Reparations: How can The Queen’s subjects ask her for an apology?
Police Commissioner Michael Matthews, a British native, has suggested that it is inappropriate for BVIslanders to ask Governor Augustus Jaspert to apologise for comments he made on reparations in a recent interview.
Commissioner Matthews gave his personal view on the matter when he appeared on the Honestly Speaking with Claude Skelton Cline radio show earlier this week.
He said since BVIslanders are the Queen’s subjects, asking for an apology from Governor Jaspert — the Queen’s representative — would essentially amount to Her Majesty’s subjects asking her for an apology.
“I’ve listened and I’ve followed the media response on the points that you (Mr Skelton Cline) have raised … In effect, you’re asking the Queen for an apology because of course, Governor Jaspert is the Head of State, he’s the Queen’s representative … and if [its] the BVI government — Her Majesty’s government, then it becomes quite peculiar to be looking through that lens to say, ‘how does Her Majesty’s government ask her Majesty for an apology’? How do BVI-islanders, who are Her Majesty’s subjects, ask Her Majesty for an apology?” Commissioner Matthews asked rhetorically.
In a recent video interview with 284 Media, Governor Jaspert reiterated the UK’s longstanding position on reparations when he said paying reparations to the descendants of slavery “is not a position that the United Kingdom has taken”.
There was public outcry after the interview with some calling on the Governor to apologise for his comments.
When he appeared on Honestly Speaking earlier this week, Commissioner Matthews defended Governor Jaspert, saying the Governor can’t apologise on behalf of the queen.
“For me, we have to take the personalities out of it. It’s not about the Governor. I listened to that broadcast on 284 that day and he gave what he believed to be the current position of the UK. So I think he’s in a difficult position. I don’t see he can personally apologise on behalf of the Queen,” Commissioner Matthews said.
In a subsequent letter addressed to Baroness Elizabeth Sugg — the UK Minister responsible for Overseas Territories — Premier Andrew Fahie said he sought to have the people’s voices heard and to bring clarity to the UK’s position on slavery and reparations.
In response, Baroness Sugg said she fully supports Governor Jaspert’s position.
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The government of the UK, along with the queen and other royal members should always be in the position to at least apologise for what has happen. They should also encourage advancement of slavery descendents in what ever way possible.
When I read the headline I said what the h**l? never mind who was around I am shocked but not surprised the British royals are taught to never apologize for anything.
The advancement my non learned friend is that you live in the BVi. Bar money reparation what else will fulfil you
I don’t see why we’re hung up and reparations and slavery, we were conqured just like many other people unless we open our eyes and work together to better our situation so we’ll be experiencing the effects of slavery and colonization for centuries to come. Every wondered why Caribbean people hate each other? Think about who put you up to it and why you continue after all this time. WAKE UP!
Facts. Time for sleep is over. We are entering a new time and we aren’t even ready. We are still being dominated by our slave programming. Don’t even have the eyes to see that we are once again colonized.
This serves the BVI gov just right! This is what you get for bringing people like this commissioner and giving them top positions when we have locals here that can do the job even better. These people are not for the BVI. They come here and pretend to care but they don’t. They like to see the locals suffering. This is also why crimes are not solved. They don’t give a sh**. For him to pass such a comment and holding side with the other man says a lot. They are a team . Working against , not for us. Hurry up leave so that woman can take your position. Not ***** please. That man to corrupt beyond the point of return. He’s rotten and needs to be thrown down the garburator.
Unfortunately he is speaking facts. Its just not going to happen.
Well crack on my friend, no one but no one is stopping you becoming independent do us all a favour and get off the proverbial fence, go it alone. I wish you every success
So saith the world’s devil!
Perhaps you need to understand the reality of what your circumstances are. The BVI belongs to the UK, not the local community, and everyone that lives here does so at the Queens pleasure, for the time being. You may not like it but that is the truth of the matter. The UK could cast us adrift in a heartbeat, or, come in and take full control of their country.
