So, the Dutch PM finally apologised on behalf of the Netherlands for their role in the African Slave Trade. This is quite a big deal – and was too long in coming – since all of the European states, who shipped more than 10 million human beings as “slaves” across the Atlantic, have been studiously ignoring the calls for reparatory justice for the wrongs they committed. And an apology is an acceptance that a wrong was committed; in this case, a crime against humanity!
The Caricom Reparations Committee – and especially its Guyanese Chapter – have to now move swiftly to move through the gap made by this apology, so that REAL compensation can be received by the descendants of those who had been enslaved. Now, in all the publicity about the Dutch complicity in slavery, somehow their role in Guyana isn’t mentioned!! Even we Guyanese don’t talk about it, beyond stories to scare kids about “Dutchmen” haunting certain spots! They’ve haunted the entire coast, since their sins can never allow their souls to become free.
The fact of the matter is that it was the Dutch who introduced African slavery to Guyana back in 1621 – up the Essequibo River – to cultivate cotton, coffee, and sugarcane. All of this was organised by the Dutch state through a Dutch West India Company they officially chartered. This company also colonised Berbice a decade later, even though it was governed separately but as a private company. The same is true of Demerara, which was settled after another decade or so. Since they governed these three colonies till 1796, and again after a 5-year gap between 1802 and 1814, you should realize that, for TWO HUNDRED YEARS, it was the Dutch who enriched themselves from the free labour of the enslaved Africans!!
The British took over in 1815, and as we know, combined the three colonies as British Guiana in 1831, and then abolished slavery in 1834!! So, the first great slave rebellion – by Cuffy in 1763 in Berbice – was against the Dutch, while the 1823 one on the East Coast of Demerara was against the British.
While slavery was slavery and it meant that poor enslaved humans were always treated like animals, from the records, it’s clear the Dutch were much harsher than the British in the treatment of enslaved persons. As such, Guyana’s Reparation Commission has to make its demands very specific and evidence-based. While all sorts of numbers have been thrown around as to how many slaves were brought in and how many died to clear our Coastlands etc, in the last few decades, much work has been done to hone in on the actual numbers.
The Dutch themselves helped to digitalise our slave-shipment records. Let justice be done…
…of discrimination against women
Your Eyewitness was aghast that the Taliban in Afghanistan banned women from entering university. Hadn’t they promised women equal rights when they took over? Now, your Eyewitness is hip to the fact that different cultures have different strokes for different folks, but why shouldn’t women’s minds be developed to the same extent as men’s in the same society? One expects that the curriculum in these universities has passed muster with the Taliban authorities, so it now boils down to discriminating against women!! And imagine, we were just discussing treating humans as animals!??
This isn’t a matter of covering up one’s body to ensure modesty and such. Hey, that’s being sorted out in Iran, no? No…the right to education is a fundamental right of all human beings, since whether it was God or evolution that gave us our brains for negotiating this world, it’s necessary for those brains to be developed through education.
What is that slogan?? A mind is a terrible thing to waste – especially women.
…of the arc of justice
Let’s get this straight: even with all the “cowboy movies” he lapped up, your Eyewitness doesn’t believe in frontier justice. What power made that gold thief get stabbed to death?? Karma’s a bitch!!
