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The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not represent the opinions or editorial position of I-Witness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].

I understand that some black Vincentians are being told by their political leaders that they can expect $200,000 each from reparations. That is lie and downright dishonest, it’s most doubtful that they will ever receive a RED cent, and these politicians well know it.

Some leaders of Caribbean countries are calling for reparations. In the main, this is political rhetoric, making those politicians attractive to the ignorant and to help keep them in power. The call for reparations in itself is a kind of slavery, an attempt to re-sell and re-value the past. Some of these leaders the instigators are white men leading black populations — men of Spanish and Portuguese descent. We must ask, “Are they deceitful frauds and users of the ignorant and uneducated among the people?” I ask this because they already know what I write about here, or should know. Who should reparations be paid to? Not to Africans in Africa, they were deeply engaged in the trade of shipping fellow Africans.

In 2009, the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria wrote an open letter to all African chieftains who’s ancestors participated in the slave trade calling for an apology for their role in the Atlantic slave trade:

“We cannot continue to blame the white men, as Africans, particularly the traditional rulers, are not blameless. In view of the fact that the Americans and Europe have accepted the cruelty of their roles and have forcefully apologised, it would be logical, reasonable and humbling if African traditional rulers accept blame and formally apologise to the descendants of the victims of their collaborative and exploitative slave trade.”

Many, perhaps even most of today’s descendant’s of African slaves, are impure in bloodline, mixed with indigenous Indians, Europeans, East Indians, Portuguese and free African immigrants. Therefore, just who should receive reparations?

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The Portuguese and Spanish were responsible for destroying the indigenous peoples of the newfound world. They killed them with overwork, brutality, slavery and European diseases, multi millions of the indigenous people perished, whole populations and nations disappeared. Almost as many indigenous Caribbean Indians died as were replaced by African slaves. The British tried to replace the Indians of the Caribbean and the Americas with white slaves, using prisoners, the poor, beggars thieves, gipsies, captured military and political oppositionists, they shipped thousands from Scotland, Ireland and England. Then the Portuguese and Spanish introduced African slaves to replace those poor indigenous and white slave peoples who they wiped out. Other Europeans and in particular the English and French, joined the Portuguese and Spanish, joining with them and competing in the evil African slave trade. The Spanish and French were particularly wicked to their slaves, but so were many other nations.

Black African chiefs and kings sold black slaves to white traders, and white traders sold black and white slaves to plantations and mining conglomerates in the New World.

According to the writings of historian Walter Rodney, he estimated that by c.1770, “the African King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling captive African soldiers and enslaved people to the European slave-traders”.

Rodney was Gonsalves tutor in Jamaica, a Marxist-Leninist, was he telling the truth or was he telling lies. Can’t ask him directly, he has gone to great Marxist bone yard; he’s dead, gone.

Social scientists agree that it is difficult if not impossible to reliably estimate the number of descendants of Africans in today’s Caribbean, due to the process of cultural, ethnic and racial mixing.

Today’s black Vincentians are generally the descendent of black Africans, with perhaps a very small mixture of Carib, but mainly mixed with European, ex-African slave descendants and Kru African free men, the Kru who are most likely a close blood relation of today’s Vincentian black population.

At the end of slavery many of the men just simply upped and left the island, some in fear of re-enslavement, some took better paid jobs in Trinidad and elsewhere. Most of these men abandoned their women in the villages and never returned.

With the ending of slavery in St. Vincent and elsewhere, the planters needed labourers, most of the ex-slave men had left, the West India Committee started urging the British Government to allow migration from the West African Kru Coast.

The Kru were generally a tall strong elegant and intelligent, powerful and proud race of West African people, who had proved difficult to capture in the times of the slave trade.

The Europeans discovered at a fairly early stage that the Kru did not make slaves, they were found to be totally unsuitable. Escaping at every opportunity, committing suicide sooner than being enslaved. The Europeans therefore found another way of using them in the slave trade.

The Kru became active participants in the slave trade, capturing and trading Africans of other tribes. Eventually they became involved in general trading with Europeans.

Kru traders became engaged in a surprising form of trade. Kru traders and their canoes would be taken on board European ships and would engage in trade on behalf of the Europeans along the West African coast, acting as a kind of on-board agent and translator. At some agreed upon point, the Kru traders and their canoes would be put off the ship and the traders would paddle back to their home territory, better off with some provisions, trinkets and tools.

