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Governor's office a 'real manifestation' of colonial enslavement - Skelton-Cline

- calls for certain relics of past to be put into 'dustbin of history'
Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie alongside His Excellency, Governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert on February 26, 2019, during the official appointment of the Premier. Photo: Twitter/File
Claude O. Skelton-Cline was at the time speaking at the Thursday, July 16, 2020, edition of his radio show on Public radio ZBVI 780am when he said that the people of the territory continue to participate in their own subjugation by being easily comforted and persuaded with 'nice words'. Photo: Facebook/File
Claude O. Skelton-Cline was at the time speaking at the Thursday, July 16, 2020, edition of his radio show on Public radio ZBVI 780am when he said that the people of the territory continue to participate in their own subjugation by being easily comforted and persuaded with 'nice words'. Photo: Facebook/File
BAUGHERS BAY, Tortola, VI - Reiterating calls for the Virgin Islands (VI) to stop celebrating people who historically participated in the slave trade and other crimes against humanity, ZBVI 'Honestly Speaking' radio host, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline said until that happens the Territory cannot chart a new course forward.

"Have you noticed how some people rush to go and defend the Governor and rush to go and defend the Office of the Governor, the very symbol... and real manifestations to this current day that represents our enslavement and our colonial masters?" he questioned.

Skelton-Cline was speaking on the Thursday, July 16, 2020, edition of his radio show on ZBVI 780 AM when he said that the people of the Territory continue to participate in their own subjugation by being easily comforted and persuaded with 'nice words'.

VI continues to celebrate slave owners - Skelton-Cline

"Why are we celebrating people who were slave owners, people who participated in the slave trade, persons like Francis Drake, persons like William Thornton, people who exacted crimes against humanity? Some of these people need to be tried... and found guilty." 

When revisited, Skelton-Cline said that many of the past relics and especially historical people are not a good example of model citizens and, hence, should be confined to the 'dustbin of history."

The man of the cloth also called on the bourgeoisie and educated class in the VI to take the first step, while pointing out that now is the best time to change the world.

"How can we change our current condition and chart a new course if we don't confront the lies that have been told in history, even lies about us, that we too have come to believe about ourselves?" he questioned.

37 Responses to “Governor's office a 'real manifestation' of colonial enslavement - Skelton-Cline”

  • trrefdrfds (22/07/2020, 14:02) Like (22) Dislike (0) Reply
    so why celebrate Africa when then hold in high regard and revere men who sold other blacks into slavery and if you chose to ignore all them that leaves very little for Africa to be proud of in their history. You cannot have it both ways.

    Assessing the people of Africa's past by today's standards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villains"
    Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
    Nigerian journalist
  • man of the cloth (22/07/2020, 14:04) Like (11) Dislike (1) Reply
    * Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would show to Christ.”

    Here the Bible says for slaves to obey their master as if he was God himself.

    * 1 Timothy 6:1, “All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honour, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.”
    • @man (22/07/2020, 15:25) Like (20) Dislike (0) Reply
      COS brushed over that part. On one hand, he wants to banish slavery, but he also wants to keep his cash cow the church. He is brushing over the fact that Christianity was the tool used to colonize and control masses around the world. And, Christianity, much like COS, is still being used to keep most of us mentally enslaved and in poverty.
  • hey (22/07/2020, 14:07) Like (53) Dislike (0) Reply
    Hey Cline, If you so against colonialism how come I don't hear you renouncing Christianity for the African Religion/Spirituality of your Ancestors? After all Christianity was shoved down your throat by the white colonial man....Or does it serve you well to only bash certain things, and not others because one lines your pocket and the other does not? Moomoo man of the cloth lol
    • @ hey (22/07/2020, 15:46) Like (17) Dislike (1) Reply
      Boy/girl I couldn’t agree with you more... you said it BEST!
      • @clowns (23/07/2020, 10:28) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        @man, @@man, @hey, @@hey

        Either you're the same person or ignorance has just quadrupled in this place. Your time has expired... The 400 years are over-

        Acts 7:6
        Genesis 15:13

        But what I love the most is Genesis 15:14 and it says, in your same King James Version that "...that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward they shall come out with great substance."

        It's ok, we understand it is a fearful thing for the ones who are not called after God's name.

