est. 2007

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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, I am sure by now you are aware that people in Bristol removed the statue of slave trader, Edward Colston, and deposited…

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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. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://twitter.com/miaamormottley?lang=en

  2. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ The Famous Fibbing Crier June 11, 2020 9:11 AM
    “We have One Statue that was Paid for by Barbadians of All Walks of Life. We have Trafalgar Square that was also Purchased to Erect the Statue on, by Barbadians who Regarded what Nelson did on their behalf…”

    NELSON STATUE IS A SYMBOL OF FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY AND OPPRESSION..”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Clearly, you are not referring to the majority of the blacks who were still enslaved and considered property of the plantation owners; and legally so up to the actual abolition of chattel slavery on the 1st August1834 giving reason for its modern-day celebration in the form of Emancipation Day!

    Where was the money coming from for the still enslaved black people to contribute to the purchase of the land and the sculpting, finishing and erecting of an imported bronze statue in 1813, 20 years before the actual abolition of slavery?

    This is the second occasion on this particular blog you have deliberately tried to mislead the audience by twisting, to fit your own fascist and racist agenda, the historical facts pertaining to the events leading up to the abolition of the slave trade and of chattel slavery both in the British and Barbados political arenas.

    Horatio Nelson was dead before the passing of the Act to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807. So there is no way he Lord Nelson- a major player in the anti-Wilberforce pro-slavery lobby- could have been behind the passing of that piece of ‘humanitarian’ legislation.

    It was the white ruling class and their supporters who backed and financed the fabrication and erection of the statue of Nelson; not the black slaves of that time.

    You need to put historical events in their right context.

    Next you might even wish to contend that the same dead Admiral was behind the defeat of the French in the battle at Waterloo.

    Or that the slave revolt known as the Bussa rebellion of 1816 never took place since it was a mere outbreak of violence among the happy drunken blacks who were having a grand time leading up to a good old outing or picnic to their local Nelson erection in Bridgetown to pay homage to their Lord and Saviour.

  3. Piece the Prophet Avatar
    Piece the Prophet

    I Piece the Prophet have long remarked about the two racists here.

    In times aforetimes I used to call Freedom Croaker Sand Nigg*#.

    Because, I have seen her heart exposed here on Barbados Underground and in real life.

    Nothing has changed that viewpoint AND HER SAYING DAT NELSON STATUE SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED only confirms what I have known about her for long, SHE IS A RACIST!

    Well John the Quaker!

    What should I say about him?

    He is a smart racist!

    He knows how to insert the Trump/Obama card into every discussion heah pun Barbados Underground and cause we black people to get sidetracked

    Every single time LIKE A FVCKING WIND UP TOY!

    And wunna does fall for his trick every time heah pun Barbados Underground

    Try not to be distracted

    Keep focused on the Outcomes

    We have to build the psyche of Black People across the world so that we comprehend what our rights are AND DEMAND THAT THEY ARE ENFORCED!

    BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!

  4. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Police brutality in Canada being exposed thanks to video.

  5. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    @PLT June 10, 2020 10:09 PM
    Thank you. As a general rule, I don’t spend my time arguing with white supremacists because that cretaes the mistaken impression that their racist nonsense is worthy of discussion. I also try to follow another saying, don’t argue with stupid people as they will drag you down to their level and beat you from experience. The facts of the situation are clear. Those who want to support racism and black oppression can do so and those of us who want to oppose it can get on with the work of doing just that.

  6. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Don’t know why that money laundering, drug and gunrunning fraud don’t stay in her place….she don’t even check any dates before she jumps out telling barefaced lies on the Black majority and about the history of the island..

    Piece…John got exposed as Black John on BU, he has been on here for years pretending to be a white racist and had Dr. GP carrying his water for free….lol….when the truth came out just last week, turns out that he is just a black mutt who can’t stand himself, ya missed the full exposure………lol

    ya will have to go through the links to find that comedy drama..

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Tearing Down Statues.

    grenville-phillips Submitted by Grenville Phillips II

    Every mature person, without exception, will say and do things that may offend some people. Even Jesus, our perfect example, offended others.

    People normally erect statues of imperfect humans, in celebration of their commendable actions. In this Internet age, it is easy expose the bad actions of other people’ heroes.

    The statue of Admiral Nelson has stood in Bridgetown for over 200 years. It was erected to celebrate his commendable actions. If we have decided that it is the national interest to expose his bad deeds, then we should not discriminate.

    Bussa is our national hero for his efforts to end slavery. Yet he was an overseer, who was rewarded for forcing his fellow slaves to work harder.

    Grantly Adams is our national hero for his efforts to improve the lives of workers. Yet, he used his legal training to bankrupt the black owned newspaper, The Herald, founded by Clennell Wickham.

