I think we should stop bellyaching about the slavery of our foreparents ('treat slavery as an illustration of life that stands as a symbol of existence - Joseph Conrad') and get on with our lives. After all, the enslavers and the enslaved are long deceased.

Speaking of reparation, the descendants of those Britons who created and maintained the institution of our ancestors, quite apart from the recent apology of Prime Minister Blair, I submit we have received and continue to receive reparation from such descendants in the form of high-quality education and access thereto and numerous other forms of technical aid as well as soft loans, and relatively recently, a political independence that carries with it democracy and freedom.

Our achievements are second to no one in the world because of reparation and our native ability, the same native ability that caused our ancestors to have been enslaved to contribute to the creation of say the former British Empire, the largest of all in history.

I think what we should work on is peace, love, honesty and integrity in this house in which we all live called Planet Earth.

- Owen S. Crosbie, oss@cwjamaica.com, 3 Hotel Street, Mandeville