By: Staff Writer
March 25, 2022
The Chairperson of the The Bahamas National Reparations Committee says that the British Royal Family must be “held accountable” for genocide and slavery.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, are capping off their Caribbean tour in The Bahamas over the weekend. This trip, however, is not without its controversy as every stop they made was met with opposition to their visit, something that was rarely seen in years past with William’s father, Prince Charles during his various visits around the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1970s.
Dr Niambi Hall Campbell- Dean, chairperson of the The Bahamas National Reparations Committee, told Caribbean Magazine Plus: “We are not staging a physical protest, but we as a committee stand in protest, not of the visit itself, but in protest of what the Crown represents and on the regime in general.”
The Bahamas like all other English speaking Caribbean countries was a former colony of the United Kingdom until it gained Independence in July 1976. However, the British monarch is still the Head of State. The Bahamas, as with Grenada, Jamaica and St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, have opted not to go fully Independent like Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and just recently, Barbados earlier this year. The Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda are fully owned protectorates of the British Crown and have not been granted Independence.
Like most “New World” countries, the foundation of The Bahamas was built on the backs of slaves and the Transatlantic slave trade, of which Britain as well as other European countries were heavily involved until the practice was officially abolished in the UK in 1833 with the Slavery Abolition Act.
The Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of The Bahamas also said: “While Prince William is not and never was involved in the slave trade, he still benefits from it.”
Prince William and his wife are on a Caribbean tour of the territories where his Grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II is still head of state on this Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking the 70th year since her accession to the throne. Prince William is second in line to inherit her throne after his father, Prince Charles.
Dr Campbell- Dean also said: “The message of the CARICOM reparations committee is that we intend to hold them [Royal Family] accountable and responsible for the crimes against humanity, committed through the acts of the genocide of the original people of this land and the enslavement of the original people of this land and colonization.”
The reparations committee of CARICOM was established in 2013, but advocacy for reparations from separate communities within the Caribbean, most notably from the Rastafarian community, have been consistent since the 1950s Dr Campbell-Dean argues and the movement has only been picking up steam worldwide with collaborators participating from all around the world. “Slow progress is still progress,” she said.