Mark Golding Once Branded Maroons as Traitors Who Crushed Slave Revolts
Kingston, Jamaica – August 2025 – The role of the Jamaican Maroons is once again in the national spotlight, this time with a fresh layer of political intrigue.
In an old interview now resurfacing online, Opposition Leader Mark Golding branded the Maroons as “runaway slaves turned traitors,” arguing that they betrayed their African brothers and sisters by siding with the British. Golding claimed that Jamaica could have experienced its own Haitian-style revolution if the Maroons had not intervened on the side of the colonizers.
A Complex History of Betrayal and Survival
Historical records support the claim that after the First Maroon War, treaties signed in 1739 and 1740 gave Maroon communities land and autonomy in exchange for returning runaway slaves and suppressing uprisings.
During the 1831–32 Baptist War led by National Hero Samuel Sharpe, Maroons—particularly from Charles Town—fought alongside colonial forces to crush the revolt. This reality was publicly acknowledged in 2022, when Maroon communities issued an apology on Good Friday for their role in hunting runaways and suppressing slave rebellions.
From “Runaway Slaves” to “Indigenous Peoples”?
Despite this legacy, contradictions now abound. On World Indigenous Peoples Day, PNP Vice President Angela Brown Burke commemorated Accompong Chief Richard Currie as an Indigenous leader. This comes as the Maroons appear to be making new political alliances with Golding and the PNP.
This shift has raised eyebrows among Jamaicans, who question whether the PNP’s embrace of the Maroons represents genuine recognition of cultural heritage or sheer political expediency.
The Unanswered Question of Sovereignty
The debate over Maroon identity inevitably circles back to the issue of sovereignty. What does sovereignty look like for the Maroons in 2025? Do they envision their own country, their own state, or symbolic recognition within Jamaica’s borders?
Whatever the answer, this is not just a historical debate—it is a pressing political question. If Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party form the next government, they will not be able to sidestep it.
For many Jamaicans, the uneasy question remains: are the Maroons seeking unity within the nation, or are old betrayals resurfacing under the banner of modern politics?