Orville Taylor | Emancipation: A farce or an incomplete project

On the stroke of midnight the spirits of the ancestors will be jumping again and we will be celebrating the legal end of the enslavement of Africans in the British Empire. It is right in the middle of the British Commonwealth Games, an event that based on the current structure of the Commonwealth itself, with the United Kingdom (UK) at the head, is a sharp reminder of the incomplete emancipation and independence process.

Being staged at this time is not particularly common. Indeed, the first time that it captured the date of emancipation was in 1954, when the games were renamed, if even superficially, to its present nomenclature, dumping the erstwhile British Empire Games moniker. In that year, perhaps symbolically, it was staged in Canada, which was a full decade after Jamaica had its first general election on the basis of universal adult suffrage. In fact, it was perhaps coincidental that it was in the same year that it had given the unrestricted right to Native Canadians, the Inuit, the entitlement to cast a ballot in federal elections.

All the other times that the games were going on during Emancipation Day, they were held in the UK. These include Edinburgh in 1986, Manchester in 2002 and Glasgow in 2014. Jamaica, with the distinction of being the first non-white country to do so, hosted them in 1966, and celebrated Independence two days after they began. The other dubious distinction is being the first host not have won a gold medal, although we performed creditably and won a total of six, including two silvers. Importantly, no one had even thought of celebrating Emancipation Day, which had been observed up until independence in 1962.

For whatever reason, both sides of Parliament, as they did with the black-phobia, Rasta persecution, banning of books and Walter Rodney, colluded to no longer celebrate it, until wisdom returned in 1998.

Again it might be simply coincidence, but the games were boycotted by all CARICOM nations in 1986 because of Britain’s refusal to cut ties with racist South Africa. Held, interestingly with the complicity of African nations, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, only the Cayman Islands broke the picket lines, as other colonies, such as the Turks and Caicos Islands stayed away. Bermuda withdrew at the 11th hour, although their athletes were already in the ‘mother country’ for the games.

All other games which coincided with our Emancipation were held on British soil.

MISNOMER

I am not sure if the UK will even acknowledge the date tomorrow, or even craft a proper apology; but the critics who were lamenting the holding of the recent World Championships in the USA, and the feeling that it was not truly international space, should also recognise that the Commonwealth of Nations is a serious misnomer. The wealth is certainly not common and we are really adult and sub-adult children, visiting our parental yard, while our grandmother reminds us that we are all her offspring. Of course, a crude analogy of the process by which progenies are produced might support the matriarchy paradigm. However, being British subjects is really not a sustainable option, real independence is yet to come. Any notion of a Commonwealth of Nations which does not recognise the sovereignty and equality of each individual member is a farce.

Let it not be misunderstood, I am absolutely pro-Commonwealth. There is no objection in principle for countries which have similar histories and commonality across all kinds of spectrum to be part of a larger system that is mutually beneficial, in fact, it must be encouraged as the world becomes more globalised nevertheless.

Yet, the ugly truth is that as we commemorate our Emancipation, the reason why we have yet to succeed is precisely where the process began. As it was in 1986, there were continental Africans who were active participants in the initial and prolonged enslavement of ourselves. Rather than pussyfooting and trying to explain away their involvement in a “context” admonition, it is time that the continentals admit their role, repair and move ahead.

It is even more obvious when we look at the contemporary. Talk all the context you want, but during the period of enslavement there were privileges enslaved Africans who visited horrors on their peers.

It is for the reason that I will keep advocating for the elevation of Chief Tacky to the Order of National Hero. Like Sam Sharpe, he died fighting for the freedom of all slaves in this country. But most important, as an overseer, he had a lot to lose.

Not dissimilar is George William Gordon who, being a wealthy mulatto, threw in his lot with the African Paul Bogle and others, paying the ultimate price.

On the eve of Emancipation Day, there are still to many hypocrites who want to hold on to their colonial titles and privileges. Then they say no Privy Council and ask for reparations.

How stupid must Her Majesty think we are. If our leaders are not emancipated, this whole project is a clowning affair.

Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.