicious crimes committed by US, UK, France, Belgium, Germany combined against Africans, Native Americans, Native Caribbean people and their descendants.
Who dont like seeing the truth about what really happened that has caused small islands like Barbados to remain backward slave societies despite knowing that they are descendants of slaves and are majority black, despite knowing that physical slavery is over and what is happening should not be happening….despite knowing that the majority on the island should be making their own decisions about their own destiny and controlling all their finances and state owned entities. …..that’s the slave in you still talking.
Art…I did not realize ya still rambling on, just caught a glimpse of your first line of rant, what has made you so bitter and pathetic, you used to be quite the contributor, what a pity.
If it would make you feel better and help you move on, get the Blogmaster to post so everyone can see where I ever criticized BU and every critizism I made in the last 5 years…it will prove me a liar, then you can feel much better…until then, you are lying and it is pathetic….you missed a very important debate, just so you can focus all your negative energies on me….then you are always the head person to ask what is wrong with the people on the island….maybe the answer will come if you look in the mirror.
If ya think ya were mad yesterday, wait until you wake up and see this. ….lol
I have no time for White trash like Ugly Old June If she wants to belittle treatment of African slaves and chat white nonsense, then she is still condoning the racism and brutality of wicked whites.
Old white lady is not even worth bothering with.
Hal……..as usual ya only giving half the story, you do realize that you would also qualify as being banned from social media for your hate speeches AGAINST muslims and their religion right, religious hatred will no longer be tolerated…….period.
…..last week I saw so many trolls banned on facebook for telling commenters how much they hated them, just typing the word hate can get you kicked off.
I had a ton of racists telling me how much they hated me for a whole week, everybody gone….lol
One racist organization sent me a nazi flag with a helicopter and someone being thrown out of it, i asked them if that was supposed to scare me, apparently they were sending it around to people speaking out against racism, next day, that group and 7 others were banned from facebook.
The jews who own most of media worldwide are taking racist and genocidal threats against themselves very seriously.
So for all the BUers who get angry when commenters speak out against racism, stay off facebook and other social media sites, you are no longer welcome and will not be tolerated if you do not know how to behave and accept that racism is a scrooge on the earth and everyone has the right to speak up and out against it………
,,,the world knows racists and racism exists, they are both destructive to countries, societies and humans and must be eradicated worldwide with immediate effect…….
….and for you little racists in Barbados who still believe that trying to be slick to continue the practice of racism against the majority population will see you getting away with it, oh no, you will be exposed on social media……that is what everyone wants to rid the earth of now, that is what social media will allow the exposure of, racists and their practice of racism…..so deal with it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hate-crimes-social-media-crown-prosecution-service-home-office-prejudice-a7903166.html
NewsUK
UK Politics
Crackdown on ‘corrosive’ online hate crimes launched by Crown Prosecution Service
Changes ‘will remind the trolling brigade that there are real consequences for hitting the button’ and will ‘undoubtedly lead to an increase in prosecutions’
Ashley Cowburn Political Correspondent @ashcowburn 4 hours ago480 comments
In the week following the Brexit vote, the number of reported hate crimes increased five-fold. Getty
Hate crimes committed on social media will be treated as seriously as similar street-based offences, according to new guidelines issued by the Crown Prosecution Service as they launch a crackdown on hate speech online.
Recognising the “corrosive effect” of hate crime on British society, Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, announced the CPS will now revise prosecutions of such crimes “with the same robust and proactive approach used with offline offending”.
The changes could lead to a dramatic increase in those being prosecuted for posting prejudice attacks on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
READ MORE
Water thrown at Muslim women in ‘fake acid attack’ outside mosque
Police investigating after man ‘tried to pull off woman’s hijab’
Police ‘failing to protect British Jews from hate crime’
Jenny Wiltshire, the head of general crime at Hickman and Rose solicitors, told The Independent the change in policy from the CPS reflects “the fact that the internet has become a breeding ground for misogynist, racist and homophobic views”.