        They tried to impose their last names on the ancestors and today they laugh at the fools in the bvi who fight over who have their slave masters last name but I know my last name is Israel!
      • @ hey (27/07/2020, 08:06) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        Why dont the man of the cloth try purify history. So disgusted of his slavety natrative every day.
  • all smiles (22/07/2020, 14:37) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
    Thanks for the smiles I got due to the statement in this article that some of these people should be tried. I tend to agree but the sight of suing the likes of Francis Drake, and others, this would make serious headlines. Maybe their estate should be sued to collect the repatriation monies.
  • josiah'sbay (22/07/2020, 14:42) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    For some people the fear of jeopardizing their position and status is greater than group advancement. For others the acknowledgment that they have been bamboo zed and sheepishly led leaves a bad taste in their mouth... It's safe to say that any character or person from the colonial era who help with their countries imperialistic effort was not a friend of the enslaved or oppressed and their descendants.
  • trrefdrfds (22/07/2020, 14:50) Like (9) Dislike (0) Reply
    You find the governor attractive a line, just admit it. All this hard to get stuff getting tiring for real
  • ! (22/07/2020, 14:57) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    And the world watches.
  • Den (22/07/2020, 15:15) Like (14) Dislike (0) Reply
    Here he goes again!
  • @Truth (22/07/2020, 15:17) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    It was the deceitfulness of those that came in the name of god that conquer those in Africa to do the dirty work get that straight....still see the cloth there threw over ur face is still on ...Josh we really need to go back to ur class room to change that course ..yes cline
    • Funny (22/07/2020, 18:20) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      Its was slave masters that taught you the word of gos to keep you under the whip. Also Africa had slaves long before the white man/arabs got there and far longer after emancipation Africa kept their slaves....you really cannot have it both ways and both your ways God & Africa seems on the shady side
  • Yes (22/07/2020, 15:22) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    We need to clean the whole house...In all them sturbon corners from the top to bottom...
  • @hey (22/07/2020, 15:27) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
    That was well said
  • Infidel (22/07/2020, 15:44) Like (11) Dislike (0) Reply
    How convenient is it to embrace Christianity the bedrock of slavery, forget the Africans that sold their brothers into slavery and then continuously attack the governor, a worker, and forget about England, the monarchy and the church of England. What a man.
    • evidence (22/07/2020, 17:39) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
      Where is the evidence that black people sold their own into slavery. Was there a common understanding in the language, was there intent to enter into a legal arrangement to sell their people as slaves to be beaten and raped and killed. I would more so believe that the black man was feared in his land and no way was this the agreement in place. And if it were so, why were so many of the transported individuals stolen.
      • straight from the horses mouth (22/07/2020, 18:23) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
        Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that one of her ancestors sold slaves, but argues that he should not be judged by today's standards or values.
        Short presentational grey line
        My great-grandfather, Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku, was what I prefer to call a businessman, from the Igbo ethnic group of south-eastern Nigeria. He dealt in a number of goods, including tobacco and palm produce. He also sold human beings.
        "He had agents who captured slaves from different places and brought them to him," my father told me.
        Nwaubani Ogogo's slaves were sold through the ports of Calabar and Bonny in the south of what is today known as Nigeria.
        People from ethnic groups along the coast, such as the Efik and Ijaw, usually acted as stevedores for the white merchants and as middlemen for Igbo traders like my great-grandfather.
    • Patriot bvi (22/07/2020, 17:48) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply

      The love of money is the root of all evil.

  • wet (22/07/2020, 16:18) Like (1) Dislike (13) Reply
    keep the pressure on him he needs to go from here Claude
  • Slavery (22/07/2020, 16:40) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
    When you see a white man we worship him. We talk bad about our own to him, we even down play our own character and play the role of the house slave.

    Message for the house slave

    Stop it. History has proven that you cant win. So to the Lorna Pickering, Marlon switch Ronnie smith mr and Mrs Lettsome Chalwell Flax Even those who proclaim to be pastors to name a few just know you are fighting a battle that you cannot win.
    • Really Now (23/07/2020, 05:57) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      We blacks are no different than whites, another thing we blacks still using the white masters last name.
  • Windy (22/07/2020, 17:09) Like (2) Dislike (1) Reply
    Obviously Claude was born 300 years to late.
  • Bovine (22/07/2020, 17:34) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
    you must look to the past to shape our future.
    past should not be eliminated, hidden, not talked about. it is there...it cant and should not be ignored. It is what this territory was built on an what has shaped us as human beings to what we are today... we have risen above it.....we have climbed out of it....let us not forget it.
    Mr. Cline...focus on something more productive
  • Miro deleting (22/07/2020, 17:36) Like (0) Dislike (1) Reply
    Say it LOUDER
  • Rubber Duck (22/07/2020, 17:54) Like (2) Dislike (1) Reply

    Francis Drake was a privateer / pirate , long before there were any plantations here. He had nothing to do with slavery.