Under those circumstances I would suggest a change of attitude towards our Landlord might be a wise move.
@Good – Seriously? The argument for reparations may exist but this is like you calling a store employee an evil and wicked person because they won’t just give you a product for free that you feel you deserve. You need to take it up with the manager. In this case, the queen. Her minions like Jaspert and TopCop are just employees, they can’t give you millions of the queens pounds. It’s way above their pay grade. They can’t even say sorry on her behalf without her say-so.
So you are deliberately a) ignoring the cop’s point that the Governor cannot apologise for the past actions of the country he works for.
And b) you are doing this to put yourself in a position where you can call the two employees racists, wicked, evil people, when actually their answers do not suggest this in any way.
In taking this approach, you are using false excuses to justify your own race-based hatred.
Why don’t you and your wiley little group of wannabe liberation heroes just come out and say it: “we hate white people, no matter who they are and what they do”.
Stop making up fake excuses to justify your hate-filled, inverted KKK attitude toward fellow red blooded human beings.
You are correct in your assertions, but that does not negate the truth that those people are racists, wicked, evil people.
Those are the main reasons why they cannot even muster up the decency and or humanuty to utter an apology for the holocaust they brought to Black people for centuries , bcause we are seen in their eyes to this day as less than animals. Their dog has more value and human worth to them than a Black life.
An apology is only good for their dog. It is not within their humanity to apologize to someoone you have gravely harmed and disenfranchised if you consider that person of a lesser status and human than you. Thus the term subject. That’s why we are called squatters and other horrible names on here, but they must know that they went around the world taking other people’s land by waging war and exrweminating the inhabitatnts.
They did not buy any laand, they took it through force and destruction. Noe today, one of their lizard brain nationals thinks they have a right to come in here, call us squtters and recommend that we be exterminated.
Thus, all the hooplaw talking points and technicalities as a means of doing what id human, right, Godly and just.
Black people were wronged and that wrong should be corrected, but the innate and psychological make up of those people prevent them from being human, unfortunately.
Ay, simply repeating some of the gigantic list of horrors meeted out against black people – all extremely valid historical points – does not make these two individuals racists or wicked people.
You are jumping across the tracks in this argument and it makes your very solid dispute with the UK looks stupid when you mix up a state entity and its history, with two particular individuals.
Top Cop and Governor are not, by definition evil racists just because they work for their government, which did certain things over the years.
Not any more than someone working in the Ministry of Finance is evil because The BVI government has spent 30 years writing completely abnormal laws to create a financial industry that, among other main beneficiaries, was designed to enable theft, terrorism, extortion, gangsterism and exploitation of poor and vulnerable populations in Africa and across the world by the rich at a vast scale. Millions suffered because of BVI financial laws that helped kleptocratic politicians steal money – money that should have gone to hospitals, schools, clean water etc etc. People died due to the thefts that The BVI provided a little black hole through which that money could disappear.
So now you want us to call the local family employee in the BVI Ministry of Finance a murderer because of all those people that died in Sierra Leone or somewhere else far away? You would never accept an argument like that.
You all so hungry to attack using moral arguments but you never consider the same morality issues if they apply to you. You use them as race weapons when it is convenient, that’s all.
No doubt the haters will be out calling him a racist.
Well if the cap fits.
Who the d***l is cline? Nobody don’t owe he nothing! He should be the one apologizing for wasting taxpayers money
But the same can be ask of you jac donkey. Who d*** is you. Smiles
No surprise at all of course HE would feel that way. Thought everything wasn’t black and white. Apparently we were wrong. He should not have to apologize then we should have to respect him plain and simple.
one white looking out for another!! who is looking out for the evil and wickedness of the slave trade and the millions that suffered?
They will say you were never a slave.
Slavery set the decedents of slaves back financially, mentally, culturally & spiritually.
The fact we speak today English, in some places Spanish or French is living evidence of the impact of colonialism.
