Island Of Shame Summary

Anthropologist David Vine, details in his book Island of shame, the hidden history of the how the Chagossian people were exiled from their homeland by the United States during the creation of the military base on the Indian Ocean Island Diego Garcia. The story is told from the perspective of both the United States government and the exiled Chagossians, this is done to show both sides of the story and to narrate a fair represented story. The book’s purpose is to expose how the United States and Britain conspired to forcibly remove the native people in order to build a major military base. David Vine reports the secret history of the United States military base and the reactions that it had on the native people. The book is aimed towards an audience

The local people had been well established, they had homes, employment, healthcare and a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables and fish. The native culture was enrich with traditions, the memories of their ancestors and a historical context that extends back to centuries. All of these qualities were taking away from them through a number of legalistic and diplomatic deceives promoted by the British and United States Governments. Through multiple instigations, the Chagossians were expelled and casted away in overcrowd ships without food or sanitation. The dispossessed Chagossians received little or no compensation. The native people lost their cultivations, homes, and their jobs. There was no future for the Chagossians; there were no programs or efforts made to re-establish the economic and essential needs for the native people.

After the relocation the chagossian’s life quality was destroyed, many were forced to live on the streets, while others paid outrageous amount of money for places to live located in the slums. The outcasted population was mistreated and taken advantage by the local people, as outsiders they were victims of racism, manipulation, and discrimination. Vine emphasizes how bad they were threated in his writing and how many of the Chagossian’s died from diseases and illnesses because of these inhumane conditions. Throughout the reading Vine’s