She continued: “The decision to treat offences committed online no differently from offline offences will undoubtedly lead to an increase in prosecutions. It will also remind the trolling brigade that there are real consequences for hitting the button”.
According to the CPS the policy statements have been updated to take into account the mounting number of cases sparked by abuse on social media and covers all the different strand of hate crime, including religious and racist, disability, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic.
They added that between 2015-16, prosecutors completed 15,442 hate crime cases – the highest number ever recorded.
George the Poet releases powerful video on hate crime on anniversary of Jo Cox murder
“Hate crime can be perpetrated online or offline, or there can be a pattern of behaviour that includes both,” the CPS said in a statement. “The internet and social media in particular have provided new platforms for offending behaviour.”
Prosecutors should also understand the changing nature of platforms and their policies for taking down material, while being alert to the need to identify “originators” as well as “amplifiers or disseminators”, according to the documents.
The presence of hateful content on social media sites has repeatedly been highlighted and community groups monitoring anti-Semitic and Islamophobic abuse report that a significant proportion of incidents involve the internet.
READ MORE
Water thrown at Muslim women in ‘fake acid attack’ outside mosque
Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of campaign group Tell Mama, which measures Isamophobia in Britain, said he welcomed the focus on social media platforms, adding: “Those who think that street based hate crimes should have precedent over online ones, should realise there is no competition in getting access to justice.”
Paul Twocock, the director of campaign at Stonewall, told The Independent that discrimination remains an everyday reality for many LGBT people at home, at work and in their communities.
“Despite the progress we have made, we know that hate crime against LGBT people is on the rise. This is unacceptable. We will continue to support the CPS, as we work towards a society in all LGBT people can be accepted without exception,” he added. “
555….the majority population in Barbados have to get very serious about exposing ALL the minority racists on the island, starting wuth the Cows, Bjerkhams, Tempros and Bizzys and coming right on down, there are less than 8,000 minorities, many still practice racism on the black population….stop them from practicing racism, the people on the island now have forums available to expose it, dismantle it and eradicate all racism practiced against them by minorities, from the island…
And if the slave ministers of parliament and the opposition politicians still take bribes to allow the practice of racism on the people of the island, EXPOSE them too…..the world is now on your side and against ALL forms of racist practices, use the opportunity to get hate and racism gone, ya cant say ya dont know….I am telling you.
Bushman….now we see the slick trick Frustrated was trying on BU calling the black government’s actions against sugar subsidies racist….where we both had to correct him….
…..they can all see clearly what is coming at them like a freight train…and were trying to get a head start on working on the weak slave ministers…..ditto Naime also.
For that I will punish and expose all racists on the island every opportunity I get…we know the black governments are weak and easily manipulated by greedy minorities….but there was absolutely no reason to do something that vile, ugly and lying, I would let it pass if it would only negatively impact the dummies for ministers and not the majority population…but it will, so I wont.
Take back European spoil
and give I African Style
give I give I give I
give I
I and I style
Take back take back take back
we don’t want no European spoil
give I
I and I culture
https://youtu.be/X9Cnp1Yb97Q
45
@ PLT
My point is that if I were an omnipotent benevolent deity I would…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bushie has to like you… now THAT is funny.
Do you realise that this is EXACTLY like arguing that “if angela was Bushie, then the bushman would be spreading shiite on BU”.
ha ha ha whuloss!!
Besides, where did you get the ‘benevolent’ part from? Your imagination?
When asked about this, Jesus specifically stated that he came NOT to bring peace and benevolence – BUT A SWORD. (whackers had not yet been invented… 🙂 )
You have NO IDEA of the thinking behind God’s decision to initiate the project that we call ‘Life on Earth’. This is because it is a SPIRITUAL decision with spiritual outcomes in mind, and you have been born with five physical senses, BUT WITHOUT the means to detect and assess spiritual matters.
So apart from lacking the CAPABILITY that comes with omnipotence, you also lack the ability to THINK and understand in that dimension.