    Clennell Wickham has a boardwalk named after him, for the good things that he did, not for the things he did to offend people. Sir Gary Sobers has a statue, again for the good that he has done. Sarah Ann Gill is our lone heroine, but she was not perfect – none of us are.

    It is highly offensive to those who celebrate their heroes, to have others expose their heroes’ bad actions, and worse, threaten to tear down their statues. If we have decided that to be offensive is the new normal in Barbados, then we must not be hypocrites, we either do it to all of them, or we do it to none.

    Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and President of Solutions Barbados. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

  8. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Even Belgium whom no one trusts, removed the statue of that evil scum murderer and thief Cecil Rholdes..

    won’t it be wonderful to see the refusal to remove a racist statue of Nelson gets Mia kicked out of the parliament, it would be called Karma.

    “JunttSept d9tf aodntis 1S2u:4ofno7 PgifMmhredsuo
    #Belgium | Antwerp authorities have removed a statue of colonial King Leopold II (who was responsible for the colonial genocide of up to 10 million Congolese people) after the weekend’s #BlackLivesMatter protest.

    The campaign to remove all of them continues/”

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

    So many statues being removed everywhere am losing track, the scum murderer and thief was the evil Belgian Leopold 11…who slaughered over 10 million Africans so he can feed his greedy self off Africa.

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

    And of course Grenville remains an under-educated asshole….

  11. John Avatar
    John

    Miller
    June 11, 2020 9:04 PM

    Clearly, you are not referring to the majority of the blacks who were still enslaved and considered property of the plantation owners; and legally so up to the actual abolition of chattel slavery on the 1st August1834 giving reason for its modern-day celebration in the form of Emancipation Day!

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The majority of “blacks” in the Caribbean between 1791 and 1802 were not enslaved.

    France freed its slaves in 1791 “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”.

    St. Domingue had more slaves prior to 1791 than all of the Caribbean combined because it produced about 40% of the sugar going to Europe.

    “Between 1764-1771, 10,000-15,000 slaves were arriving each year; 25,000 arrived in 1786; and more than 40,000 arrived in 1787. By 1787, there were 450,000 slaves in Saint-Domingue. At this time, 60% of the French slaves in the Americas were in Saint-Domingue and two-thirds of those slaves were African-born”

    Barbados had about 60,000 slaves in 1791, by 1817, that population had swelled to about 77,000.

    About 6% were African born.

    In 1833/4, the entire British Empire freed 800, 000 slaves throughout the world … Quakers.

    Nelson as I will show was instrumental in the formation of the first black country in the New World, Haiti, 1804.

    France was defeated in 1802 and a brief peace ensued.

    Napoleon came to power after 1799 and decided to REINSTITUTE slavery in French possessions in the New World.

    The only reason he was able to send two armies to the Caribbean under LeClerc and Richepanse was because there was no Nelson to blockade the French ports.

    Yellow fever and casualties of war defeated the French under LeClerc in St. Domingue between 1802 and 1804.

    The population of St. Domingue was reduced by 50% and the economy destroyed.

    The French lost 50,000 soldiers, mostly to Yellow Fever.

    Richepanse successfully reinstated slavery in Guadeloupe, 10,000 people died, mostly blacks.

    They were unable to reinforce because hostilities had recommenced and Nelson was on station preventing the reinforcement.

    French capital moved to La Louisiane/New France and later Cuba and by 1795, sugar was being produced in what became Louisiana.

    However, it could not get out of the American continent, again Nelson and the blockade!!

    Napoleon sold La Louisiane to the the USA in 1804 as it was no use to him.

    The proceeds financed the war.

    Le Clerc’s name is memorialized on the west pillar of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Richepanse on the East Pillar.

    These generals were responsible for he deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the Caribbean, mostly “blacks”.

    Slavery in French possessions was finally ended in 1848, Victor Schoelcher.

  12. John Avatar
    John

    In 1798, Napoleon was sent to invade Africa.

    The goal was the overland route to India, the British Navy ruled the seas.

    He defeated the Mamelukes (Mameluke = slave, a lot of that went on in Africa up to today) at the Battle of the Pyramids on 21st July 1798.

    The Battle of the Pyramids is memorialized on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

    https://www.eutouring.com/images_paris_statues_1035.html

    Nelson had been in pursuit throughout the Mediterranean of the French Expeditionary Force and finally caught up to it on the evening of 1st August, 1798.

    He utterly defeated the and destroyed the French fleet.

    If you go and look at Nelson’s statue in in Bridgetown you will see it memorializes 3 victories, The Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar where Nelson lost his life.

    If you look closely you will see the date of the Battle of the Nile given, 1st August 1798.

    Nelson received the title Baron of the Nile for this feat of arms.

    It is likely that 1st August was chosen as Emancipation Day a generation later to acknowledge the day on which Nelson freed Africa from the yoke of the French.

