Mighty Chalkdust, has sung ah want me grandfather back pay. Support Chalkdusts call for reparation for the enslavement of Blacks in the Caribbean

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Adapted from Faculty of Social Sciences Handbook, 2011-2012

December 2011

3. Calypsonian Dr. Hollis Liverpool, who goes by the sobriquet the Mighty Chalkdust, has

sung “ah want me grandfather back pay.” Support Chalkdust’s call for reparation for the

enslavement of Blacks in the Caribbean.

The Mighty Chalkdust, also known as Dr. Hollis Liverpool has mirrored the feelings of so many of the Caribbean people when he sung “ ah want me grandfather back pay”. This quote accurately represents the desire of many for reparations to be paid due to the suffering endured by their Black ancestors during slavery in the Caribbean; and rightly so.  Slavery is considered one of the darkest periods in African- American history. Until the abolition of slavery over 10 million slaves were transported to the new world, 47% being transported to the Caribbean. Even before they arrived these slaves faced various injustices, hundreds were packed together below decks of the ship, where many died due to sickness, suicide or murder by the crewmembers. When they arrived in the new world they were sold and put to work on the plantations, without any basic human rights. Due to this many have argued for reparations to be paid due to the horrors faced by those in bondage. The arguments for this include the fact that Slavery in the Caribbean has brought with it a degradation of the Social, Psychological and economic stability of many of the Caribbean islands that have had a long withstanding impact that affects us even in our modern society as well as the benefits that colonists had gained from the slave trade .

 “If you’re White, you’re right, if you’re yellow, you’re mellow, if you’re brown, stick around, if you’re Black, get back.” Parrish (1944, p. 90,), this accurately describes the attitudes held by Slave owners towards their slaves and their skin color. Throughout the New World Slave Era there developed what was known as a Pigmentocracy or rather “societies in which wealth and social status are determined by skin color”. This has been seen throughout Slavery, in regards of a correlation between skin color and slave placement or rather societal standing. According to Eugene D Genovese in the Political Economy of Slavery, slaves were treated based on the colour of their skin with the lighter skinned slaves stationed in the house with relatively better clothing and food. This hierarchy of skin colour has long been embedded in the social standings of many of the Caribbean islands. In turn many of those of black decent have began to turn away from African culture and nationalism. Through Slavery, many of African descent have not only been robbed of their culture but depending on how dark they are has been denied equal opportunities. However with the money gained from reparations this can slowly be reversed. This can be achieved through various programs that would “investigate, identify and counter those messages and images that negate the value of the knowledge and culture of people of African descent by building awareness of the fundamental contribution of African peoples to world civilization,” This would result in the elimination of the “black” stigma as people become more aware of the African heritage, thus eliminating the Pigmentocracy so fiercely upheld by many of the Caribbean societies.

Reparations are justified due to the damaging affects of slavery on the people of African descent psychologically. The history of black hatred associated with slavery has resulted in a corruption of an individual of African descent’s psychological complex. This has resulted in what is known as an inferiority complex.  

“Nigrescence theory (Cross, 1991, 1995) states that the process of becoming black occurs across the life course with a range of self-affirmed identity orientations based on the salience accorded to blackness”. Hence the process of becoming black happens in stages. During the first stage is when the child lacks any Afrocentric identity. During slavery this stage would have been heavily corrupted to embed the inferiority of blacks as well as a European view of the world through the use of “weapins of culture, language, texts and other mechanisms of governance to establish and maintain the euro centric hierarchy and authority necessary to rule and exploit victims who were, in the overwhelming majority, of African descent”.  This has led to what is known as the roast breadfruit psychosis which is described as “an overwhelming desire for acceptance by European society, being ashamed of one's indigenous culture with an exaggerated rejection (in language and manners), and attempts to alter skin colour to appear more White”. This has led to years of psychosis in which many Caribbean people have developed a self-hatred or are ashamed of indigenous culture. Not only has this led to a stifling in the Afrocentric Culture as an whole, it has led to a dilapidation of this culture as it has been hidden away as it does not comply with the European culture. Through reparations, Caribbean countries would be able to implement various programs that would aim to educate the populace about black culture and history, which in turn would help to raise pride in what it means to be black.

