(en) anarkismo.net: Solidarity with Jamaica to UK's "keep
your prison, give us schools, give us infrastructure, not prisons" by
Fionnghuala Nic Roibeaird - WSM
In case you missed it, David Cameron does not believe that reparations or even apologies
are the right approach when dealing with the legacy of the enslavement of the Jamaican
people at the hands of British Imperialism. ---- Jamaica was under British rule from 1655,
when they took the Caribbean island from the Spanish colonialists. Slavery was in place
until 1833 when the British were forced to surrender to the will of the Maroons. ----
David Cameron is related to General Sir James Duff which means that a chunk of his and his
family's privilege is founded upon Jamaican enslavement. ---- Duff had a Jamaican sugar
plantation bestowed upon him from his father in-law, James Dawes. Hundreds of slaves were
forced to work on it and when slavery was abolished in 1833 he was compensated £4,101 for
his "loss" of 202 slaves. In today's money that's about £3.1m.
Instead of compensating for the developing years that British Imperialism caused Jamaica
to lose Cameron would rather spend £25m on a prison in which Jamaican prisoners will be
transferred from the UK to Jamaica without their consent.
In the words of Emma Goldman, "every society has the criminals it deserves". The crimes
that British capitalism has created are to be payed for by Jamaica, without the consent of
the prisoners and without the consent of the Jamaican people.
We stand in solidarity with Jamaica when they say "keep your prison, give us schools, give
us infrastructure, not prisons".
Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/anarchism/imperialism
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/28632