In a case such as this, a mere mortal can only TRUST and have FAITH that the plan in place makes sense. And given it’s origin – and the undeniable, inter-related complexity of the PHYSICAL things that we CAN sense, this would seem a logical decision -until such time that the needed ‘spiritual sense’ to REALLY understand can be acquired.
★ African Freedom, Corn Picker Dub
https://youtu.be/ILw630cPX6Q
★ African Freedom,
★ Corn Picker Dub
https://youtu.be/ILw630cPX6Q
BT I know you guys have had it rough I am sure no-one from Biafra, Rwanda,Somalia would want to change places with you. There are things far worse than institutionalized slavery 300 years on…..oh yea ….real f^ck*ng slavery.
You are a bit confused Lawson.
The point is no so much about us’having it rough’…
It is MUCH more about the kind of MENTALITY that had the CAPACITY to inflict such carnage on other human beings – or even on animals – who had done them NO evil.
This is the actual phenomena that you may want to explore.
You may also want to make some ‘wisecracks’ about how the genes of such ‘beings’ are being exemplified by their descendants in 2017 – in our current environment where the old overt physical and mental torture in no longer openly tolerated….
Blacks actually deserve every year they spent in slavery….. and those that they will spend in future slavery – based on the current trend of leveraging our children’s future with unsustainable shiite loans – so that the PM can drive around in a $M Mercedes …and so that we can give $millions to baloney to put up shiite match-box houses.
The amazing thing to Bushie remains the nature of the ‘devilish beings’ that had /have the capacity to administer such (needed) demonic ‘punishment’ on the brass bowls….. AFTER misleading them with their albino-centric trap of selfishness and greed.
yuh think…?
Where is Our Presence System of Governance under Socialism Leading with Unrestrained Taxation?
IT IS NOT ABOUT HATING GOVERNMENT, IT IS ABOUT RESISTING THE IDEA THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS OUR MASTER AND SILENCE IS CONSENT!
Capitalism (Free Market System) versus Socialism which Encourages Cronyism and Theft through Taxation!!
We are on a Very Slippery Slope…
Free Markets Create Prosperity.
Socialism Creates Poverty.
#Socialism Sucks
https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444.77256.376776419037747/1376414702407242/?type=3
Socialism abounds and prospers at the Expense of our Nation. Socialism is Economic Cannibalism.
Socialism has its tentacles like a giant Mantel over the earth and we on the Isles of the Sea are not exempt! It is a slow process of Rot, Understand that the plan is to “CONTROL AND RULE BY WAY OF THE EXTRACTION OF THE PEOPLES WEALTH WHILE ENCROACHING ON THEIR FREEDOM THROUGH BURDENSOME REGULATIONS”.
We in Barbados have adopted a system of Governance that is Stifling the Nation, literally taking the wind out of its Sails. Under this system, a ruling authority arbitrarily sets common Moral, Social, and Economic aims and, to achieve those aims, dictates the standards and rules by which individuals live and work.
A nation of Free Individuals limit government by managing their own needs and their own charitable causes—while Serfs, and Slaves, handover their authority over their own actions, their own beliefs, their own individual welfare, and their own individual responsibilities to that of a Master’s Management or to Governmental Authority that will give away their labour, corrupt them with it, and ultimately uniformly bind society in “egalitarianism”
Socialism has no theory of wealth creation; it’s just a Destructive, Envy-Driven Fantasy about Redistributing Wealth after something else (and somebody else) creates it first. The slow Poison of Government and Corporations, Crony Capitalism has infiltrated almost every level of Socialist Countries and is now being used as Fodder to Promote Socialism.
We are on a Very Slippery Slope… IT IS NOT ABOUT HATING GOVERNMENT, IT IS ABOUT RESISTING THE IDEA THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS OUR MASTER AND SILENCE IS CONSENT!
Socialism is the Big Lie of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. While it promised Prosperity, Equality, and Security, it delivered Poverty, Misery, and Tyranny.
