Racism and Classism in Jamaica

Race Related Myths of My Youth
Basil Waine Kong, Ph.D., JD

According to Steve Biko (1946-1977), one of the heroes of the South African revolution: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” It would clearly be an uncontested statement to say that if England did not invent racism, they certainly were the purveyors of it. They were not only geniuses at controlling large slave holdings with a few soldiers and plantation owners but were also experts at convincing various black populations around the globe about their inferior status and how civilized it was to adopt the ways of the conquerors. Here is the expressed mission statement for England: “Come, bright improvement on the car of time and rule the spacious world from clime to clime.” I genuinely respect a people who can enslave a population, brutalize them and then get them to love them and hate our own, adopt their culture, envy and fight their wars for them. How did they do that?

One of the strategies employed by the British was the “Test Match” between England and Jamaica as a test of loyalty to the crown. Operatives were strategically placed in the crowd to identify people who applauded the English team and criticized the Jamaican team. In other words, only those who identified with the oppressor were chosen to be teachers and offered leadership opportunities. So, our government and educational institutions became overwhelmed with those who celebrated the ways of the British and devalued anything Jamaican as butto (Bantu). If the English devalued Black people, so did the black people who were placed in power. It didn’t matter how smart, skillful, eloquent and charismatic you were, if you did not speak the Queen’s English or didn’t know how to use your knife and fork you would be excluded.

According to Cathy Brown (Gleaner Editorial, Sept. 12, 2011)): "Exploitation of caste, race, class, tribal animosities, and so on, was used selectively, along with the iron fist of military force, and massacres, among other things, to cow larger populations as needed. In all of this, the English made sure to have a mole-type, privileged elite embedded in the target populations, which acted as influential Anglophile resources on which they could rely to sway popular discourse, behaviour, and decisions. That is why until this day, we see this tactic of selective elitism which ensures that some people would almost die for England."

Another important strategy for control was the development and use of the "Justice of the Peace" in each community of Jamaica. The opportunity for opening a bank account, get into a school, get a job, join the arm forces, get out of "trouble" was greatly reduced if you could not get a recommendation and sign off from your local JP which ordinarily meant that you had to have been good little boys and girls. How does one become a JP? You cannot qualify or apply for the job. It is an appointment by the Queen's representative, the Governor General, based on the recommendation of other JPs.

After 300 years of occupation, the English convinced us of our inferiority and held the prize. We were told that if we didn’t want to be second class or buto, we had to speak and dress Western style, learn English manners, poetry, history and music,dance the quadrille,adopt Christian names, use your knife and folk correctly, deny your own being and transform yourself into an Englishman. Only then could you be worthy of respect. With this brainwashing, I will never extricate myself from this mindset from my love of poetry, being properly dressed for every occasion, cricket, afternoon tea and properly using my knife and fork. We are never allowed to have our own ideas, language, dress, music, dance, religion, values or culture. A better life is to migrate to England, Canada or the United States even if you end up working at the most humiliating and menial jobs. Our station in life is to serve the white man.

While Jamaica was granted Independence in 1962, Britannia continues to rule. It seems that no one is willing to challenge English traditions even when they make no sense in Jamaica. Our judges still wear wigs, a few of our ladies still wear seven layers of clothing like Queen Victoria and some of us continue to believe in the myth of white superiority. While we probably will always drive on the left, speak English, use the Gregorian calendar, play cricket and even enjoy afternoon tea, the one remnant that I wish we would disavow is classicism and racism. We certainly can be better off without being better than anyone else. It boils down to valuing our own, respecting each other and having a little compassion for our less fortunate fellow citizens. I am confident that we can make this change. I often observe how waiters snap to when a white customer enters compared to the poor service received by our own citizens. Do you serve the broken biscuits and crackers to your own family while saving the best for your guests? Is your living room reserved only for important guests? Who should be treated like royalty in your household? The Queen of England or your own husband or wife?

More than a few Jamaicans I have encountered, particularly those with authority, view our British traditions and practices with sanctimonious reverence---too sacred to be tampered with. If our society is to maintain these antiquated regimens, we might as well require our people to wear the clothes that fitted them when they were children. We must grow up and wear garments that suit our purposes. You have got to wear your size. While the British moved on, we continue to hold on to the antiquated practices of our slave masters.

As children growing in rural Jamaica, we played hard. When I was ten years old, I came home from playing with my shirt torn, hair disheveled and dirty from wrestling around in the mud with the other pickney dem. Even though I had never seen a Rasta man, when my Grandmother told me that I looked like a Rasta, I cried because the reputation of Ratafarians were that they were all ganja smoking, lazy criminals who had uncombed hair that harbored insects. During the fifties, politicians delighted in demonstrating to the public how brutal they could be to Rastafarians. India had their untouchables and Jamaica had Rastafarians. They were the hated out-group that mothers would run from with fear, taking their children, when approached by any Rasta, male or female.

