On reparations

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I READ with alarm the news report on Jamaica's official support of the call for reparation for slavery. As a Jamaican, I have been watching this debate ensue in the US since it began. I must say that I have always felt that this call for reparation was being made for the most part by the 'Afro-Americans' who have determined to ride the flag of victimisation for as long as it will bear them.

I have always taken pride in the feeling that we Jamaicans waste no time blaming the world for our problems and try to fall on our own resources as individuals, and at times, as a nation, to accomplish anything. After all, are we really saying that it is as a result of slavery that Jamaica is in the state it is in today?

As a Jamaican, quite obviously, I have slavery as an integral part of my heritage. As a Jamaican, I share in the outrage at the monster that was slavery. However, I believe in calling a spade a spade. That was then, this is now...To those who support this claim against the former white colonials (who, to my understanding, have long passed on), why don't they demand reparation from the African traders who sold them into slavery in the first place!

I am etc.,

NICOLA R.

nicolaichowchesku@yahoo.com

Weston, Florida

Via Go-Jamaica

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