‘The Land Caught in a Time Warp’

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I am a Jamaican born of mixed heritage.  Jamaica as an island has suffered the full brunt of slavery, where every method was used in the process of degrading, dehumanising and all other efforts of subjugation which one could imagine.  This was over 400 years ago, but so deep were the roots of the methods which were used to instill in the minds of its people, which brought about a sense of inferiority and worthlessness , that until this day in the 21st century we still remain not much better than we were then.

I left Jamaica when I was a boy, I knew there was poverty and subjugation of the people by the powers that be at that epoch of time, little did I know how lasting and effective the legacy of the indoctrination would be, which prevented them until this day from escaping the burden of hatred, disrespect, and grudge fullness, from one to another, and remains with them to this day.

My love for Jamaica as a young man with all its difficulties was so strong, that I dedicated my life abroad in the pursuit for the independence and the upliftment of our people. I have always wanted to return but did not do so as I considered my work in the United Kingdom so important that it became a sole part of my life. 

I am now 82years old, and decided it was time to return to the land of my birth and my childhood. Where I knew people irrespective of their colour, class, or creed, had accepted their various status, while at the same time struggling for independence and to be a free people.  I realise the world has changed dramatically since I was a child, this change was for the better for most countries and peoples, but alas not for Jamaica and its people.

Some may say I am writing this article through embitterment and disappointment, yes there is some truth in that, but one cannot help feeling very disillusioned to see the world move forward for the better, while my own beloved country has deteriorated so much, that they are beyond the pale.  In the first place they are now a people who are ungovernable, a people who believe in anarchism they refuse to be ruled, and have complete disregard for the rule of law.

Many explanations have been put forward for the reasons which brought this condition about, but after analysing the various arguments put forward, there can only be one conclusion, which is we have been destroyed as a people, and there is no going back.  

We have become like crabs in a barrel, no one can escape because as fast as they try to leave the barrel all the other crabs hang onto the escapee, and drag it to the bottom, leaving the dead carcass without claws, just to be discarded by the fisherman.

I must hasten to add there are a lot of decent, honest, and respectable Jamaican people who are a credit to themselves and their race, but most of them I have met and spoken to, whether they are young or old, are living in absolute fear of the future, and many are just hoping for the day when they will be able to leave these shores.

These people find themselves in bondage fearing to go about freely, careful of whom they mix with, and find it expedient to segregate themselves from the masses. 

They no longer have any faith in this two party tribal state, where they see democracy as meaning two tribes fighting against each other for power, and do not care a dam what happens to them and the masses at large.  They have no faith in the Police as they see the Police as enemies and not there to protect them.  The corruption which lies at the top of the stream has mudded the water all through to the sea.  The behaviour of the common people leaves so much to be desired.  I have met most of the nationalities of the world but the nationality with the worse vocabulary one can imagine is in Jamaica, the using of the most foul languages irrespective whether man or woman, the sheer disrespect which is shown daily to each other, leaves us to believe we are nothing but dregs at the bottom of the barrel.

Since so called Independence we believe we are free and therefore should not work, the land no longer yields the commodities which are essential for the sustenance of life.  A few people still decide they will do their best in farming small portions of land which they can handle themselves, as it is impossible to find decent labour in a land where 60 per cent of the people are unemployed, only to find at the time of harvest when their hard work should yield fruits, that on the day of harvest they have nothing but empty fields, somebody else who watched them while they worked also watched for the time of harvest, and they reaped instead.  Leaving the poor farmer who has put his sweat, toil, and blood into the land reaping nothing. 

Jamaica has reached the stage where they have become the most blood thirsty, callous and barbaric of all the Caribbean nations, they murder without pity, their senseless killing of one to another cannot be nothing but uncivilised.  The lion kills for food, we kill for the sake of killing, it leaves one to believe we are a nation with an inherent hatred of each other.  In other countries the word niggers has been abolished and has become a crime, it is nauseating to think we are a people who were once so gentle, where noble men like Carr Coombs, Barrister Smith, St William Grant, The Manley’s, Hart, Hills, not to forget Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle  and of course Alexander Bustamante and the other proud people who fought for us, looking back one can only conclude their lives were wasted.

I pray for Jamaica the land I love, but I know deep down with the behaviour of my people as it stands today, my prayers will be in vain, leaving us no hope for the future.