Of late we are reading about Royal tours of the Caribbean and the protests about past colonialism, slavery and calls for reparation. It is tiresome.
No sensible person would ever say slavery was good or
justified. But slavery was not the sole domain of the British. Virtually all of
the countries in Europe engaged in colonization to some degree and enslaved
blacks and others. Slavery was practiced by The Roman Empire, the Greek Empire,
the Egyptian Empire, the Mayan Empire and even in many pre-colonized countries
of the world to some degree.
Slavery ended in British territories in 1833, almost 200
years ago. British colonies started gaining independence as early as 1867 and
more latterly from the late 1940s on. Jamaica gained independence in 1962, Grenada
in 1974, St. Lucia in 1979, Antigua and Barbuda in 1981. Had Britain not
colonized much of the world, you can be sure that other countries would have. Had
there been no British Empire, it is quite likely Hitler would have won the
second World War. Had he done so, what would have been the fate of non-whites in
the far reaches of the world? One can only guess, but it does not seem likely
the fate of non-Caucasian races would have been more agreeable.
We can’t know what would have transpired in Africa,
Australasia or the Americas had Europeans not settled there and colonized
there. It seems ludicrous to even imagine that these continents could have ever
remained isolated. Just as it seems the world was populated by migration out of
Africa, so migration continues today and will continue, whether by reason of
population growth, economics, insurrection, or war. Nations will not be islands
for one race or culture. Those who wish they were are blind to reality.
I am quite sure the Crown would be more than happy for
former colonies to become republics should they wish to do so. I am not aware
that they were forced on independence to retain the Monarch as head of state.
It is time people accepted the acknowledgement that bad things
have happened over the centuries and stopped demanding endless apologies by
people who played no role in those wrongs. As for reparations, I say why.
Unless the wrongs were very recent, reparation is meaningless and incalculable.
Would the blacks of the Caribbean have been better off had they never come to
the Americas? We can’t know. They are not indigenous to those islands any more
than were the British, French, Spanish or Dutch who colonized them. Although
they were involuntary settlers, they are settlers nonetheless.
I say, those who continue to whine, to perpetuate their
victimhood through the injustices done to their ancestors and relish in it,
should be thankful for what they have today, and the opportunities that are
there for them if they would only seize them.