  13. David Avatar
    David

    Is the discussion about how great a reputation sea Lord Horatio Nelson was able to achieve?

    What were his views about owning slaves? What was his view and relationship with William Wilberforce for example? You continue to expose your wares on the blog.

    https://blog.soton.ac.uk/slaveryandrevolution/2018/12/07/reflections-on-nelsons-dark-side/

  14. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Disappointed with Grenville again. His last two mouthings puts him on the ‘wrong’ side of the fence.

    Again suggesting that he focus on correcting the flaws in his SB documents and on his strength in engineering.

  15. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    Grenville exposes himself once again. Mr No solutions. Only a supporter of racism and white supremacy would mouth this nonsense about Nelson’s commendable deeds. There is nothing commendable about fighting on behalf of a rapacious imperial power to construct a global empire based on genocide and racist oppression. The issue has nothing whatsoever to do with human beings having faults and there is no hypocrisy in demanding the removal of the statue and recognising that those we honour too had their faults. The issue is more fundamental than that. It is which side people stood on. Did they take a stand in support of oppression and human degradation or did they take a stand in defence of freedom and human upliftment. According to Mr No Solutions, eveybody has to be seen in the same light since as human beings we all have faults. The slavemaster who brutalised and dehumanised the enslaved African is the same as that African who put their life on the line to be free; the lynch mob is the same as those who fought to end lynching; Rosa Parks is the same as those who enforced Jim Crow segregation; Hitler’s Nazi criminals are the same as those who fought Nazism. Someone who can’t understand this distinction has no role in the political future of our country.

  16. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    The rule now is to Change History to suit the narrative of the day so that narrative will succeed and history obliterated but facts do not lie. Let me give you an example Errol Barrow is considered a great man by Barbados but he was at school with Burnham of Guyana (who destroyed Guyana) , Manly of Jamaica (who turned it into a basket case) and a few years ahead was Eric Williams of Trinidad (who turned it into a corruption haven because of the oil) and they together change the makeup of the West Indies. What if Errol was not a socialist how more farther ahead would we be. But we have what we have and I do not want to change the narrative of the real history.

    This association of the 1St of August as emancipation day and the defeat of the French on that day the 1st August is very telling and not coincidence. They French continued in slavery long after the British. It was the result of the Victories of H Nelson and after that time that the debate of the abolishment could continue in England as it was suspended because of the war. Did you also know that when slavery was abolished Barbados was the first to accept it in 1834. Yes that same Barbados that we live in even the plantocracy accepted it willingly but you do not hear that do you.

    You want to put on the coat of shame on the whites of Barbados but the owners of the plantations never lived in Barbados but I am not white and what I see is that Barbados willing accepted it and the coat they should wear is one of many colours as they celebrated it with the former slaves. Slavery is horrendous but it was legal at the time. Even in Africa the Africans sold Africans to the white man as it cost them to feed their prisoners and if they escaped they would have to fight them again so when they captured an enemy they sold them.

    There are still selling of Africans in Africa today let’s talk about that not about slavery in Barbados that happen near 200 years ago. My family lost everything when others took over the leadership in my ancestors home country but I am not griping I cannot change history. It is what it is I can however work and try to change my trajectory for the future trying at the same time to be the best kind of person I want to be.

    Celebrate Nelson for what the Barbadians thought of him at the time and many Barbadians of African ancestry took on them the name of Nelson and Horatio. Are you going to ask them to change their name also.
    THE FAD OF THE DAY SEEMS TO BE TO TEAR DOWN THE STATUES OF OUR HISTORY TO BUILD WHAT? A Utopia or a Dystopia? This is the tearing down the past is the opposite of repentance. Repentance is to recognise when did wrong and do not do it again and change what caused us to do it but here we have persons who would destroy the past to destroy the God given method of individual repentance changing the narrative who would do that? Man or the Adversary?

    CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE!

    https://pics.me.me/people-will-get-madat-you-for-speaking-the-truth-rather-13822508.png

  17. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Zealand is removing their cursed, racist statues of murderers and thieves….

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/city-of-hamilton-in-new-zealand-to-remove-statue-of-british-naval-captain?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR1h1Nf5F_e5LeeLzUihpf3wLVcarn1yJDjqbveo_fdGVFeCYz9SMjpsbiI

    Grenville is unbelievable, his own ancestors and he talks as if it was their fault and the white criminals who did it are in the same classs as our brutalized ancestors…then he thinks someone should elect him to the same parliament that the evil enslavers forced our ancestors to build…..he is under-educated….just like the trash currently polluting the parliament who think the same way, it’s their curse and mental disease for being the successful half-human creation of UK..

    “There is nothing commendable about fighting on behalf of a rapacious imperial power to construct a global empire based on genocide and racist oppression.