The Kru were also great sailors, they were employed as crew on many European ships during the nineteenth century.

After the abolition of slavery Kru labourers left their territory to work on plantations and construction as paid labourers, some even worked building the Suez and Panama Canals and others migrated to the Caribbean as paid indentured labourers (free men) in places such as Saint Vincent.

The Kru, more than any of the other indentured immigrants to the West Indies, “felt themselves in a position to state terms” to their employers.

During 1840 Black African immigrants from Kru (Liberia) arrived to settle and work in St. Vincent (about 1500 men).

More Africans from the Kru coast (present day Liberia) arrive in St. Vincent in 1841 as indentured labour. These workers were free to leave St. Vincent as soon as their indenture contracts expired, most stayed.

In 1860 ship ’Tartar’ arrived in Saint Vincent carrying 600 free African men, Kru (Kroo) and Sierra Leone Africans, immigrant workers from the West Coast of the African continent, having boarded ship and departed from the Island of St. Helena. The cost of passage was £9 per head for passengers above 12 years.

The ship “Akbar” arrived in St. Vincent in 1861 carrying about 527 African free men, Kru (Kroo) and Sierra Leone Africans. Immigrant workers from the West Coast of the African continent, having been loaded and departed from the island of St. Helena. The cost of passage was £9 per head for passengers above 12years old.

A ship named ‘Castle Howard’ landed 14 Kru African men, and East Indians immigrants in 1862 at Kingstown, St. Vincent. The Africans were taken on board at St Helena much to the protest of the Indian government who had paid for the voyage for its citizens. Later numbers of around two thousand Kru men arrived in Saint Vincent, they brought no women.

The Kru were influenced by their new home in Saint Vincent. They started acquiring land in the villages and cohabited with abandoned Vincentian village and estate women who bore children for them.

This was not a small number of people, they became a major participant in the black Vincentian blood-line. The Kru numbered almost 3,000 when they arrived during the 1800‘s.

In later years almost everyone black with a tinge of other colour wanted to be known as Garifuna, in most cases they are not. They are a melting-pot of all those races that came after the deportation of the Garifuna, and more latterly by the Kru.

Unfortunately the Vincentian black population of the twentieth and twenty-first century forgot or were never reminded that the Kru immigrants are in many cases their closest ancestors.

Most of St. Vincent’s black population in the 21st century are bred from these Kru Africans and the released British African plantation slaves that stayed on, and other released slaves that arrived from other islands.

With today’s technology we can carry out DNA tests on every one in the world and decide if they have a claim to reparations, that is just how silly the reparations subject is.

European African Slave Trade Totals by Destination 1500 – 1900.

  • Brazil/Portuguese: 4,000,000 35.4%
  • Spanish Empire: 2,500,000 22.1%
  • British West Indies: 2,000,000 17.7%
  • French West Indies: 1,600,00 14.1%
  • British North America: 500,000 4.4%
  • Dutch West Indies: 500,000 4.4%
  • Danish West Indies: 28,000 0.2%
  • Europe: 200,000 1.8% [excluding Britain and France]
  • Total 1500-1900: 11,328,000 100.0%

WE MUST STOP THIS REPARATIONS NONSENSE, IT’S A RE-ELECTION PLOY BY THE U.L.P.

Peter Binose
Self appointed keeper of the whistle

The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].

14 replies on “Is the call for reparations in SVG fraudulent?”

    1. John Alexander says:

      Brian Alexander is really an ignoramus.

      He cut and pasted some information — bastardized it, and is attempting to pretend he is a writer.

      How pathetic this little man could be?

  1. JASON, ALEXSLANDER, you pair of pathetic morons, the truth is really annoying isn’t it?

    Just keep showing all the Vincentian people and those in the Diaspora who come to this site, the ignorance of the ULP supporters, the Marxist method of dealing with the truth.

    Bye Bye you silly Billy’s, get back to sweeping the yard.

  2. John Alexander says:

    So Brian Alexander said that the call for reparations is a re-election ploy by the ULP.

    IF BRIAN ALEXANDER IS RIGHT, then how does he explain the same reparations call coming from the rest of the Caribbean, the UWI, and even the rest of the world?

    Is there a conspiracy by the rest of the world to have the ULP re-elected?

    Why does Brian Alexander (Peter) continue to embarrass himself like that?