"British trade is a magnificent superstructure of American commerce and naval power on an African foundation." European colonists, through the triangular trade benefited greatly off of the injustice of slavery in the West Indies. This was a result of “the increase of consumption goods called forth by that trade” which “inevitably drew in its train the development of the productive power of the country”. This included both heavy investments in the country by West Indian planters, as well as the development of Industry in the eighteenth century. Through the investment of West Indian planters, three major areas underwent major investment. This included banking, heavy industry and insurance. In terms of Banking,  “Many of the eighteenth century banks established in Liverpool and Manchester, the slaving metropolis and the cotton capital respectively, were directly associated with the triangular trade.” Many of these same bankers were previously merchants, which in the eighteenth century meant anything from slave trader to privateer. One such person was Thomas Leyland, who in the early part of the nineteenth century started a bank with his slave trade partner Bullins, a bank that lasted up until 1901 until it joined with North and South Wales Bank Limited. The Triangular trade influenced heavy industry heavily as well. James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine was heavily funded from money gained via the West Indian Trade. Anthony Bacon, another involved in Heavy Industry as an ironmonger, was directly related to the slave trade. As well as being heavily funded from the trade in the West Indies, he eventually began supplying “seasoned and abled Negroes” for contracts in the West Indies. Britain also benefitted from these, from James Watt came the steam engine, which in turn aided in bringing in a new era of technology and luxuries as well as many of Britain’s weapons came from Anthony Bacon. In relation to the growth of Britain’s industry as a whole, the triangular trade played a major role in its stimulation. The profits from this trade only aided in the growth of production. One such example is the first great railway project in England; three of the main people identified with this had heavy hands in the triangular trade. These developments lead to increased production. Due to the invention of steam engines, iron mining and production vastly increased, this led to an increase in production of cotton in the triangular trade due to various improvements and thus led to an upward trend. England’s production was stimulated from the “beneficiary breath of increased production”. It was this chain of events that eventually lead to the end of the monopoly, which helped to increase England’s sphere of influence, as well as began the process of globalization. Whilst the triangular trade helps Britain developed economically, it left the economy of the various countries o the Caribbean stagnant for hundreds of years to follow, due to its plantation economy. Thus, it is apparent that European countries such as Great Britain, through the use of the triangular trade and thus slavery have laid the foundation for modern day capitalism as well as modern society. As such it is clear that England as well other European colonist countries greatly benefited economically from the triangular trade and slavery in the Caribbean. Due to this investment through the forced labor of slaves, their descendants now freed are deserving of a return as a result of their ancestors ‘investments’. These countries that were thrust into the modern age on the suffering of millions of African slaves, should in fact take into consideration their debt.

In conclusion, it is obvious that through their own greed, the European colonists have, in their pursuit of power, exploited not only the slaves that they had carried over from Africa, but through exploitation of the West Indies as a land. This has left permanent scars psychologically and socially, whilst colonists have only used these exploits as a stepping-stone. As such it is conclusive that these colonies should pay reparations for the damages suffered as result of their greed.

Bibliography

Hickling, Fredrick et al, Roast Breadfruit Psychosis: disturbed racial identification in African Caribbean

Lashley, Stephen, Hon. "Permanent Mission Of Barbados to the United Nations." High Level Meeting of the Sixty-sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly to Commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. 22 Sept. 2011. Speech.

Lynn, Richard, PIGMENTOCRACY: RACIAL HIERARCHIES IN THECARIBBEAN AND LATIN AMERICA

Postlethwayt, Malachy, Political Economist, 1745

Williams, Eric, Capitalism and Slavery, The University of North Carolina Pres.

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