EXACTLY! Big Government Does NOT Reduce Poverty!
https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444.77256.376776419037747/1379390352109677/?type=3
They are so many Struggling in Barbados, so many can’t make ends meet. Even if you have a Berry today the Government takes it tomorrow. Socialism Impoverishes Everyone except those who Rule.
From my Simple observation, how does the BLP & the DLP differ in their Ideology??? I am very concerned that unless we practice Free Market Principles with less Burdensome Rules, Regulations and Controls, the Reaper lies at the Gate!!
“Governments make no money they only Spend money, that is why Socialist Governments love Businesses, that way they depend on Entrepreneurs to build businesses and to employ people so that they can TAX them so that they can live HIGH ON THE HOG!
This Elitist in the world, live off the Sweat of others through Taxation and Manipulation.
In Barbados 2/3 of the money collected by Government is paid towards debt and 1/3 is paid to the Government Bureaucracy. Where do you think the 100% comes from? -It comes from off the backs of those working who are mostly oblivious to the amount extracted from them by the numerous forms of Assessments, Duties, Levy’s, and Exercise forms of Taxation!
Promises, Promises, Promises… All Politicians do is promise more entitlements and when buying votes it’s all about Free Stuff. Then you vote for them and you reap the whirl wind as often times because of careless spending since it’s not their money. 1/3 pays all the Civil Servants and the few amenities that Government provides.
How long do you think that Parasitical Entity can feed off we the people? It depends on the Organism as to how much it feeds. The real aim of Full Blown Socialism is the Control and Extraction of the Wealth of the People, every aspect of what others own. It’s aims at Complete Authoritarianism in Government.
No individual is to own anything. Everything belongs to the state. All properties, utilities, industries, and persons are to be owned by the entire body politic, represented by the government. A good example is what is happening in Venezuela or Barbados… do you own your house? Even after we are deceased our inheritors continue paying Taxes.
What Ripple effects are we witnessing of such Control? The Parasites who Rule fatten themselves while everyone else literally starve. The have sucked so much out of their people in Barbados that the host is dying.
“The Problem with Socialist is that they eventually run out of others people’s money”. Margaret Thatcher.
We cannot trust a System that is feeding off the people. Socialism is simply Governmental ownership and management of the essential means for the production and distribution of goods. That is why Government should be limited to what we the people deem absolutely necessary. Government is supposed to represent and protect the people not Leech off them”! They are supposed to be the People’s Representatives however they have made themselves the people’s Masters and thus the people have become Serfs! We Exist to Feed their Edicts!!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CktHvUDVEAE1jLc.jpg
Lawson…there you go again justifying the blight and curse of racist practices that should never see the light of day on earth ever again….
……we have evolved mostly way from the evil that is physical slavery although most low, limited intellect people are now trapped in the mental slavery of their own making, commonsense dictates we evolve completely from the blight that is racism.
What are you still trying to hold on to in the practice of racism and why.
Ya cant just want to be parading around Barbados as a white tourist with ya chest all pushed up trying to show blacks on the island ya are some delusional superior thing….it’s old and is now out of vogue…..move on, get over it.
Socialism has many names, Crony Capitalism, Socialism, Progressive ism, Communism, Marxism and Leftism they are all the same, only different varieties of the same thing, it is not religion but the Godless Conspiracy of Satanism which raises its ugly head in many disguises to suit the times. This is not a Muslim versus Jews battle; it is a Freedom Verses Tyranny worldwide warfare. Socialism is Stateism, it is a Godless Conspiracy! It is a fight against the greatest evil in the world… a ruthless, powerful, Godless conspiracy.
https://www.facebook.com/AwakenToOurAwfulSituation/photos/a.558430594173602.96784034.558017127548282/1307029392647048/?type=3&theater
“The fact that the Tyranny of Liberal Progressives (socialism/communism) itself has been steadily gaining ground over the past century without halting between leaders or generations, actually spanning periods of history without interruption of any sort, proves to us finally that there is something more evil and sinister going on in those people that are leading this infamy…. Usually, bad ideas tend to be exposed and rejected, at least that’s what most of us expect to happen, believing that common sense will finally rule the day.
