President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said Guyana recognises the considerable achievements of its African descendants in every sphere of nation-building and he again committed his administration’s support for the call for reparations.
According to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) the President said that 174 years ago, on August 1, 1838, “the most hideous and barbaric system of human exploitation was abolished,” and full and final freedom announced for all enslaved Africans throughout the British Carib-bean. The end of plantation slavery came nearly 400 years after the first transatlantic shipment of Africans which depleted the continent of several million of its most productive souls.
“The historical account of slavery is burdened by unspeakable atrocities and adversity. It is a history of genocide. It is a history of the African Holocaust which every conceivable device was employed to reduce a proud and powerful people to commodities,” Jagdeo said. The president also said the experience of slavery is a lesson in achievement. “It is an account of the manner in which the African people consistently refused to be broken and resolutely resisted attempts to be reduced to less than human,” he added.
Jagdeo said this Emancipation Day as a nation proud if its African ancestors “who transformed adversity into creativity” Guyana is grateful to its forebears for the depth of their contribution to national development and to the nation’s cultural richness and diversity. The president also recalled that last year, in his Freedom Day message he had voiced support for reparations “And as the developed world has determined it practical to proffer fulsome apologies for the atrocities committed during slavery, our Government must ensure that they respect their obligation, promise, and commitment.”
Let us today steadfastly determine to uphold a mutual respect, appreciation and understanding of each other this Emancipation Day, Jagdeo said.