    The village of Stubbs called. …..Their Village Idiot is missing!

  3. Dear Helena

    Thanks for your enquiry, sorry I cannot answer you directly and must use this method, my well being is in danger if I fully expose myself, hence this form of reply.

    Unfortunately an old Marxist trait is to alter history, and I believe that is what has been done and is being done right now in Saint Vincent. School children are being taught a false history on many fronts of SVG’s real past. There are so many falsities regarding the Garifuna and their slave keeping chiefs including Chatoyer and all those other chiefs including his brother Duvallier. I believe the whole thing is built on falsehoods, much since the ULP came to power.

    There are hundreds if not thousands of books, publications and references to the Kroo or Kru. Do not confuse them with the Krumen, which is a totally different section of people.

    I have not listed my book references because you can find them on the internet, and libraries have my name listed, makes me traceable.

    If all black nations had been like the Kru there would of been no African slavery.

    http://journey.hubpages.com/hub/Slavery-Uprising-Resistance-Rebellion-The-Kru-People

    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/323851/Kru

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/kru-african-people-Books/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3AKru%20(African%20people)

    http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4006816?uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102545854703

    http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/716518?uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102545854703

    http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_tradition_of_the_Kroo_People.html?id=fLnfAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

    http://universalium.academic.ru/25196/Kru

    Peter Binose
    Self appointed keeper of the whistle.

  4. I not the biggest fan of “Peter Binose” especially some of the rants but i’ll give him credit for trying to present information in detail based on apparent research.

    There is now an effort to identify Peter, throwing out the name Brain Alexander to see if sticks. If he not running for public office the name Peter Binose good enough for the internet, there is a reason blogging is so popular and iwnsvg the most referenced website in the island.

    Our goal should be to identify and discredit any false information presented, not identify individuals. By collecting our taxes the Government is accountable to ALL voices of the nation, Peter, Brian, what ever name by is not.

    Now there are “warning” to Mr, Chance about lawsuits for opinions on this site. Haven’t we learnt anything in the last year, there is no silencing the voice of the majority. The Diaspora will never allow this site to be sued into silence, I don’t think Nice Radio is half as popular as this website.

    Let’s all try to stick to the facts and help the nation to move forward.

  5. John Alexander says:

    Mike, I understand some of the points you made, however there are some differences between us.

    For example, we agree that Brian “tried” to present information in detail. The problem with that, is that his “try’ was not good enough. He cut and pasted, then fabricated information from his little brain.

    OH MIKE, when two Alexanders share their views, be sure that we know what’s what. Brian knows he is full of it, and I know my family.

  6. John Alexander is Horace ‘Willy’ iams. He tried all this stuff about who I am and what I am many moons ago. At that time he went under another false name, that of Simon Anderson. When he was exposed he was made to look like the utter fool that he is.

    This is a Marxist method of trying to destroy the truth, truth that proves to be in opposition with the ULP party position.

    It doesn’t matter what the subject is, whether the information is right or wrong, he attacks the writer, tries to belittle and demean the writer, not just me, but whoever.

    Horace Blow Your Horn, is a failure in his personal life and lives in a past full of nastiness, spite and malice. His blind support for party and leaders shows him to be mentally corrupt, and certainly stupid to say the very least.

    He loves to wind people up into making replies about what he writes, to waste their time writing about something other than the original subject.

    He is an ignorant man with crap education, his behaviour shows just how depraved he really is.

    Is the call for reparations in SVG fraudulent?

