Who are we as a people? What are our values? And what should we accept from our leaders?
I ask these questions after we commemorated Emancipation Day on Friday, the end of chattel slavery.
Every year on 1 August, we celebrate our freedom, which was made possible only by the 1834 British Emancipation Act, which ended slavery across the British Empire. It brought an end to the most cruel and inhumane period in history. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was a particularly vicious form of slavery. And it has left its scars.
It is also true that slavery existed before the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese in 1492. It existed in ancient Egypt, it existed in ancient Rome, it existed in China during the Han dynasty. But, do we also know that slavery existed in Africa, from ancient times (as early as 2500 BC) until the 20th century? In fact, the last country in the world to abolish slavery is the West African country of Mauritania. And guess the year slavery was abolished in Mauritania? 1981.
So Black people, too, have a long history of enslaving our own brothers and sisters. Let us recall the genocide of 1994, it was Black people committing genocide against other Black people in Rwanda. These are the things we have done to ourselves, to each other.
But now, every time I go on social media, I am seeing government officials, even an Ambassador aligned with the Labour Party, stoking hatred, division and racism in our country. We need to be careful of the desperate political tribalism being promoted by Philip J. Pierre, his administration and surrogates.
Some are saying that I should not have asked questions about the visit of President Tinubu because he is a Black man. Some said that I am a house slave, because I support Allen, who is a white man. Is that where we are in this country – anyone can be celebrated, regardless of their history, their values, their contribution, once they are Black it is good?
So, according to the Labour Party, any African is good, but Chastanet cannot lead this country because he is white? Is this where we are as a country? But for those who questioned me, saying that I am not Black enough because we rightly asked questions about the visit of Tinubu, based on what we know I say this to you:
I, Stephen John Fevrier, I am a proud Black man and I fully support Allen Chastanet to be the next Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. Not because he is Black, white, mixed, or whatever, but because HE is the best person to lead this country. He is a man who is deeply committed to this country. He is a proud Saint Lucian, and I support him because of his vision for this country and I will challenge my friends on the Labour Party side who accused me of being an Uncle Tom, a Chastanet apologist, a house slave.
What qualifies you to be more Black than me?• Have you ever been to Africa? Have you?• Have you ever worked with your African brothers and sisters to strengthen ties?• Have you ever taken your children to the Motherland, or just only to Miami?
I know for me, I have been to Africa. I have taken both of my children to the Motherland. In fact, before Captain Ibrahim Traoré, there was a Burkinabé freedom fighter called Thomas Sankara – my last son is named after him.
As Senior Advisor to the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, I dutifully served a Nigerian, who happens to be THE most respected African leader. Someone that I deeply admire and respect, not because she is Black or Nigerian, but because of her values, because of her integrity, because of her contribution.
So, listen to me carefully not all Black is good, and not all white is bad. But you know what, spreading hate and division is desperate, it is to distract us from the abject failure which is this Labour government. Labour wants us to forget who we are as a people, that we are proud, that we are ambitious, that we are world conquerors.
They cannot mumuguay us with racism as they try to inject race into our politics, in circumstances where we are literally fighting for the survival of our country. This is a government that is more interested in dividing than uniting, because in dividing us, they wrongly believe they can preserve their power and avoid accountability for the damage they have done to our country. They want us to focus on colour more than our future.
We are the country, we are the people, that undertook the biggest engineering feat in the history of the OECS with the John Compton Dam and the Pigeon Island Causeway. We established one of the first international airports in the OECS, built roads in areas thought to be impassable. Dredged waterways and reclaimed lands. We are the people who produced Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott. We are the country of Daren Sammy. We are the people of Julian Alfred…This is our kith and kin. We have produced towering intellectuals who have contributed to the advancement of Caribbean civilisation.
SO DON’T TELL ME THAT WHAT WE HAVE NOW PASSING FOR A GOVERNMENT IS THE BEST WE CAN DO. We can and must do better. Because we deserve better. This is a government that wants power, wants to protect the victory but ducks personal responsibility, there is no accountability. Is this the best we can do? No, we can do better.
They say they have no control over the cost of living, spiralling crime situation, lack of access to medical care, evident maladministration, billions of dollars in CIP funds that have vanished, water crisis, deplorable roads, fact that there is a gangster sitting at the very heart of our government. Is this the best we can do?
Racism has become official Labour Party and government policy, the response to everything and every failure. If you ask for accountability, the response: “But Allen is a white man.” What utter nonsense.
Is it Allen that destroyed SLASPA? Is it Allen that sold off our passports for nothing? Is it Allen who is responsible for the mess at NLA? Is it Allen who stopped the Gros Islet Highway and has you sitting in traffic for hours? Is it Allen who gave away our ports and displaced our people for peanuts? Is it Allen who is responsible for the deplorable condition of our roads? Is he the one who harmed our reputation and put at risk our access to the US, EU and UK? Is he the one on radio and TV insulting Saint Lucians on a weekly basis? Is it Allen Michael Chastanet who killed Tyson?
In my time, I have sat at the same table with Prime Ministers and Presidents, from Brazil to Senegal, from Australia to Iceland, from Peru to Chad and from Fiji to Chile. I have dialogued with and sat at the table with the Head of the UN and UN agencies and the people who make decisions on the direction of travel for the global economy – yes, I have. And what is clear to me is that Allen Chastanet is equal to the best of them. Allen Chastanet is respected. He will be the man I will work with to restore our devastated reputation abroad. He will work with our friends and allies to remove the stain that Labour has placed on our reputation, on your reputation.
But we must be alert to the insidious poison that the Labour government and their agents are spreading. These seeds of division that they are planting will not work. If we want to move forward and create a better and more prosperous country, we must unite.
WHY? Because You know better. We know better. I know better. We deserve better. We can do better.
And with a United Workers Party Government under the leadership of Allen Michael Chastanet, we will do better.
Stephen Fevrier