But, tellingly, that has not happened this time. Instead the worst ideas of government and justice seem to have gotten root in us in such a way that it’s becoming almost impossible to reject their sinister attractions. So we must begin to ask, who is it that is behind the rampant spreading of the disease but Satan himself, who makes all to war against each other, and who will bring all that listen into slavery of giving away our rights, freedoms and liberties to men of evil nature, and that care not one whit about true fairness and justice. It’s time to connect the dots and see who is really behind socialism et al, as well as the color of every tyranny known to mankind. This is Satan’s game…. Always has been. And there is only one way to defeat it. Once we know the evil spirit responsible, we may then learn to repent of such foolishness and rise above the evil tide…”
https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/freedomcrier.jpg
Socialism is Un-Christian it is Theft by Socialist Government and Preaching the Gospel of Envy to get people to buy into their Robbery by promising some of the Spoils to poor folk (see the commandments, thou should not Envy, thou should not Steal).
https://scontent-mia1-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/12112501_1071051366282313_8020856230638011861_n.jpg?oh=72be5b558ef6e30ddf1a94344e199fcd&oe=598860C6
Look around you, you live here do you remember a better time for Barbados if you do was Business Flourishing? Did people try to live a better life? Now we have More Socialism are We Flourishing? Remember Socialism is not Christian it Masquerades as Godlike but it is the Ideology formed in hell and its fruits are what we see in the countries like Venezuela & Cuba of Repression & Tyranny.
Learn to Recognise Socialism for what it Truly Represents… Socialism is the Big Lie of the twentieth and twenty-first Centuries. While it Promised Prosperity, Equality, and Security, it delivered Poverty, Misery, and Tyranny.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=675467965985316&set=a.594263764105737.1073741830.100005663558154&type=3
even for me that was cold, but do not expect any apologies, given the vile track records of seasoned racists.
And down they go.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/university-texas-remove-confederate-statues-campus-article-1.3428448
`The University of Texas hastily removed four Confederate monuments from its campus after its president said the statues represented “modern white supremacy” and “neo-Nazism.”
University of Texas president Greg Fenves said in a release Sunday night that statues of Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, John Reagan and James Stephen Hogg would be removed from the school’s Main Mall before its students return to campus Wednesday.
Fenves made the announcement as crews began to remove the statues, according to a university spokesperson.
The decision to take down the statues came after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly.`
WWW&C
Just another bold faced lie you tell
You cant follow me on FB
You can take at look at June’s face on the Book of Faces. Ugh! Double Ugh!
https://youtu.be/EHLTsWG-rLw
Some of you operate as if an ideology or personal belief is the way, the truth and the light, cast in concrete. No retreat, no surrender. In Trump we trust.
This blog will be closed shortly, you can continue to post at the following link:
http://wp.me/p43Aa-eDv
“Our policy should be to unite … and resolve to Fall or Flourish with our Common country. We cannot afford to Draw the Color-line in Politics, Trade, Education, Manners, Religion, Fashion, or Civilization…
Dividing Society by age, Race, Gender, Religion and Class in the desire to enslave all in servitude to the state “progressively”, it is nothing new; the only change today is that they come to you now in suits and smiles instead of a vocally honest Lee Harvey Oswald or Fidel Castro.
Any person who supports even a smidgen of the labor of another going to the government so that politicians will then use that smidgen to support another citizen’s individual responsibilities, supports an opposite doctrine to the American Idea….it is actually the oldest idea for Slavery in human history.
The American Constitution and Declaration are the newest forms of government in human history. Collectively holding everyone responsible for everyone via the state is the oldest and most dangerous idea in human history”…. Frederick Douglas
The Nation’s Problem
Frederick Douglass
Excerpt
1889
https://www.facebook.com/FrederickDouglassAmericanHero/photos/a.309430002529568.1073741827.309428555863046/423404851132082/?type=3&theater