Cummings Calls for the Teaching of African History and Civilization in Schools

State Minister for Agriculture and Lands, Victor Cummings has called for the teaching of African history and civilisation in the school system, as this would help to break the bonds of mental slavery.
“We need to get rid of mental slavery as a lot of what is happening within our country has to do with that mental slavery. We find it hard to work together as a people because it is entrenched in our psyche from long ago,” Mr. Cummings stated in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (Feb. 6).
He was responding to a motion brought to the House by Member of Parliament for Clarendon Central, Mike Henry, calling for the House to develop a common position on the impact of slavery and the matter of “reparation for the countries of the displaced descendants of slavery”.
According to the State Minister, the bonds of slavery have left with us the inability to communicate effectively and “the first thing we do when we have a disagreement is reach for guns and we start yelling at each other. The difference between the house slave and the field slave, it is still there”.
Mr. Cummings argued however that “just passing a resolution alone even if you have full support, will not go far in achieving what needs to be achieved. We need to be out in the schools and us as leaders of our country need to lead by example”.
He noted further that, “we need to get ourselves together and we need to work together in order to achieve things in the best interest of not just our race, but also our country”.
Mr. Henry, in his motion, acknowledged that there have been apologises for slavery from heads of states, monarchs and presidents, and while he had no problem accepting apologies, “it is not good enough and it must carry with it compensation equal to the act”.
He said that “whether reparations come in the form of payments tied to infrastructure or education, I ask that we as a Parliament decide what we feel is just. Let us clearly state our position on slavery and the impact on our lives.”