    The slavemaster who brutalised and dehumanised the enslaved African is the same as that African who put their life on the line to be free; the lynch mob is the same as those who fought to end lynching; Rosa Parks is the same as those who enforced Jim Crow segregation; Hitler’s Nazi criminals are the same as those who fought Nazism. Someone who can’t understand this distinction has no role in the political future of our country.

  18. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    Emancipation Day in Barbados

    1st of August 1798 the British Fleet under the command of Admiral Nelson defeat the French at Aboukir Bay, Egypt.

    This association of the 1st of August as Emancipation Day and the defeat of the French on that day the 1st August is very telling and not coincidence. They French continued in slavery long after the British. It was the result of the Victories of H Nelson and after that time that the debate of the abolishment could continue in England as it was suspended because of the war.

    Did you also know that when slavery was abolished Barbados was the first to accept it in 1834? Yes that same Barbados that we live in even the plantocracy accepted it willingly but you do not hear that do you.

  19. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    A statue was erected to Madame X for combing the Bridgetown streets for homeless, abandoned children and taking them all into her home where she showered them with love
    as selfless as the best of mothers until their sullied pyches were squeaky clean again.

    Unfortunately, we have recently discovered that she forgot to legally marry her lifelong partner and so the children were living in a “house of sin”.

    Take her statue down!

    Now THAT would be an absurdity!

    We all know that no-one is perfect, however… when weighing a person’s character the decision depends on whether the good outweighs the bad or if it is the bad that tips the scales.

    Nelson lived and died on the side of white brutality and enslavement of black people. We are not speaking about a man who was a little too fond of wine, women and bawdy song!

    What could possibly tip the scale in his favour in a 95% black country???

    He was a hero only to minority white enslavers. He probably still is a hero to their decendants.

    He was no hero to my ancestors. To them he was just another stinking white brute.

    Take off your white man’s spectacles please, Grenville Phillips! Trust your own eyes!

    This is no longer Little England! This is Barbados!

    Is Nelson still our hero????

    We will never be trully free while we cling to apron strings like frightened children.

    Let go the queen’s apron strings and grow to hell up, Barbadians! She holds no motherly love for us. She never did!

    Will we die still helpless, blubbering babies suffering fears of abandonment?????

  20. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    This is a rehash of something I wrote earlier.

    At HC we parroted dates and British names during Capt. Hutt’s history class. Perhaps, my memory fails me, but I seem to recall that boys felt a certain sense of pride when they got a perfect score in a test. It does not surprise me that we now struggle at the removal of Nelson’s statue.

    What we are seeing is a resistance born of years of indoctrination and years of memorizing British history. Can you imagine a person who recited (with perfection) the history of Admiral Nelson being able to pivot and accept the true role of Admiral Nelson? To some it may be the uprooting of a statue, to others it is the uprooting of brain cells, it is an acknowledgement that the history they learnt and recited was flawed; it is a questioning of what they accepted and even taught preached to others.

    The Captain Hutts who were positioned on the various island, did a great job in closing our minds to our ‘true’ history.

    To this day, I remember when Ralph Jemmott came to HC and started to teach West Indian History. For me, it was breath of clean air sweeping through the corridors of the school.

  21. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Wishing a great day to Barbados.

    @Donna
    Speak your truths loudly and clearly..
    There are several courses to the same port.

    Have a great day Barbados.

  22. ks Avatar
    ks

    If statues represent ‘history’… why not put them in a ‘historical place’ … the Museum? Nelson & all statues belong there….. especially the politicians of the past. But don’t touch Sir Gary… he must remain at the Oval!!!

  23. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Walking and chewing gum at the same time is difficult for some.
    Grenville needs to spit out the gum, or even better
    spit out the gum and take a seat.

  24. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    “What we are seeing is a resistance born of years of indoctrination and years of memorizing British history…….The Captain Hutts who were positioned on the various island, did a great job in closing our minds to our ‘true’ history.”

    It is called learning by rote.

  25. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    RE “Nelson had been in pursuit throughout the Mediterranean of the French Expeditionary Force and finally caught up to it on the evening of 1st August, 1798.
    He utterly defeated them and destroyed the French fleet.
    IF YOU GO AND LOOK AT NELSON’S STATUE IN IN BRIDGETOWN YOU WILL SEE IT MEMORIALIZES 3 VICTORIES, THE NILE, COPENHAGEN AND TRAFALGAR WHERE NELSON LOST HIS LIFE.
    If you look closely, you will see the date of the Battle of the Nile given, 1st August 1798.
    Nelson received the title Baron of the Nile for this feat of arms.
    It is likely that 1st August was chosen as Emancipation Day a generation later to acknowledge the day on which Nelson freed Africa from the yoke of the French.”