  • @slavey (22/07/2020, 18:50) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
    keep the heat on them....set of evil in shady places
  • @ rubber duck (22/07/2020, 19:56) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Come now Duckie Duck. Francis was a relative of and first sailed with John Hawkins. Hawkins was given a royal charter by queen Elizabeth I and her personal ship the JESUS OF LUBECK to transport slaves from Africa to the West Indies. Say it ain't so. Please see YOU TUBE article The Good Ship Jesus of Lubeck, John Hawkins. John Lok and 1555 Slavery. Wish you well Claude trying to wake the Living Dead...their conscience has been seared as with a hot iron. Its all about money and to hell with anything or anybody.
  • g (22/07/2020, 21:11) Like (0) Dislike (1) Reply
    This man all set fire to furey it don't have a refue to give him time out buddy
    • wow (23/07/2020, 09:48) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
      He needs to Stop instigating crap. Show us what he getting paid for. Tired of seeing him in the News. He just like the other Pastor
      They must be related. Thick as .....
  • E. Leonard (22/07/2020, 23:15) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    Slavery and its twin—Colonialism— was an atrocious, deplorable and despicable act that dehumanized and brutalized Slaves. Slavery and Colonialism enriched slave traders, slave owners among others. Further, the UK economy was built on the blood, sweat and tears of forced and exploited Slave labour. Slave traders and slave owners, but not Slaves nor their descendants, enjoyed the fruit of Slave labour. As such, no one that engaged in the Slave trade and in Slave ownership should be positively recognized and rewarded for his/her dastardly acts. He or she should not be memorialized for his or her dastardly act(s).

    Moreover, Colonialism is an anachronism with a sordid history that needs to be dumped in the dung heap. The VI, an OT of the UK, is supposedly an internal self-governing territory. However, in reality, it is partially self-governing. The UK is responsible for external affairs, defence, internal security, civil services, RVIPF, jail(partial) and judiciary; VI, other. In addition to the listed responsibilities, the constitution give the governor, the crown rep and de facto head of state, tremendous reserved powers. There is clearly a governing power divide and the gap needs to be significantly narrowed or eliminated altogether. The VI negotiations team at the last constitutional review did less than a stellar job in the negotiations. Consequently, in the next constitutional review, the power of the governor needs to be curtailed.







    • @E. Leonard (23/07/2020, 08:50) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      @E. Leonard, let the slave and slavery ting rest nah. Slavery happened 100 years ago and we need to look forward. In these times, man thinking about wah dem going to eat. Give it a rest mehson.
      • E. Leonard (23/07/2020, 11:53) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
        @@E. Leonard, history cannot and should not be ignored or swept under the rug. It should be confronted head on. George Santayana, writer and philosopher says, “Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Further, in a 1948 speech to the House of Commons, Sir Winston Churchill changed the quote slightly when he said, 'Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” We cannot pretend that slavery didn’t exist or try to sanitize it. Keep it real and raw.

        The brutal Atlantic slave trade commenced on or about the mid 1600’s. Millions of captured Africans were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas and the Caribbean colonies; many had a watery grave on the way across the pond. Though the UK abolished the slave trade in 1807, physical slavery was not officially abolished until 1838. Cheap slave labour created many millionaires with the wealth of slave owners passed on to their descendants at their leaving this earth. Slave traders and slave owners benefited from slave labour yet to date neither slaves nor their descendants have received a wooden nickel. Slavery abolished, the UK borrowed approximately £20M to compensate slave owning families. Per a University of London study, approximately 3000 slave owning families were compensated; the families of some prominent Britons, including a former prime minister, were compensated. The loan was retired in 2015, which means that Black Britons were paying to payoff a loan taken out to pay slave owners who owned their foreparents. In any event, it is time to shed colonialism and make slave descendants whole. It is time for reparation.

        Reparation is about righting a wrong. Slaves were definitely brutalized, exploited, abused and dehumanized. Reparation is not a hypothetical situation. Other groups who have been wronged have received reparation, eg, Jews, Japanese among others. So why not slave descendants?
  • Eagle Eye (23/07/2020, 07:10) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    This picture says it all. Only who have eyes will see.
  • @@,E, lenord (23/07/2020, 09:51) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply

    Go shit ur w**** @$% down if u want to be walking around here blind folded that ur @$% u go blind ur kids too ..not me and mines ...u #%^&* out of timing mule



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