The original English were slaves or the Normans, Anglos, Saxons, Vikings, Arabs and the list goes on. Everyone’s ancestors have been slaves at one time or another in our violent paths. We are all sorry for that and thankful that it mostly doesn’t happen today.
If there is anything we should be concerned about in the world today it is the evil that is still going on… China warehousing millions of Muslims in concentration camps, the ongoing slave trade in the middle east, families being slaughtered in Burma for their beliefs… The list goes on.
Or we can only care about ourselves because in the past our ancestors were taken advantage of or, we can be thankful we live in very safe and free conditions and look forward to the future.
One of these options will set your mind free, and the other will keep your mind a virtual slave forever.
Your choice. Not anyone elses
The Governor simply stated the UK’s position. He did not make the decision. Stop with the spin and making things up.
I am a white British person, I have been privileged to reside in BVI for over 10 years. It shames me that my government cannot find the words to apologise for our role in the slavery industry. It shames me that we cannot talk about reparations in a meaningful way. Do I believe that individual BVIslanders should receive cash reparations from the UK? No, I do not. But, I do believe that the British government could “pay forward” the privilege’s and opportunity that the UK benefitted from (and continues to benefit from) the slavery industry. This could come in the form of providing full funded University places for BVIslanders for example. It could come from providing infrastructure funding to for capital projects here in BVI. We have to address this regrettable period in our shared history, we need to apologise for our forefather’s wrongdoing if we are going to move together in fellowship. The people of the UK and the people of the BVI are one family; we are stronger together but this issue will continue to be divisive unless and until it is addressed with due respect, good faith and honesty.
Mr. Cline wants the Governor to apologise for the message he brought from the Queen! It has nothing to do with the slave trade. The Governor delivered a message! Nothing to apologise for. And he simply said there was no discussions about reparations. We’ve been caught up in this spiritual world wind created by Cline and we need to shut it down. He has his own agenda and trust me its pure e**l.
Well said but more importantly your empathy and reasoning on this matter is refreshing. It is obvious that some in the UK Government have no interest in righting their wrongs.
@Subjects!! WTF????
This whole thing goes haywire when people refer to others as “subjects”. This isn’t 1820. The term “fellow citizens” might be more appropriate, don’t you think? This is the attitude that poisons the whole relationship.
The police commissioner does not see wrong when you are black. A black or white police could murder a black man and he still does not see the wrong in it. He does not see police brutality or excess force when it comes to black people. I just don’t understand why our people quick to defend Gus and Mick and harm them own.
It’s just sad that you think that. It really is. You live in a world where race is everything and you believe it controls you and your future. It probably reflects more on your thoughts and hatreds of other races doesn’t it? You project your own hatred of other races based on your own dark thoughts don’t you?
Be honest with yourself.
As the BVI professes to be a Christian territory, with one of the tenants of Christianity being that everything is God’s will, why are you not petitioning God for reparations?
Talk about systemic racism. From slaves to subjects. We all going into the ground to rot all the same.
Well if the cap fits.
Senior civil servants are hired to advise elected or appointed officials based on their experience in public affairs, technical knowledge ……etc to effectively develop and implement public policies. Particularly, foreign service/diplomatic staff are expected to be especially skilled at representing the positions of the countries they represent without insulting the people in which they serve, causing an international incident. Governor Augustus Jaspert is representing the UK government/Crown but he is responsible and accountable for his words.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II didn’t utter the explosive words on reparation to the 284 Media; Governor Jaspert did and he should be the one to apologize. Are we saying that because Governor Jaspert is representing the UK government/Crown and is the de facto head of state that he is not personally responsible and accountable for his own words? If so the UK may as well send a robot to represent it.
