Public Comment

Recently, Barbados became the world’s newest republic breaking ties with Queen Elizabeth 55 years after it became an independent nation. There are also loud voices calling for the United Kingdom to pay reparations for the enslavement of the people of Barbados. Reparations come “55 years overdue” and should have happened when Barbados won its independence in 1966. 

Many other former British colonies including Canada, Australia and Jamaica choose to remain to be subservient to the British crown and offer Queen Elizabeth pomp and pageantry when she visits their countries. This comes in sharp contrast, to the feisty Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley who pushed to cut ties from the crown and charter a new chapter for Barbados breaking from its colonial past. David Comissiong, Barbados Ambassador to the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM is leading the demand for reparations. The superabundant profits on the basis of the super-exploitation of African labor further amplifies the need for reparations. 

Finally, Prince Charles traveled to Barbados to attend the ceremony when Barbados became a republic. He acknowledged Britain’s “appalling atrocity of slavery” in the Caribbean. If Prince Charles acknowledges wrong doing, then surely these past crimes would bolster Barbados’s demand for reparations.