Reparations or innovations; wither Caricom?

By Abiola Inniss

                     The Caricom Secretariat has undertaken the hugely expensive and expansive task of establishing a commission and committees in eight of its member states under the instruction of the Heads of Government, for the purpose of seeking reparations for former Colonial domination. According to the Caricom Secretariat the commission will establish a moral, legal and ethical case for the payment of reparations for native genocide, the transatlantic slave trade, and the chattel slavery system. This they claim is a serious undertaking from which Caricom will not waver, further the discussions must take place within the spirit of diplomacy, decency, and morally uplifting conversation. The most telling phrases which speak of the policy on this matter may be found at Caricom.org and is as follows “The Commission recognized that Caribbean youth are among those most disenfranchised and denigrated by the colonial legacy that racially profiles and oppresses them as descendants of the enslaved, and who have a human right to live in an environment that is supportive of their willingness to contribute positively to humanity “ and “The Commission noted that Caribbean societies also experienced the genocide of the native population, which was also declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations. The victims of these crimes and their descendants were left in a state of social, psychological, economic and cultural deprivation and disenfranchisement that has ensured their suffering and debilitation today, and from which only reparatory action can alleviate their suffering.”

              There is no doubt that colonization was exploitative and that it created the economic world system in which developed and developing countries (formerly third world) now exist; there is also no doubt that the thrust of this argument being made by Caricom and its Reparations Commission places Caricom’s underdevelopment and lack of creative response to modern challenges squarely at the feet of its Colonial past and shifts the responsibility for self-development to a conditional response from former colonial masters. One wonders for example who is responsible for the Caricom youths’ “human right to live in an environment that is supportive of their willingness to contribute positively to humanity”. The logical and correct answer is that the government and policy makers of Caricom are responsible for the community and environment within which these young people live and wish to make their contribution to humanity, and that it is they who have failed to address the economic and social development of its citizens by the creation of relevant institutions and initiatives which address the ever changing challenges in the age of a dynamic cyber based economic order.

      The Commission has identified six areas in which it posits that the Colonial past is directly responsible for the degenerative state of affairs which are briefly addressed in brackets, these are:

(a) Public Health – in which the chronic diseases diabetes and hypertension are a result of the stresses of slavery ( according to the literature not this is not scientifically proven since Africans who were not exposed to slavery are also affected ,and  the regional health care systems have not been adequately addressed in spite of the tremendous Cuban input),

(b)Education – the Caribbean is plagued by general illiteracy as a result of the Colonial past (the general education systems and the Caribbean Examinations Council programmes need to be addressed continuously, the British are no longer in charge),  

(c) Cultural institutions – the Europeans invested in their own, the Caribbean lags behind (and apparently we cannot conceive, create and maintain our own, Carifesta takes place in fits and starts),

(d) Psychological trauma resulting from more than 400 years of slavery (with which people who were born in the last forty years at minimum can’t be bothered and are more interested in living in the very developed countries that perpetrated the wrongs),

(e) Scientific and technological backwardness (a lack of research and development institutions in the Caribbean and little or no exchanges of information between institutions in the region and those internationally, as well as a lack of investment in the creation of institutions of science and technology. The oldest Mathematics Institute in France dates back to the 1700’s, Caricom has none, Brazil and India have several).

              All of these ills are supposedly to be addressed by reparations for past wrongs and Caricom leaders are indicating through this project that they are incapable of leading the region to a place of economic stability and respectability on the world stage because of past colonial ills. The examples of  Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, and Rwanda, all of which have had colonial occupation and its attendant issues and other serious problems such as genocide and economic collapse in modern times, and all of which have espoused proactive policies which have led to economic and social development, must lead Caricom citizens to ask whether there is a such dearth of modern scientific intellectual thinking in our region that we must have this level of mendicancy and incompetence foisted upon us.

        The Caricom leaders ought to be held to account for policies which have largely ignored the development of an holistic response to a changing environment, and instead of expending vast sums of money on wishful dead end projects, should invest in the creation of institutes for scientific and technological development as a priority which will ensure the economic, social and cultural development of the region and propel it into a place of economic viability. In this age of science and technology, it is only the development of innovative science and technology programs and projects which are created to meet the needs of Caribbean development that will foster the change needed in the region. Internationally, Caricom needs to project intelligent forward thinking diplomacy which aims to garner opportunities for scientific collaboration and development in all of the much needed areas.

         There can be no righting of any historical wrongs to an adequate level and in a timely manner that can take care of the problems which have resulted from poor policy and mismanagement of the regional affairs. The problems are modern and require modern and timely solutions. The preservation of our history and the development of our region is our responsibility, and the young people of the region (the supposed beneficiaries of the reparations) need to reject the call to take part in any stultifying program of reparations in the place of public policy which engages current scientific knowledge and developmental agendas, and insist on the formation of a Science and Technology Institute with committees in as many countries as possible as a matter of priority. Enough is enough, it is time to change the way in which Caricom leadership is selected,it is time for fresh modern thinking.

Abiola Inniss LLM, ACIArb, is a Ph.D. researcher at Walden University (US) in Law and Public Policy and a graduate of DeMontfort University School of Law (UK). She is a leading analyst and author on Caribbean Intellectual Property and the founder of the Caribbean Law Journal Online.