( L - R ) Mike Henry and Victor Cummings

Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

The historic debate on reparations for people of African ancestry began in the House of Representatives last week with the mover of the motion, Member of Parliament for Central Clarendon, Mike Henry making an impassioned plea for Parliament to send an unequivocal message to the then slave-trading nations that the time had come for reparations to be made to those who were brutally enslaved.

With a fervour befitting the subject matter that was being debated, Mr. Henry declared that he felt very strongly about the issue, and his passion carried with it "no less a revolutionary zeal than when I was a teen".

The motion addressed specific matters as it relates to reparation. It called on the House to establish a united and common position on the proposition that reparation was due to the countries of the displaced descendants.

Further, it pushes for the establishment of a committee of the House to quantify the reparation. And, the motion wants nations due to make reparation to be called upon to provide compensation by way of cash and or debt relief.

Mr. Henry, who is also a publisher, said he had conducted extensive research on the subject, and had not found one case where a sovereign Parliament "who has suffered from slavery" had voted on the entitlement of reparations "and I demand from my Parliament such a decision."

Highest world court

"A decision which if made by a government would I feel sanction the pursuance of this matter to the highest world court; and have that world court reject this justified plea or accept it."

Acknowledging that in recent times heads of states, monarchs and presidents have tendered apologies for slavery, Mr. Henry said he was not averse to accepting apologies which by their very issuance carried with it guilt and responsibility.

However, he said that was not good enough as apologies should be accompanied by compensation equal to the act.

During his presentation, Mr. Henry quoted extensively from magazines and papers to support his argument for reparation.

He said if the British, the French, the Dutch and Portuguese were not willing to have dialogue and take responsibility for their involvement in slavery, and approach a settlement in real economic terms, similar to how they settle with the slave owners, parliamentarians should seek reparations in the highest courts of justice.

"So whether reparations come in the form of payments tied to infrastructure or education, I ask that we as a Parliament decide what we feel is just; let us clearly stake out our position on slavery and its impact on our lives," he asserted.

Painting a graphic picture of the multiple acts of barbarism during slavery, Mr. Henry pointed to murder, enslavement, deportation, torture and rape.

He reminded his colleagues that reparations have been paid for harm inflicted on the Jews, pointing out that since World War II, Germany had paid at least $88 billion Deutsche Mark in reparations to the State of Israel and had made another $20 billion disbursement to the same nation in 2005.

300,000 murdered

Mr. Henry argued that the Chinese were discussing the possibility of suing the Government of Japan for the atrocities committed during the capture of the city of Nangking, which resulted in the systematic murder of more than 300,000 Chinese by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

So-called comfort women from Korea who were forced into prostitution during World War II by the Japanese have also planned to sue the Japanese government for reparations.

Member of Parliament for Kingston Central, Victor Cummings who also participated in the debate said the teaching of African history and civilisation in schools, would help to break the bonds of mental slavery.

"We need to get rid of mental slavery as a lot of what is happening within our country has to do with that mental slavery. We find it hard to work together as a people because it is entrenched in our psyche from long ago," he stated.

He argued that the passage of the resolution by itself would not go far enough in achieving what was necessary for the country at this time. "Just passing a resolution alone even if you have full support, will not go far in achieving what needs to be achieved. We need to be out in the schools and us as leaders of our country need to lead by example," he contended.