Dec. 17, 2006 -- Debates about slavery reparations have had a worldwide resurgence, with local community leaders coming together over the weekend at the University of the Virgin Islands for a two-day discussion of the subject.
"You cannot take a people from their land and their families, rid them of their culture, language, traditions and history without undermining their humanity and yours," Shelley Moorhead told a small crowd gathered Saturday at UVI's St. Croix campus. Even the descendants of slave owner have been adversely affected by slavery through a "stain on their history" that needs to be repaired through reparations, said Moorhead, who leads the Virgin Islands' reparation efforts with Denmark.
During the "Big Reparations Sit Down," attendees participated in interactive discourse on the origins of slavery, Denmark's responsibility to the Virgin Islands and the lasting effects of slavery on the descendants of both the enslaved and slave owners.
ChenziRa Kahina, director of the Per Ankh Institute, spoke about the role of women in reparations. Women were highly sought after by slave owners because they could work as hard as a man and could breed more slaves, she said. Kahina recounted what life must have been like for an African woman who was taken from her village and forced into a life of slavery, which included forced breeding, abortions, incestuous relationships and the use of women as sex objects to satisfy slave owners' desires.
"We are the only group that has not received reparations," she said, citing the American Indian, Holocaust victims and interned Japanese among groups that have received compensation.

Events of the past are ingrained into the culture and lifestyle of Virgin Islanders, Moorhead said. He pointed to the life-sized portrait of King Christian V prominently displayed in the grand ballroom of Government House in Christiansted and the Danish flags that fly alongside the Virgin Islands flag atop all state buildings.
"It is an insult to our history and to all we represent," Moorhead said, although he said he did not advocate removal of the portrait or the Danish flags because "even if it is removed, the mindset remains."
Reparations is not solely about monetary compensation, Moorhead noted, but about "domestic repair," which includes historical, educational and business opportunities. "This is about the restoration of a people," he said.
During the second day of discussions, attendees formed focus groups to discuss education, restoration, and reconciliation. The results of these discussions will be presented to representatives in Denmark for further consideration.
Moorhead, president of the African-Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance (ACRRA), has stood at the forefront of the V.I. reparations movement since 2004 and has led delegations to Denmark and the United Nations to discuss reparations. The main focus for reparations is Denmark, which owned St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix -- formerly the Danish West Indies -- from 1691 to 1917 before selling the territory to the United States for $25 million in gold. History recalls that for 175 years Denmark enslaved more than 200,000 African men, women and children, Moorhead said, transporting them to the Danish West Indies from Africa. More than 100,000 Africans perished during the Middle Passage, the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, he noted.
In April 2005, a nine-member V.I. delegation was invited to travel to Denmark to discuss reparations with Danish humanitarian and cultural groups. A memorandum of understanding was signed during the visit, as well as an agreement to establish a joint task force with the Danish Institute of Human Rights. The intent of the document is to further study the issue of reparations and explore possible ways to promote cultural exchanges, education and training opportunities.
Interest and discussion on reparations continues to grow, with many world leaders recently making statements on the subject. Moorhead mentioned the recent comments of United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, both of whom spoke publicly on the inhumanity of the slave trade. In the Virgin Islands, Moorhead is attempting to keep the discussions on the front burner through community involvement.
"We have been very effective on the world scene," he said.
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