I think the bit about the Cayman dollar is confusing. The KYD was introduced in 1971 and exchanged 1:1 for the then-circulating Jamaican currency. In 1974 the KYD was pegged to the USD (at a rate of 1 KYD = 1.2 USD), and it has remained so pegged ever since.
The larger point - that Cayman went from poorer than Jamaica in 1960 to far richer in 1980 - is certainly correct and an important one.
Excellent article. Despite the many problems you laid out with reparations (and I agree with them all) I'm not against reparations per se. I'd just like to see some clearcut rules and protocols on this. I think you could argue a case for reparations along the lines of what happened in Kenya with two rules. (1) People legitimately wronged by the government and not a private party. (2)The actual victims are alive. Not the descendents, not their relatives, not people who look like them, but the actual victims. If someone in India, who is still alive, took a British bullet in colonial era India, and they were shot for illegitimate reasons, and the British are willing, reparations could be on the table. The obvious issue is there is no international enformcent mechanism. No 3rd party should be allowed to make a country pay another country reparations.
I think if the people of a country feel they owe the people of another nation something then through legitimate democratic channels it should be done on a case by case basis. If the people of the U.K want to send a big bundle of cash (essentially, a foreign aid grant) to the Caribbean, fine. If they don't, history is messy and violent, and no one owes anyone anything, as cruel as that sounds. When the Romans left the natives of the British Isles they did not leave a reparations package behind. Ditto for when the Vikings stopped their raiding parties.
Why shouldn’t Caribbean governments want some of the benefits extended to European territories, after they were enslaved, forced to work and then freed without a great path forward? While Britain isn’t solely responsible for the state of the Caribbean, things would surely be better if they had treated other races as equals and sold their technology to them, no?
It is interesting that the colonies were not a necessity for industrialization and that independence has not helped former colonies. Still, Britain captured these colonies, bought people, and profited a lot. It feels like the former colonies can expect more than just being “let free.”
One very easy thing America could do is build a natural gas pipeline through Cuba and supply Caribbean with cheap natural gas. Of course, that would require Cuba to make some reforms and those reforms could only improve Cuba.
But America should definitely pay reparations to descendants of American slaves but the amount paid to individuals will probably end up being a disappointment. So I would say descendants of American slaves ages 30 to 50 should get a $50k lump sum and then younger should get a smaller lump sum and free college and older get smaller lump sum get bigger SS payments.
I wanted to engage with your work but its quite problematic.
You end the article by saying, “the biggest impediment to progress in the Caribbean is the current independent governments, led by black people.”
You quote people like Biggar and Ferguson to try and boost your argument, when both are extremly problematic in their view points about non-whites. These are people who's work can easily be described as they dont like black people
You describe Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams as “a notorious book”.
Most basically, you combine two things – the problems with Beckles solution, with the idea reparations are not justified based on evidence. Those aren’t the same thing yet you lump them together.
I can agree that the problem with Beckles reparations movement is that it’s like a vanguard party, and that he is leading the reparations discussion but doing so from a Caribbean elites’ standpoint, not from the perspective of those at the bottom. That he isn’t being inclusive in terms of what the Caribbean is asking for. I can agree the model proposed by Beckles and his committee isn’t the right one, but I would do not agree with your larger argument that hinges on sayng black people are stupid. You shouldnt make this about race but that's where you end up. ive read your other work on different institutions in Jamaixa and Barbados - building off Patterson, and i thought there was lot in that to engage. This on the other hand was a real disaster to read and i wish i could get the time back.
I guess im left wondering are you writing for white people outside the Caribbean or are you writing for the Caribbean, because if its the latter in this piece you are not being very fair to us.
Has anyone noticed that the people who are coming up with these ideas, like Beckles, are academics from high-status, costly universities?
Great review.
I think the bit about the Cayman dollar is confusing. The KYD was introduced in 1971 and exchanged 1:1 for the then-circulating Jamaican currency. In 1974 the KYD was pegged to the USD (at a rate of 1 KYD = 1.2 USD), and it has remained so pegged ever since.
The larger point - that Cayman went from poorer than Jamaica in 1960 to far richer in 1980 - is certainly correct and an important one.
Excellent article. Despite the many problems you laid out with reparations (and I agree with them all) I'm not against reparations per se. I'd just like to see some clearcut rules and protocols on this. I think you could argue a case for reparations along the lines of what happened in Kenya with two rules. (1) People legitimately wronged by the government and not a private party. (2)The actual victims are alive. Not the descendents, not their relatives, not people who look like them, but the actual victims. If someone in India, who is still alive, took a British bullet in colonial era India, and they were shot for illegitimate reasons, and the British are willing, reparations could be on the table. The obvious issue is there is no international enformcent mechanism. No 3rd party should be allowed to make a country pay another country reparations.
I think if the people of a country feel they owe the people of another nation something then through legitimate democratic channels it should be done on a case by case basis. If the people of the U.K want to send a big bundle of cash (essentially, a foreign aid grant) to the Caribbean, fine. If they don't, history is messy and violent, and no one owes anyone anything, as cruel as that sounds. When the Romans left the natives of the British Isles they did not leave a reparations package behind. Ditto for when the Vikings stopped their raiding parties.
Why shouldn’t Caribbean governments want some of the benefits extended to European territories, after they were enslaved, forced to work and then freed without a great path forward? While Britain isn’t solely responsible for the state of the Caribbean, things would surely be better if they had treated other races as equals and sold their technology to them, no?
It is interesting that the colonies were not a necessity for industrialization and that independence has not helped former colonies. Still, Britain captured these colonies, bought people, and profited a lot. It feels like the former colonies can expect more than just being “let free.”
One very easy thing America could do is build a natural gas pipeline through Cuba and supply Caribbean with cheap natural gas. Of course, that would require Cuba to make some reforms and those reforms could only improve Cuba.
But America should definitely pay reparations to descendants of American slaves but the amount paid to individuals will probably end up being a disappointment. So I would say descendants of American slaves ages 30 to 50 should get a $50k lump sum and then younger should get a smaller lump sum and free college and older get smaller lump sum get bigger SS payments.
I wanted to engage with your work but its quite problematic.
You end the article by saying, “the biggest impediment to progress in the Caribbean is the current independent governments, led by black people.”
You quote people like Biggar and Ferguson to try and boost your argument, when both are extremly problematic in their view points about non-whites. These are people who's work can easily be described as they dont like black people
You describe Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams as “a notorious book”.
You claim the evidence doesn’t exist to support Beckles, that’s not true. See here https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/ and also here https://www.asil.org/sites/default/files/reparations/Report%20on%20Reparations%20for%20Transatlantic%20Chattel%20Slavery%20in%20the%20Americas%20and%20the%20Caribbean.pdf
Most basically, you combine two things – the problems with Beckles solution, with the idea reparations are not justified based on evidence. Those aren’t the same thing yet you lump them together.
I can agree that the problem with Beckles reparations movement is that it’s like a vanguard party, and that he is leading the reparations discussion but doing so from a Caribbean elites’ standpoint, not from the perspective of those at the bottom. That he isn’t being inclusive in terms of what the Caribbean is asking for. I can agree the model proposed by Beckles and his committee isn’t the right one, but I would do not agree with your larger argument that hinges on sayng black people are stupid. You shouldnt make this about race but that's where you end up. ive read your other work on different institutions in Jamaixa and Barbados - building off Patterson, and i thought there was lot in that to engage. This on the other hand was a real disaster to read and i wish i could get the time back.
I guess im left wondering are you writing for white people outside the Caribbean or are you writing for the Caribbean, because if its the latter in this piece you are not being very fair to us.