    Trafalgar Day – 21 October

    Commemorate the historic victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

    https://www.britishbattles.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nicholas-Pocock-Trafalgar-Battle-2-1805-BB.jpg

    Commemorate the historic victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

    Under Nelson’s command, aboard HMS Victory, the Royal Navy sank 22 ships from the Franco-Spanish fleet without the loss of a single British vessel. This spectacular victory confirmed Britain’s naval supremacy, and was achieved, in part, due to Nelson’s departure from traditional naval tactics (which involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy) to divide his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the larger enemy fleet. Although the battle was won by the English, Lord Nelson was tragically killed by a sniper’s bullet, surviving long enough to be told of the victory.

    The formation of the Navy League in 1894 gave added impetus to the movement to recognise Nelson’s legacy, and grand celebrations were held in Trafalgar Square on Trafalgar Day, 1896. It was widely commemorated by parades, dinners and other events throughout much of the British Empire in the 19th century and early 20th century. It is still widely celebrated in navies of the Commonwealth of Nations.

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/2a/ee/462aeed0278e3a54e825351895e13bda.jpg

    21st October 1805 Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar. During the battle he is shot and later dies of his wounds.

  26. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “What we are seeing is a resistance born of years of indoctrination and years of memorizing British history.”

    they have no shame, all the while knowing that it’s African history should be taught on a majority island with most of the SCHOOLS majority black….convent is now majority black and st. winifred’s last i heard was also heading that way and these were well know racist schools, but the cannot survive without the black majority..

    ……so there is no excuse to NOT be teaching African history in BLACK BARBADOS…..it’s the most powerfully rich history to be found on earth and always will be ….stronger than anything a bunch of halfassed, racist, murdering tiefing enslaver people can ever come up with…in the last 800 nor in the next 8 million years…

    and Africa has all the receipts to back it up….the only receipts the thieving descendants of enslavers have are horror stories created by their shameful ancestors…….against the African descended and others.

  27. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Unfortunately, we have recently discovered that she forgot to legally marry her lifelong partner and so the children were living in a “house of sin”.”

    dumb ass cannot articulate that “good” character is MEASURED BY EUROPEAN STANDARDS…check out their characters, their history and compare to the African descended and see who has the better character and history…

    your enemy successfully decided what your character should be and you accepted it but you cannot determine their own, some mentally damaged negros would cover up the same crimes committed against their ancestors to continue to perpetrate their delusions on who know no better.

  28. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Let go the queen’s apron strings and grow to hell up, Barbadians! She holds no motherly love for us. She never did!”

    i want no such thing, i don’t want the likes of SLAVEMINDED house negro Grenville to let go of cousin Elizabeth’s apron strings, i want her to come pick up all of her half-human creations and take them to live with her, they are absolutely of no use to the African descended in Barbados nor anywhere else and they have to be given to their creators and owners in UK…but they cannot be around us….because they are always the ones presenting themselves as black leaders to the detriment of the Black majority…

  29. John Avatar
    John

    Hal Austin
    June 12, 2020 7:55 AM

    “What we are seeing is a resistance born of years of indoctrination and years of memorizing British history…….The Captain Hutts who were positioned on the various island, did a great job in closing our minds to our ‘true’ history.”
    It is called learning by rote.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The most significant fact Captain Hutt taught me at HC which appears in what I rote above was that the Battle of the Nile took place on 1st August 1798.

    That’s it!!

    I even got wrong one of the less significant facts, the French did not end slavery in 1791, it was 1794.

    But it isn’t significant to appreciating the linkages that existed or changes the fact that most “blacks” in the Caribbean were not enslaved for the period, 1794 to emancipation.

    The linkages I presented are the result of ongoing reading and a love for history.

    I can’t help it if BU has a significant representation of historic dummies and medical illiterates who revel in proving they are.

    If the GOB can destroy the magazine at Fort George for sure the per capita representation of historic dummies in Barbados is also high.

    It took me approximately 5 minutes to read Schomburgk and realise what the GOB had destroyed.

    That was one of the benefits of getting simple historic facts in order, it allowed for curiosity to seek answers to the interlinkages of events.

    So, for example, people in America claim slavery was responsible for the fragile African American family structure and the fact that 75% of African American births were out of wedlock..

    One simple historical fact is that in the 1960’s only 25% were.

    Ergo, slavery could not have been the cause, something else was.

    The historic dummies miss this simple point and so shout long and hard about nothing.

    The Asian minority is represented at universities in the US at almost 1.5 X the rate that Whites, Blacks and Hispanics are represented.

    But the rate of births out of wedlock in the Asian Community is a fraction of 75% and far less than that of White or Hispanic rates.

    A sound family structure leads to a natural transfer of knowledge, experience and wisdom.

    It builds self confidence and the willingness to take risks in business and life.

    The wealth of the past becomes the property of the present and then the future.

    Here is an extreme example.

