Sylvia Wynter's Dream

by jessiemayers | Class Blog 6 | Memory only matters for the future.

I love to go to a specific beach back home in Saint Lucia. It’s a long yellow sand beach called Reduit Beach. I was at this beach one day with my family. While I was in the water with my little cousin, teaching her how to swim, I looked out at the expanse of the bay. I was at its southern end, and I watched its broad curve ending where the horn of Pigeon Island capped it. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was bathing in someone else’s backyard.

Image of Reduit Beach from Encircle Photos

The bay is called Rodney Bay, one of the most scenic places in the country. It has several beaches, tourist attractions and houses the IGY Rodney Bay Marina. 

Photo of Rodney Bay from Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/pin/119063983874690732/

Nice right? 

But I’m sure it doesn’t come as a surprise to find out that the bay is named after a notorious coloniser – Admiral Rodney, a British naval general who was instrumental in maintaining Saint Lucia as a British colony. I will not list his most lauded achievements because he has already received enough commendations in history books and other online articles.

Image of Admiral Rodney from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brydges_Rodney,_1st_Baron_Rodney

Places named after European officials are not a unique feature of Saint Lucia; at least five of our districts are named after white Governors from the colonial era. 

So, what does it matter that Rodney Bay is named after a white man who died hundreds of years ago?

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second. I will use this example from my friend Blaire: What if I suggested that we name somewhere after Hitler? Yes, yes, I know, this is such an unsavoury suggestion because Hitler was instrumental in the brutal oppression and deaths of thousands of people. 

During the 1700s, the British Royal Navy played a pivotal role in upholding Britain’s global dominance as the world’s leading slave-trading nation. By safeguarding slave ships transporting enslaved Africans and goods produced from rival nations, the Royal Navy effectively helped to preserve the institution of slavery.¹

Saint Lucia historian Fiona Compton revealed that Rodney was abhorrently against the Abolition Act of 1788. In her video prompting the renaming of Rodney Bay, she quoted statements made by the Admiral against the Act:

“It is foley that such a delusion should take place.”

“One labouring man in England did more work in a day than five negroes.” 

Rodney, a product of the Royal Navy, reflects his desire to retain the system of slavery so that the social order founded on the subjugation of black Africans remained for the benefit of white British pockets. 

I hope you get where I’m going with this. Hitler and Rodney both expressed the desire of a specific demographic of people to dominate and control those they perceived as inferior for their personal and nationalist gain.

And there I was, swimming in the water, playing in the sand and feeling the breeze of an area that was branded by the legacy of a man who was proslavery and whose entire career vehemently supported its continuation.

I looked at my little cousin. She was splashing around and having a good time, oblivious to this fact. I couldn’t help but wonder about the obscure psychological effects that living an amnestic existence would have on her and other children in her age group. Will she grow up one day and learn the truth? 

I immediately felt a burning guilt in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I should tell her the truth behind the name. But what will a 5-year-old understand about slavery and colonialism and the significance of names? 

What about other people who also bathe on the beaches that fringe the bay? I observed a lady float like a starfish, a man on a jetski skipping on the waves, and a little boy throwing rocks into the water. Many people were comfortable enough to relax in spaces that were imbued with the essence of colonial oppressors. Have we become so numb to the blatant expressions of continued colonial presence?

Ngugi wa Thiong’o believed that speaking in the coloniser’s language is an example of normalised abnormality… trying to claim the coloniser’s language is a sign of the success of enslavement.”² With this frame of thought, retaining colonial branding is an indication of slavery’s continuation in Saint Lucia.

Images of Fiona Compton’s Petition on https://www.change.org/p/government-of-saint-lucia-removing-pro-slavery-admiral-from-our-landscapes-rename-rodney-bay-saint-lucia

The significance of a name is found in its historical context and indicates the legacy of a place. Therefore, Rodney Bay is a preservation of Admiral Rodney’s legacy, and its retention is a slap in the face to all descendants of enslaved Africans in Saint Lucia.

Fiona Compton petitioned to rename the bay La Révolution. A meaningful name that was given by the neg mawon, the self-freed slaves who seized and expelled European forces from the island. Yet, after three years, the petition still has not received its full quota of signatures. 

Image of sign petitioning for the renaming of Rodney Bay https://viralcaribbean.com/new-sign-mounted-at-pigeon-island-admiral-rodney-the-slave-keeper-should-we-rename-rodney-bay/

The lack of importance given to reclaiming an independent identity as an island speaks to a proliferating wave of amnesia. Saint Lucian heritage is tainted by implicit colonial forgiveness, where Saint Lucians silently accept that sections of land are to remain branded by white names, preserving a European legacy of oppression.

I suppose amnesia results in a calmness that allows one to relax, leaving all unpleasant ideas and historical facts outside the cloud of buffering ignorant bliss. Are we doomed to live in a home that carries the signifiers of an oppressive era? The inability to reconcile and recognise Saint Lucian’s contributions to Saint Lucian history will continually erode our heritage.

The more we claim and refer to places in the name of white colonisers, the more we diminish our present identity, leaving a faded imprint of what we are for the future.

Sources:

1. The Role of the Royal Navy in the Support and Advancement of British Slavery ↩︎
2. On the Abolition of the English Department NGUGI WA THIONG’O ↩︎