In case we forget, we are living in the 21st Century, not in the Dark Ages. The notion that it is inappropriate for supposed subjects to expect an apology from the Monarchy for disrespecting and disparaging other human beings(Blacks) that have been dehumanized, brutalized and exploited for centuries by others (Whites) for their personal benefit is preposterous. Is it surprising to anyone that CoP Matthews sided with Governor Jaspert, as well as Barbour the conviction that it was inappropriate to expect an apology from Her Majesty QEII? Is reparation just an unearned hand out?
Slavery was one of the UK’s greatest sin. It was barbaric and dehumanized, brutalized, marginalized, exploited…….etc people/slaves of African descent. The dehumanizing action seemed to have removed the guilt of ill-treating slaves. Slavery, slave traders, purchasers, processors……etc created great wealth for many Britons. Slave labour built the UK economy, fueled industrial capitalism, capitalized the industrial revolution……etc. Slavery also give birth to White hierarchy, supremacy and privilege.White privilege created preferential opportunities in health, education, jobs/employment, housing, social services, police protection, legalized segregation ……..etc. Slavery created and sustained many extractive institutions that served the elites well at the expense of slaves. These extractive institutions have not gone away.
Moreover, everyone but slaves and their descendants benefited greatly from slavery. For example, in 1833 under the Abolition Act, the UK borrowed and appropriated £20M to compensate slave-owning families; the families of many current prominent Britons were compensated. The loan was paid off in 2015. However, to date, the slaves’ descendants have not received even a farthing. And they cannot even get a simple apology for an inartful comment from a sitting Governor.
There you go again with your reparation demand for you and other people with their hands out for money you have not earned or deserved. Again not a £ of UK taxpayer money. I will make you an offer that if you know someone who own slaves or someone that was a slave if would bow down and kiss your feet. Do you think it is fair for the current generation taxpayers should pay compensation for the actions of past generations. The current generations had nothing to do with slavery. Further, slaves and descendants were already compensated with land.
No, the are all dead, but they did not take their riches to th grave, you inherited those blood riches.
Grow up, become human and do what is right. Give an apology and share some od the wealth our ancestors created for you.
I challenge you to divest yourself of all of your wealth by diving it away, sll all of your belongings and become a vagrant if you don’t think Black people deserve to be righted.
After all the factual and human history E. Leaonard articulated, that is all you can offer? Truly hopelessly entranched in your inhumanity obviously.
Can you please quote “the explosive words on reparation to the 284 Media; Governor Jaspert did”?
Seriously I can’t identify which words he said are the smoking gun here.
Not sure if I read the same interview because from I heard he did t say anything that gives him away as a racist. But am happy to be proved wrong.
Forward ever, backwards never. Ahyo like to reap up old news. Covid is on the table and ah part of the new world order. Find a plan to defeat if!!
So what you are saying is that the queen’s messenger can say anything offensive to us and not apologize because he is being sent by the queen! Because we are the queen’s subject?
We as a black nation/people are living in serious times and counting!
What did he say offensive, please tell me?
Most of you are missing the point. I am not commenting on whether the Queen should or should not, could or could not apologize for the sin of slavery. But the fact is that neither the Governor nor the Police Commissioner can apologize FOR the queen. Only the queen can. No one can apologize for me, only I can.
Appearances to the contrary, I don’t think CSK is a fool, although I disapprove of him, strenuously. So, I think he asked the Governor for an apology, knowing, flat out, that this was something the Governor couldn’t do. And, that would give him what he wanted, a pot to stir with his racist and divisive diatribe. It simply keeps him in the headlines. Think about it.
to Yoo Hoo, You hit the nail directly on the head.
Disapprove of him, yes! Certainly is no fool,,, just crazy like a fox!
ABSOLUTELY TRUE..”Appearances to the contrary, I don’t think CSK is a fool, although I disapprove of him, strenuously. So, I think he asked the Governor for an apology, knowing, flat out, that this was something the Governor couldn’t do. And, that would give him what he wanted, a pot to stir with his racist and divisive diatribe. It simply keeps him in the headlines. Think about it.”
