An open pastoral letter addressed to Prime Minister David Cameron from Bishop Dr Delroy Wesley Hall of the Church of God of Prophecy speaks of how he felt “compelled to join with the thousands of other Caribbean and black British voices who have been enraged by your “get over slavery and move on” rhetoric.” The letter in the Jamaica Observer of October 18 continues:
“As a tax-paying British citizen of Caribbean descent, I was taken aback by the insensitivity and distasteful nature of your comment. Given your level of intelligence and education, I am sure you would never tell the Jewish people to forget the Holocaust, move on and build their future. Neither would you tell the Palestinians to forget their injuries caused by the Israeli’s and move on. What surprises me is that somehow you felt emboldened to stand on Jamaican soil, which has soaked up the blood of thousands of enslaved Africans who were literally worked to death, died on the plantations, or who were mercilessly brutalised, and tell your audience to forget slavery and move on. Your comment was inappropriate and insensitive.”
Read the full letter here.