    “The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, a Japanese resort not far from Mount Fuji, has been in business since 705 A.D. The hotel has been passed down within the same family for 52 generations. Guinness World Records has officially recognized it as the oldest continuously running hotel in the world.Aug 10, 2018”

    That’s why dummies and illiterates remain dummies and illiterates becoming ignoramuses who proudly display their dummification and illiteracy.

    They don’t build on what they learnt when young or attempt to understand the linkages to success.

    They thus have not much to pass on to the next generation and not much to contribute to growth.

    … unless you count being a dummy, illiterate or ignoramus as somehow having some value.

  30. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/belgium-forced-to-reckon-with-leopolds-legacy-and-its-colonial-past?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR1VqkEJOfd8v8EtZ78AO1fyzcvvbJ397ERQemeZwi7EwLyvRG4xsWOQOjw

    Belgium is facing IT’S EVIL PAST…why can’t Barbados face it’s EVIL PAST AND PRESENT..

  31. John Avatar
    John

    So when do you plan on going to France?

    The Arc de Triomphe needs to be torn down.

  32. John Avatar
    John

    https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/hundreds-protesters-clash-police-paris-arc-de-triomphe-59579560

  33. lyallsmall Avatar
    lyallsmall

    TheOGazerts @ 7:45 am

    Captain Hutt taught me History at HC. I was therefore someone who learnt that history from the viewpoint of the English teacher class, by rote. For many years I had no need to check the truth or otherwise of what I had been taught, as History played a miniscule part in my life until the Sir George William’s / Concordia University fire in Montreal and the activities that led up to it. I later on visited Ghana where I saw firsthand the places and trails where my African ancestors were caught and enslaved and then shipped under unspeakable conditions along the Middle Passage to Barbados. I also spent some time in Hull, England, another hub of the Slave trade, where racism was palpable even just 20 years ago.

    These experiences forced me to progressively reevaluate Black History and, after an initial cognitive dissonance, accept that chattel slavery and its fruit and most of its manifestations is responsible for much of what is wrong in many aspects of life and governance of present day Barbados.

    I think that my experiences also allow me to understand the standpoint of many of my acquaintances, friends and colleagues, of my age, who have had the benefit of seeing both sides of white/black relationships in Metropolitan countries. I see the postings of several BU posters who appear to be resident in Canada, the US and perhaps England, which show that exposure to life in metropolitan countries, forces an understanding of the black side of history that is largely missing from those who lack such experience and have remained in Barbados and who must depend on local sources to inform their views. Lack of such exposure in the Bajan who has largely stayed on this rock tends to lead to such persons staying with what what they have been taught by rote several years ago.

    There is another type of BU commenter. The commenter who always espouses the decadent views of the Bajan white class, whether they themselves are black or white. Some of these BU commenters are totally predictable in the stances they take. Some even totally mimic Trump or Rush LImbaugh. You know who I mean.

  34. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Some call it learning by rote and others a ‘parroting’ of dates and ‘memorization’ as if by some strange twist of life we are ‘EDUCATED’ only by the directions of teachers like the Capt. Hutts, Deighton Maynards, Orielus Smiths, Doreen Piles, Mary Redmans or Ralph Jemmotts of our world…NO. The purpose of education is always to teach us how to THINK and dissect data… clearly by our varied actions of emigration, career paths, cross-ethnic marriages and many other acts we show that we have the CAPACITY to THINK for ourselves and break the alleged ‘rote learning’ and ‘indoctrination’!

    History by it very essence is all about memorization and reflection of past events but education is about questioning those details … it beggars comprehension that although many historians (in Bim, e.g. F.A.Hoyos) have had their historical expositions questioned for bias over these last 50 years and others have presented different historical narratives (eg Trevor Marshall) that we should be still be unable to RATIONALLY explore the impact and relevance of a statue of Lord Nelson in our main TOWN SQUARE without resorting to such tropes as: “It is highly offensive to those who celebrate their heroes, to have others expose their heroes’ bad actions, and worse, threaten to tear down their statues. If we have decided that to be offensive is the new normal in Barbados, then we must not be hypocrites, we either do it to all of them, or we do it to none.”

    That is plainly the validation of an ideologue akin to those biased expert reconnoiters and historians and NOT the reasoning of an educated man assessing and dissecting the rights and justifications of Barbados of 2020….. This statue has NO RIGHT to his current place of repose.

    It’s validation was solid and reasoned in Barbados of 1920 …but NOT TODAY…. let it rest in a more natural spot for such things of ‘archaeological’ significance!

  35. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    Over 150 comments on the tiresome call to remove the Statue of Lord Nelson; but very few interventions to remove Racial Discrimination from our psyche. What should be our real objective ,the desecration of a bronze effigy or the sin and guilt of desecrating another human being simply because the colour of his skin and the texture of his hair differ from ours? Just thinking aloud and trying to get things into a proper perspective.