  7. Folks,
    Let’s cool it and examine what’s being brought forward. I never heard about the Kru people. I always believe most if not all Vincentians were descendants of the Garifuna people. This new revelation now brings something to light, which was never taught, spoken or acknowledge in SVG.
    Let’s have a friendly discussion on the topic and forget the political ramifications for a while. I am interested in the topic and would like to research the topic further, using the links supplied by Peter.
    I would advise those who know nothing about the issue or have nothing positive to add to the issue to stay out with those silly comments. We should all be asking more questions and do our own research, before we start being negative about the entire issue.
    Mean while I believe Great Britain owes the Garifuna people and any other Vincentian blacks an apology, whether it’s in the form of reparations or whatever. Forget about the money, because it can be in the form of building an archive to house all the facts of SVG from 1400 on, or whenever there are records of earlier settlers of SVG. There could also be funding for schools to enhance their knowledge of the early descendants of Black Vincentians.
    I have a problem with one sentence in Peter’s dialog: “We cannot continue to blame the white men, as Africans, particularly the traditional rulers, are not blameless”. History will prove that many Jews collaborated with Hitler in Germany, but you never hear about that. We are reminded daily about the 6 million Jews that perished in GAS camps. They are also looking for answers and some of the soldiers that carried out those atrocities.
    Hence I see no reason why we should forget what happened to SVG Blacks, especially since we haven’t gone too far from the slavery days, when we were treated as assets. As for Peter’s reference to the blood line, I’d leave that for those who believe they are black, no matter how pale or white they may appear.
    Here are some ideas to continue this research and let SVG nationals know about their background: Start a book club, where books are purchased and individuals go to various libraries to read to folks what’s discussed in the books.
    The UWI should start to put more emphasis on getting to the bottom of the descendants of the Caribbean nations. This will be money well spent to disseminate information that is more accurate than what we read in books published by British Historians.
    I am sure others may have other ideas and I’ll leave it to them to put them on the table. Meanwhile let’s continue with the topic, just leave politics out of it.

  8. John Alexander says:

    So Brian, you mean to say that other people know who you really are? Why attack me for an incident you had with someone else? Do you think that I am the only one who knows your true identity. From one Alexander to another, don’t try dat!

    Brian, calls for reparations have come from all over the world. The UWI has been in the forefront in this matter. Are you saying that everybody else is wrong, and that you are right?

  9. Steve Huggins says:

    So, the discredited and journalistically disgraced ‘SIMON ANDERSON’, falsely so-called, is at his silly, infantile, tactics of damage, demonization and destruction is at his old futile tactics again?

    Doesn’t he respect ANY site? I assume he has some modicum of respect for himself.
    Look dude, you were totally demolished by Peter Binose and Markie Spring, et all. Utterly discredited as a journalistic fraud.

    Try at least, on this turn, to contribute something meaningful, useful and uplifting for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

    The ULP bandwagon is about to a halt. You nah gwine jump overboard ???

  10. Before I get into the REPARATION DEBATE; I must express my disappointment with the folks who seem to think they are more important than the issue being discussed. The whole lot of you is sick. Who the hell want to know who’s a dummy or an idiot? You are not important to this issue. Calling each other names shows some juvenile delinquency on your part. If that’s all you have to offer to the debate, then don’t even bother. You took up several pages, just cussing each other. If these are the people supporting both parties, no wonder the island is in crisis. GUYS behave yourselves and act as adults.

    Just a few weeks ago I suggested that the smaller islands join forces and leave B/dos, T&T and Jamaica out, if CARICOM is going to work in the Caribbean.
    Those were the islands that killed the Federation Issue in the 1950’s. I don’t see any coming together on the Reparation Issue with these islands involved. The new leader of T&T is Indian and has no stomach for an issue that involved her dwindling black T&T population.
    As for Barbados and Jamaica: They are all over the map and have agendas of their own.
    There is another hindrance: Politicians getting involved to score political points. This has to be a grass root issue; where the entire nation is involved, especially the youths, since they are the ones who may see some results.
    It’s ironic that many islands never celebrated emancipation, which could have been the link to reparation. They probably ignored it because funding was needed for the celebration. But with the issue of reparation, they are opening up their hands for funds.
    It will take money to get this issue on track throughout the Caribbean. That’s why the entire population of the various islands has to be involved. Everyone has to put his/her money where his/her mouth is, in other words they have to fund the fight to get this issue to the UN and the European nations – especially Britain. Fundraising and donation schemes have to be implemented, to meet the expenses involved in this undertaking.
    The folks who want to continue the issue should visit the towns and villages to encourage folk’s participation. Many people will ask, “What’s in it for me”? The speakers should first answer this question of their own involvement; so that they can convince the audience; they are genuine and serious about the issue and not some hidden agenda.
    It took us over 300 years to get to this point about reparation and it may well take another 300 to see any results, so don’t hold your breath.
    I checked a few of Peter’s links and didn’t find any clear facts to show we are not more closely linked to the Garifuna people, than to the Kru people mentioned in his article.
    The Kru people are mentioned everywhere, but no direct links to SVG, as there is for the Garifuna.
    If I am missing a link somewhere, please let me know.

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