We are not the queen’s fellow citizens.We are her subjects until we become independent.It is nothing new,so let us not pretend that this is the first time that we are hearing the term used.
What in the white privilege is this bunch of bologna. No man or woman is too big to apologize when they are wrong.SLAVERY WAS WRONG.
I love this comment, you bv islander hate your own brothers and sisters from other islands so much, but here the so called white man is reminding you that you are still OWNED BY THE QUEEN. Now that is a good laugh!
I dont want any repatriation keep that.
If BVIslanders hated people from the other islands so much they would have never given them the chance to become legal residents or belongers. A high percentage of BVIslanders have foreign spouses and girlfriends. Y’all does take one bad experience and try to make it the culture. People from other islands are up a huge part of the BVI. They are our neighbors, friends, doctors, hairdressers, barbers, etc so it impossible to justify that statement. Do you let somebody that you hate come to your house? Do you hire them to work for you? Do you eat their food? Y’all some idiots.
With all the hoopla and make believe that is taking place in the Virgin Islands it is quite evident that the people are still seriously mentally bound. Emancipation from mental slavery comes via a self realization process. That process can never be realized when we continue to cling to the philosophy that was used to instill the enslavement. As we listen in the Month of October to Christ Mass yearning and the rest of the brain wash associated with this pillar of oppression one wonders how can we progress mentally when we continue to remain stuck on stupid. A careful study of European history will reveal that this philosophy was at the bottom of the turmoil that led to the invasion and extermination of the native populations of the Americas. The system that replaced the indigenous way of life has now resulted in what we are battling against today. Open your eyes and realize that we must CHANGE COURSE NOW if we truly wish to survive on this planet.The dream is over it’s time to wake up now.
Who he calling subject? Parna move to the left real fast with that antiquated nonsense. Subjects in the 21st century. You serious Biggs?
If you ask a question you’ll get a right or wrong answer. If you ask a question to the wrong person you’ll get the wrong answer because they have no authority to answer. There’s no shame in saying, I don’t no or, I’m not the one to address that. I guess politically correct is not used in the UK.
We are all humans. No set of people belongs to anyone. The people of these islands do not belong to Queen E! Hence, to refer to them as “her subjects is insulting and belittling.
On another troubling point, Black expats of the Caribbean have taken and swallowed the divide, conquer and hate bait against each other, while the white expat is sitting in his segregated hill top, buying up all the land that BVIslanders are selling them, and laughing at us as they see and know their plan to colonialize is working to a charm.
All Black West Indians had better begin learning about social and psychological conditioning and engineering. He had better had start learning yesterday. WE did not choose to hate each other; we were programmed to do so.
Wake BVIslanders and Eastern Caribbean Black folk!! Unite!! We have one common enemy, and he cares not whether you are Tolian of “Island people” He sees you only as Black and thus to be hated.
In hundred years from today, your offspring will be made third to fourth class animals, whether your roots are from BVI or Eastern Caribbean. Their dogs will be treated better than they will treat them.
The Caucasian does not see a BVIslander, a Caribbean National or a Black human being as a human being. They see us as less than them and objects of lesser value. They do not value Black life. They think Black life does not matter and should not exist. The want only to take our lands for cheap and exploit us for cheap labor. They don’t give a rats ass where you from.
The fact that we are in the twenty first century hating on each other and where we from is not only shameful, but is equally detrimental to us making any head way into future.
Black people had better wake up and soon. If not, we will be made to suffer and be reduced to a status less than human within the next hundred years if we don’t unite . We will endure brutality that will make what our ancestors lived with look like child’s play.
When you have a white person on this site calling you/us squatters and using all other kinds of degrading and inhumane language to belittle us, suggest that that white person does not consider you/us human.
As such, once you have been degraded to less than a human being in the minds of someone, he/she will enslave, treat you less than a dog, or kill you without conscience, because your life does not matter or have any value to him/her.