  36. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @LyallS, well stated above but we all must yet accept that there should be NO MIND SPACE to allow any Bajan (whether from St. Georges, HC or QC) schooled under our reputed, well-balanced educational system “staying with what what they have been taught by rote several years ago.”

    That sir, is rank, hard-backed mental laziness and apathy and any such Bajan is not worthy to be called ‘educated’!…

    Exposure and travel is great but any Bajan youth or middle-aged person who may not be so blessed but does not avail themselves of the troves of graphic, wondrous information readily on-tap to grow their awareness can blame nothing but their ignorance!

  37. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ dp D at 11:11 AM

    I gave you 10/10 after reading your statement that:”the purpose of education is to teach us how to think”. I had to claw back the full marks after what followed.
    My parents had a choice to send me to the school on the plantation or that place on Crumpton Street. He was advised that if he wanted me to be a gentleman to send me to the school on the plantation. My going to school on the plantation was the better choice. The students were fortunate to have Mr. Fab Hoyos as our history master. We were introduced to West Indian History in the third forms. That course also included his own publication” Some Eminent Contempories. It concentrated on Barbados Social and Political History of the 19th and 20th century.

    There was no doubt in our minds about our social and political environment. As students we lived it daily. To cut out the long talk a particular historian’s bias cannot shape the thinking of a student if he went to school to learn how to think rather than to second guess the examiners by giving them the “correct answer”.

    In this Post COVID-19 Era we need more thinkers; not those who learnt by rote. We have to do our own writing.

  38. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Just saw a post from a white Canadian female who visits Barbados often urging Bajans to boycott all Chefettes’ restaurants and any businesses the Haloutes have interests in Barbados, she lso wants the matter addressed publicly because one of their lowlife family members by the name of Suzanne Costello-Haloute, which means she is a Haloute by marriage who don’t know when to shut up, took it upon herself to decide she is the judge of George Floyd on Facebook and as someone else said, while forgetting how many tons of drugs, boat loads of drugs and who knows what else her CRIMINAL FAMILY IN BARBADOS TRAFFICKED FOR DECADES in and around the Caribbean; and since everyone knows they are part of the criminal syndicate running drugs through the Caribbean to South America and beyond..and have been running drugs on the island from the 1970s and generationally since then, now this minority trash believes she is someone of good character when she and her drug running family have destroyed generations of vulnerable young lives in the depressed areas that they keep depressed to enrich themselves with the help of their house negros in the parliament…

  39. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    Elaboration :

    We have to do our own writing on History’s pages.

  40. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Nextparty 246:
    “Every mature person, without exception, will say and do things that may offend some people. Even Jesus, our perfect example, offended others.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Didn’t the same eponymous Jesus go into the temple and overturned all those images which represented evil and wickedness in the sight of his Father who is still in the skies?

    Aren’t slavery and racism twins of evil and abominations in the sight of God who created all of mankind in his own image of love?

    You are just another hypocrite in the sight of Jesus.

    If Foolish Bajans can wilfully destroy without any cultural justification- and accept without national outcry or to demand a call to account of those involved- the structure of outstanding architectural beauty and archaeological significance at Fort George Heights constructed long before the erection of Nelson which was dedicated to the acts and memory of a man who was racist, pro-slavery and anti the teachings of your true ‘Lord Jesus’- what’s so nihilistic about removing from the land a graven image which your Lord Jesus would see as repulsive and most Unchristian in the pursuit of the mission he was sent from Above to fulfil?

    Why not replace Nelson with an image of Jesus prostrated on a Christian Cross on a plinth dedicated to the Quakers whom our BU John has been saying from the beginning were the real liberators and saviour of the black slaves?

  41. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The biggest organised crooks in the Caribbean are the Lebanese/Syrians, as I have said on numerous occasions. They are well connected internationally – Canada, Brazil, the US, UK, Australia, etc.
    But Bajan docility knows no bounds. Just look at the Irish domination of the West Coast property market. Do Barbadians ever read about organised crime.

    @ Vincent

    Here is a hypothetical, the kind you get in moral philosophy seminars. According to the majority of this generation of Barbadians, Barrow is(was) the Father of Independence. So, we should replace the Nelson statue with one of Barrow in what we call Trafalgar Square or Independence Square.
    But, the next generation of Barbadians decide that Wynter Crawford was rightly the father of independence, through his work on the Barbados Observer, and in the founding of both the BLP and DLP.
    So, a committee appointed to look at the issue faces a choice: Barrow or Crawford. The Crawford supporters won the argument. Should the Barrow statue, which had already been erected, be removed?
    You decide,

  42. John Avatar
    John

    de pedantic Dribbler
    June 12, 2020 11:11 AM

    The purpose of education is always to teach us how to THINK and dissect data…

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    It really isn’t!!

    I would point out that any significant learning is done by rote.

    You can’t learn to read except by rote.

    You can’t learn to write except by rote.

