We cannot go forward and forget our ancestors. Yet Memorial ACTe, which today receives up to , visitors a year—nearly all of them foreign—has been a source of controversy since its inauguration on May 10, Others demanded not a memorial, but reparations: Most of the cost of the memorial had been paid out of local tax revenue, according to the European Commission—a steep price in a place where the average salary is less than 1, euros a month.
For many Guadeloupeans, the memorial offered France an out, a way of exonerating itself from the bloody legacy of a year slave trade without grappling with the past, as Eli Domota, the leader of the labor union Liyannaj Kong Pwofitasyon LKP , or Alliance Against Profiteering, told me. Sidestepping the past also appeared to be the preference of Emmanuel Macron, the current president of France. But locals criticized his visit, saying that white tourists were given priority access to emergency supplies.
Macron has not visited the Caribbean since. Whether Memorial ACTe has helped resolve that tension is an open question. Guadeloupeans have French passports, can travel freely within the European Union, and can vote in French elections. Outside of the classroom and outside of the cities, Creole is the unofficial language. Guadeloupeans follow the French legal and political system; in school, they learn from the same curriculum as students in mainland France.
But few in Guadeloupe enjoy a quality of life comparable to that of mainland France. Although Guadeloupe receives million euros from the EU each year, its youth-unemployment rate has hovered around 50 percent for decades. The discontent black Guadeloupeans feel towards France dates back to the s.
In those years, a number of black Guadeloupeans, Martiniqueans, and French Guianans, emigrated to mainland France in search of work. But many returned home, disenchanted by the lack of opportunity. It was these waters — know today as the Caribbean Sea — that sustained the Arawaks, who eked out simple lives, living off the daily catch. In , Christopher Columbus became the first European to land on Guadeloupe. His expedition left behind no settlers, but the Spanish soon started to stake their claim to the archipelago and attempted to colonise the island.
The French quickly established Guadeloupe as one of the leading players in the booming sugar industry, but while the motherland enjoyed the sweet taste of success, African slaves toiled relentlessly in the plantations.
The outbreak of the French Revolution in brought tumult to Guadeloupe. The republicans and monarchists fought bitterly and by a slave rebellion had broken out. The British took advantage of the chaos and seized the island the following year, but it was back in French hands by the end of Well, sort of.
Guadeloupe was largely under the control of slaves, until when Napoleon Bonaparte sent forces to retake the island and reinstate slavery. Colonies France Paris Provinces. Barthelemy St. Martin St. Enter search terms:. Place cursor over book to read a review and to see purchase information. Search by title, author, artist, or ISBN :. Translate this page into:. Select language:. Find research papers by topic:. Subscribe to receive updates about DiscoverFrance.
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