There’s no disputing the fact that we have come a long way since August 1, 1838 when slavery — man’s greatest act of inhumanity ever — was abolished.

Social, economic, race, and gender inequalities have, in large measure, been expunged from most societies, and recent attempts to fan the flames of hatred and bigotry are meeting stiff resistance from well-thinking people across the world.

It is against that background that today — Emancipation Day — Jamaica reflects on the struggles of our forefathers to end oppression and discrimination of all kinds; to ensure that no longer should any human being be regarded as property by a fellow human.

We can’t say it enough that this period of recall and celebration will not be worth its place on our calendar if Jamaicans do not mark the dates and themes in our hearts and in the way we live.

We continue to hold that just, as the Jews have done with the Holocaust, we cannot allow the world to forget the fact that millions of our ancestors were forcibly taken from their homes in Africa, transported thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the most subhuman of conditions and sold like livestock to the highest bidder.

The point is worth repeating that it is only by knowing and exploring our history that we can truly understand why and how we are who we are.

That colonial symbols and the concept of empire continue to fuel resentment to this day is grounded in the fact that, even after slavery was abolished, the colonists sought to squeeze every ounce of resolve out of the human beings they abused for so many years.

For what else could explain the emancipation proclamation on July 9, 1838 advising the slaves who were about to be freed that they should pay rent for the houses in which they lived and the lands they farmed, effective Emancipation Day, August 1, 1838.

That proclamation, issued by Governor Sir Lionel Smith, stated, in part: “Where you can agree and continue happy with your own masters, I strongly recommend you to remain on those properties on which you have been born, and where your parents are buried. But you must not mistake in supposing that your present houses, gardens, or provision grounds are your own property. They belong to the proprietors of the estates, and you will have to pay rent for them in money or labour, according as you and your employers may agree together.”

Despite the fact that the former slaves were hit with demands of rent and deprived of land, our forefathers demonstrated a resilience and fixity of purpose in their quest for independence that, we hold, should guide us in these modern times.

We need to find in their examples the strength to respond to the vicious criminals of today who, in the same manner as the enslavers of old, use fear and violence to subdue communities and who, we hold, are the greatest threat to Jamaica’s long-term development at this time.

Failure to do that will weaken the value of the freedom for which many lives were sacrificed. It will also question our annual focus on Emancipation Day and our appreciation of the true meaning of ‘full free’.