Repatriation or No Repatriation. That is the Question!

The reparations talk is nothing new. Marcus Garvey was an advocate of it in the 1920's and the Rastafarian's have been demanding it for years. The talk has heated up once again due to the outspoken Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr The Honorable Ralph Everard Gonsalves. 

I'll be brutally honest with you I'm trapped between a rock and a hard place in regards to this issue. From an academic and a moral point of view I definitely feel as if the European powers owe the people of African decent in the region something.The pain and suffering that our ancestors went through to make the European nations what they are today deserves to be addressed.  

An apology would probably be the moral thing to do. But it is very unlikely due to the legal ramifications that it might bring. An apology from the European powers would essentially be construed as an admission of guilt. Admission would effectively leave the European nations open to some form of legal action. So that definitely isn't coming anytime soon, especially with the affair picking up the steam that it has of late. 

To be fair Dr Gonsalves does have a pretty good argument for repatriation. In 1833 the British government actually paid the planters of the British West Indies 20 million pounds in compensation for the loss of their property (the slaves) after emancipation. I mean lets be honest with ourselves the African slaves were the ones who toiled in the cane fields. They were the ones who  went through unspeakable horrors in order for the colonial powers and the planters themselves to reap the rewards. The African slaves received nothing in the form of monetary compensation or an apology.  

But that leads me to the point of my indecisiveness on the matter. Given the current track record of the governments of the Caribbean, can they be trusted with the potential large sums of money that repatriation could bring. I mean we are essentially talking about figures in the billions. What are they going to do with this money? I mean I'm sure the leaders of the region will woo the public with impressive plans of using the funds to increase the standard of living, eradicate poverty, and enhance infrastructure and the education system. But these are the same promises that they bandy around every 4 to 5 years when election time comes around and to no avail.  

So based on that evidence and that evidence alone I don't think that reparations are the answer to the social and economic problems that face the region. Does the region deserve repatriation in some shape or form? I think they do. Do I trust the leaders of the Caribbean to be responsible with the money no I don't. Based on current practices it just feels like history is simply going to repeat itself. The modern day plantocracy (the government) is bound to walk away with their hands full while the modern day slaves (the people) are left with their heads in their hands wondering how the hell did they get caught with the short end of the stick again.