I finally figured out that this was another self fulfilling prophecy. They were undesirables and untouchables so none were eligible for a job nor could they participate in any legitimate form of commerce or social activity so they could only earn a living by doing things that did not depend on their government or the good will of the greater society. So they turned to the herb, art, music, writing, philosophy, meditation, religion and kept to themselves. Out of this experience, a marvelous thing happened. Bob Marley and the Wailers became the most popular band in the world and for that matter in the history of the world. Their (our) music is more popular and appreciated around the world than Michael Jackson, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Beethoven, Brahms, anybody! They single-handidly saved the Jamaica economy and brought in more revenues to Jamaica than tourism and the bauxite industry.

Even though they do not vote (unfortunately), they became the darling of politicians and mothers who now wanted their daughters to marry one and their sons to grow their hair and participate in this money machine.

The demand for their ital diet and Reggae music and musicians continues. I have traveled to over 100 countries and there is not a corner of the world that does not love Bob Marley. Dreadlocks are now accepted and prized throughout the world by rich and poor. In addition, the heart and soul of Jamaica is now revealed by Rastafarian artists, playwrights, poets, dancers and singers. While there is still more than a little resistance to the Rastafarian lifestyle, I am now complemented when I am told that I have the Afro-centric soul of a Rastaman. The Rastas I have known are proud men for whom I have great respect.

Even in Jamaica, I also grew up with the myth and was told in no uncertain terms that White people were better than Black people and the closer you are to being white, the better you were---"nutten Black no good". In my public speaking, I often ask groups of people to estimate the percent of white people in the world. I often get estimates as high as 80%. The actual percent is less than 18%. A friend went to the Congo many years ago to work as a physician at a medical mission. In the process of settling in, he interviewed several men to manage his house. After one interview, he asked the gentleman if he would like to work for my friend. The prospective employee responded: "Yes, if the white man wants me." As my friend is unmistakably Black, he asked one of the other white physician what that was about and was told that in the Congo, if you are a physician, you must be white. Who ever heard of a Black physician?

Except for the White House of the United States, wherever we roam, the guys in charge are white and the powerless tend to be Black. I am always impressed that even in Black countries of Africa and the Caribbean, the principle holds…brought about by white oppression. In addition to Louis Bennett’s famous: “Every John Crow think dem pickney white”, even in 2009, I have had two incidents that literally shocked my sensibilities. In one incident, I overheard a white looking student excitedly telling her headmistress that she was getting married. When the headmistress heard who her intended was, she advised the student very boldly and without hesitation: “You are too good for him. Him too black.” I was shocked and advised her in no uncertain terms that she should stop perpetuating this myth. In another, as a criticism of PNP political leadership, a very famous Jamaican gentleman said very boldly to the group of us: “Black people should run but should never run anything.” There is a poisonous assumption in majority Black British Commonwealth countries that getting important things done requires a white man or nearly white man with a whip.

The truth of the matter is that other than color and the way we are raised, there is no difference between Black human beings and a white human beings, black dogs and white dogs, black horses and white horses, black cats and a white cats, white rabbits and black, multicolored, pink, yellow or grey rabbits. If you have control over any of the above, you can train them to perform magnificently or horrendously. Japanese fighting fish can be trained to kill each other just by taking turns feeding one and not the other. In my travels, I have had the pleasure to see the “Flying Horses of Spain”. Suppose you saw the marvelous feats of one of these highly trained white horses and then they brought out untrained black horses to compete against the white horses, would you conclude that white horses are better than black horses?

Why isn't differences shoe size, eye and hair colour significant determinants of exclusion and inclusion?

If we treat white members of society like they were God’s gift to the world and from birth, cater to their material needs, make Black helpers available to them, take them on grand travel adventures, send them to the best schools and provide them with strong role models? On the other hand, if some Black children always have to be concerned about their survival needs, compelled to cater to white role models and bosses, attend the worse schools, have no access to computers and even books, and never travel outside the country, who is likely to be the most effective scholars, leaders and experts?

And yet we rise. It is a tribute to our genes, talents and our resilience that we can overcome great odds to excel in every field of human endeavor. We have conquered our struggles to become the greatest leaders, business owner, the greatest athletes, musicians, writers, scientists and human beings. Barrack Obama is the greatest leader the world has ever known. There is nothing that Black people cannot run.

Comment: ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Kong: I see you have been the victim turned purveyor of mis-education. You think being black means being Jamaican. The Englishman or the Jew or the Irish or the African who were forcibly brought here all became Jamaicans. People like you who had the benefit of education would have us believe otherwise. You are so blinded, as to ascribe unto the mighty Obama greatness when he has done nothing as yet to warrant it...much like the Noble Prize people who were only too glad to patronise him!
The English did not brutalise a population as you suggest..they established a colony, brought in slaves, and would not, in the main, have brutalised them as they were valuable assets at the time. I am sure that some brutality took place, and is still taking place among us right now.
If we could only set our minds to doing what is right and stop wallowing in the evils past, real or imagined, it would be a better use of our talents!
While I could agree with you that some of the lesser, what appears to be meaningless pageantry could be dispensed with, they are still a part of our culture. Why don't you rail against the automobile, the aeroplane, and get rid of the PhD behind your name?
I wonder what is your take on black on black supremacy as played out in Biafra and Rowanda in recent times. It is not really a race thing it is a human condition.

Carlton Reynolds, Jan, 2011