    In primitive societies, the transition from childhood to adulthood is also through learning by rote.

    The rites of passage are a final examination.

    If you can’t learn to read and write by rote the wealth of learning and experience is shut to you.

    If you can’t learn how to become an adult you remain a child, like Peter.

    If you remember, Peter Pan was the little boy who never grew up.

    I learned to read and write in English, Spanish, French and Latin all by rote.

    I use mainly English but because I can read and write, I can educate myself and learn how to think.

    I don’t need to be educated how to think by someone, it comes natural.

    But reading and writing doesn’t.

    They are technical skills that cannot be acquired by thinking.

    Being educated how to THINK is fraught with danger and leads historic dummies and medical illiterates to become ignoramuses as is clearly demonstrated on BU.

    I LEARNT HOW TO LEARN AT HC … I was never educated how to THINK, I went there with that natural skill.

    I built on the skills learnt by rote.

    My thinking evolves as I learn more.

    I notice in most advanced societies there are very few adults.

    Children are just not learning, they are being educated how to THINK by others who have also been educated how to THINK and never LEARNT HOW TO LEARN.

    The skill of LEARNING has been educated out of them.

  43. John Avatar
    John

    Vincent Codrington
    June 12, 2020 11:58 AM

    Elaboration :
    We have to do our own writing on History’s pages.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    How do we do that if we have not learnt how to learn?

  44. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    lyallsmall
    June 12, 2020 11:11 AM ….. after an initial cognitive dissonance, accept that chattel slavery and its fruit and most of its manifestations is responsible for much of what is wrong in many aspects of life and governance of present day Barbados.

    Excellent post, the whole of it. That part quoted above is most astute.

    David,

    Lyall’s post should be a blog post in itself, for analysis. Lyall has hit the nail squarely on the head. That has crossed my mind recently and Lyall has been able to put it more delicately than I would have.

    Start digging into what was said and you will have many answers which may lead to solutions.

  45. David Avatar
    David

    @Crusoe

    Noted.

    >

  46. lyallsmall Avatar
    lyallsmall

    dpD; Re. your 11:27 post in which you said:

    LyallS, well stated above but we all must yet accept that there should be NO MIND SPACE to allow any Bajan (whether from St. Georges, HC or QC) schooled under our reputed, well-balanced educational system “staying with what what they have been taught by rote several years ago.” That sir, is rank, hard-backed mental laziness and apathy and any such Bajan is not worthy to be called ‘educated’!…

    I can’t accept your conclusions above. I think you are confusing History, taught by a Ralph Jemmott or later analogue at Combermere, with its 1950’s vintage taught by an Englishman, Captain Hutt. I was in the Science stream, NOT the History or Modern Studies stream, and I repeat that I saw no need to refresh the biased history I learnt by rote up to 5th form level after I left HC in 1960. I had no need to do so as my spare time was taken up by other activities and my working time had nothing to do with new interpretations of history.

    I think you need other metrics to prove your assertion that staying with the history, that myself and others of the class of 1957 would have been taught, must be signs of mental laziness and apathy.

  47. lyallsmall Avatar
    lyallsmall

    dpD

    Oops! After rereading your post, I see that it did indeed encapsulate the points I made at 12:54 pm.

  48. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    Some may find this of interest: BLM demonstration was brought forward to today. As I said there is going to be a vicious backlash against BLM.

    ‘We cannot allow mob rule’: Furious Priti Patel is ‘reading the riot act’ to police ‘across the country’ ordering them to tackle violent protesters – as she pushes for 24-hour fast-track courts like those seen in 2011 riots
    Justice Secretary Robert Buckland tells courts to fast-track protest cases
    It comes as police and scientists warn Britain could face a summer of riots
    Unrest could stem from Covid-19 job losses and ongoing inequality protests
    By DAVID WILCOCK, WHITEHALL CORRESPONDENT and JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR and LUKE MAY FOR MAILONLINE

    PUBLISHED: 00:06 BST, 12 June 2020 | UPDATED: 14:27 BST, 12 June 2020

    “Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today urged Black Lives Matter supporters to ‘stay at home’ hours after they cancelled their planned Hyde Park protest tomorrow claiming that ‘many hate groups’ are threatening the safety of the thousands of supporters planning to attend. ”

    But statues of historical figures like Winston Churchill, and even the Cenotaph, have been boarded up to prevent them being targeted

    Do they expect that the natives are going to take crap from new arrivals?. Why are they hate groups ? Couldn’t some of them be interested in defending their heritage?
    I await the out burst of disapproval.

  49. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin
    There will always be space enough in Independence Square to accommodate both Crawford and Barrow, if we have the will and if that is the Millennial way of honouring heroes. Do we still need heroes?

  50. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Vincent

    Whether we call them heroes or not, it is one way of showing an appreciation across generations. Does this compromise also include Lord Nelson?

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