![]() ![]() Referring to Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, The Independent’s White tweeted: “Of the ‘big four’ countries in the Caribbean community, this week Jamaica will be the only one that isn’t a republic.”Īnd outside the Caribbean, a movement to drop the Queen as head of state has been growing in Australia too. Both of Jamaica’s main political parties support cutting ties with the monarchy completely. On Monday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the island’s constitution would undergo a major review next year. Over the years, there has been a “long-running debate” in Jamaica over whether it should also turn away from the monarchy, said The Guardian. Guyana took that step in 1970, Trinidad and Tobago followed suit in 1976 and Dominica did the same two years later. Toby Melville - Pool/Getty Images Will other countries follow suit?īarbados is not the first former British colony in the Caribbean to forsake the Queen. Prince Charles with Sandra Mason, President of Barbados, during the ceremony on 30 November Calls for an apologyĪlongside demands for reparations, some campaigners have been calling on the Royal Family to apologise for the role of its ancestors in the slave trade. The legacy of slave owners on the island is apparent, she continued, adding that “white Barbadians account for about 2.5% of the 280,000 population but they own most of the island’s productive land”. Given Barbados’s history, it is “no surprise” that the island “has been at the centre of the debate about reparations”, wrote Zeinab Badawi in the Financial Times. “Why haven’t we heard any talk about reparations despite the PM creating a whole arm in the government to deal with that issue?” “A lot of us don’t understand why the prince is here if we’re really pulling away from the colonial power,” co-organiser Marcia Weekes told White. Today’s transition had been debated for years, but “gained momentum amid the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States and growing demands for reparations for slavery on the island”, said The Washington Post.Īccording to The Independent’s race correspondent Nadine White, who has been reporting from Bridgetown, campaigners had planned to stage a protest demanding slavery reparations during Prince Charles’s speech, but had been forced to cancel it by the country’s government. Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images Demands for slavery reparations Prime Minister Mia Mottley, left, with Rihanna, centre, and President Sandra Mason, seated, in Bridgetown ![]()
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