Black folks, stop taking those racist hateful posts lightly. Those are very dangerous words from a very dangerous mind. They will not lead to a better life for you, your children, and our generational offspring. History and the manner in which they still think about and still treat us today are our greatest teachers.
Take heed!! Clearly, BVI News see no harm in publishing such vile hate, so we must know and remember that out of such hate speech came Stalin, Hitler, king Leoplod11 and countless other Satan’s who murdered in the millions. Those people have not changed since they came upon earth. They will exterminate you from earth if they get a chance.
That is the reality the Black race still faces to this day. The hatred for Black people that that white man spouts weekly for Black people on BVI News is vile, horrific and should not be tolerated, because it has no value other than to disseminate hate.
We have got to wake up Black people. They want the earth and its resources for themselves, and we know they are not good custodians of the earth or are charitable folk to Black people.
And, it is the one race that has an aversion to the truth. Watch them jump upon this blog like white of milk, if it is allowed to circulate in media..
Hence, it will be a precedent of poor journalism being set if BVI News can publish that awful, vile and extremely hostile diatribe of hate against Black people and not publish this in response to it, to open our people’s eyes and register a call to begin thinking about unity among ourselves.
Do you not understand that even though your thesis about the generational advantages gained by the UK are arguably correct, your call for readers to hate all white people is simple inhumanity?
Do you understand that you are calling for blanket hatred of a whole race of people on the basis that those same people are evil, hate you and want to oppress black humans when this is simply not true?
How does it make your life better to kill me or others born with red blood but Caucasian levels of melanin? On what basis do you claim to know my mind and my heart?
Seriously. How does your lust for acts of pure wickedness against me and others, many of us who support black causes from reparations to BLM – how does your wish to destroy us make the world better for you and other Caribbean people?
And how does it square with your own sense of morals?
It os abundantly clear that those people are devoid of any conscience, empathy or soul.
Today, in this late centuey, they are still referring to human beings as their subjets. What an unevolved mind still stuck in white supremacy dillusion.
The honest truth is, white humans have done such evil, but are capable of acknowledging and attoning for the wrongs do to us. The white english man did horrible things to the Black race among others, but he appears devoid of basic decency and humanity to even acknowledge. He sees or has no inner compelling ungency to fix the wrong done to Black people.
Anyone who does not see it necessary to apologize to Black people for centuries of holocaustic horrors and work without pay is not human. They are demons. Don’t associate humanity with demon driven individuals please don’t.
Does not matter who gives the apology. An apology is part of unfinished bsiness the white man, UK included, have with Black people.
In fact, if both the governer and the COP had done the coreect and human thing, they would have been viewed in the annuals of humanity as decent and emphatic human beings.
If they had the proper human and decent convictions, each could have gotten advice from their boss as to how to respond. But to brush it off as an insignificant issue shows their true centuries old colors, as they say.
DEEP!
The article indicates how the people of the OST possessions and this territory are viewed, and thought of by the UK royalty and their/its human and political worldview.
It’s very unfortunate to witness those people, the COP and the Head of state, Gov. Jaspert in particular, standing on the world stage and defending a pernicious, horrific and inhumane philosophy.
A philosophy that represents ill gotten lands and wealth, extermination of entire people, and that is entirely anti human self and political determination.
Indeed, their representatives are simply acting in accordance with that wider worldview and philosophy; while deliberately and blissfully ignorant of the antiquated colonial baggage they represent and carry.
Colonialism was wrong then and its wrong today. Its remnants must go and its remaining victims set free to pursue their own destiny.
Long live the BVI and the OST, and may the people be free from colonial and psychological terror one day.
talk about a rat getting in cats mess…
We are all not in the same boat, in the same storm, both rat and cat. The storm of life. Exchange shoes with Black people and you will live storms never thought possible before.
This reparation should be dealt with at the UN and world court for all involved. These people we are speaking to are interested in defending themselves at all costs.