Travellers, Backpackers or Pirates? – Jamaicans Protect Your Culture!
Jamaicans protect your culture,
Depending on how you read this article, you may take heed or take offense.
Each year we have countless number of visitors to our beautiful island shores. While we are happy to share the allure and timeless resonance of our island, we have to be extremely mindful of the pirates among us.
Jamaicans are naturally warm and accommodating to visitors. We love sharing our lifestyle, our stories and our culture with those who are are willing to offer a listening ear. When an outsider listens to our stories or shows appreciation for our music with great enthusiasms we quickly call this person a friend….. But a nuh every kin teeth a laugh!
Pirates Act As a Friend But Work As A Spy
I have been working in the travel industry for over a decade and have met people from all walks of life and I have to say many of these visitors are simply visiting the island to steal, and patent our culture then sell it back to us and we keep falling for it every time. I wish my people would wake up one day and identify when they are being scammed.
If a traveller shows keen interest in you, it is because they want something you have. The stronger the interest, the greater the desire to steal…. they are not there to help as they all claim. Yes, they love the culture without a shadow of a doubt, but they love it because they can either make money, or gain fame and recognition from it… or both.
I have witnessed countless Jamaicans freely offering their products, services, or beds for free to these individuals just because they want to help their international friend…. but by no means do they consider you to be their friend. If you think I am joking here is something for you to try: Ask them to help you empower yourself, study abroad, finish high school or sleep on the floor at their house in Europe, the US or wherever… see what you hear.
I have witnessed how travellers talk about their Jamaican friends, the people whose bed they slept on, the food they ate, the people who drive them around for free without asking for gas money. The people who take them to Jamaican parties and the statements that are used to describe them are are dripping with disdain and bigotry. They speak ill of our education system, our accent even when they imitate it. They laugh at your mother’s missing dentures and the fact that she bases all of her decisions on words from the bible. In their circles, Jamaicans are fun, a fun uneducated bunch who love to party, cheat on their women with a substandard education system looking for a foreign friend to get them out of the country to a better life. It doesn’t matter how educated, successful you are, they will always see you as beneath them and sadly many Jamaicans seek out these associations in order to validate themselves in today’s society,
In 2014 I was out with a group of travellers as a part of my Job, we were having beers and talking. One of these travellers was a beautiful blonde from Michigan who has been traveling to Jamaica for 3 years. She has some friends from Kingston’s inner city- these girls showed her where all the hot parties are but when she was among her other traveller friends, she mentioned how the girls were promiscuous, danced on their heads, had no jobs, poor hygiene and bad mothers who slept with several men for money. It is my job to keep my mouth shut and show them around. She was friends with these inner city girls for years who taught her all the dance moves, the language and the culture and on her last trip to Jamaica in 2015 she showed her a photo of her Jamaican dance studio in Michigan… Did she keep in touch with her inner city friends? No, this time she travelled with the Michigan friends. She no longer needed these girls. She mastered the moves. She now knows the promoters and only comes to Jamaica when she needs new moves..
Lots of Talk About Giving Back But Is this So?
Travellers like to talk about helping Jamaica, Giving back to Jamaica. They talk with so much conviction that you almost believe them. But are they helping Jamaica or just helping themselves? Most of the time, the help that is given is the donation of old tattered clothes they are no longer in need of. If there is mass philanthropic help it is done for recognition and fame not because they care. These people are starting businesses and Jamaicans are offering their services for free . I can’t understand why Jamaicans are so willing to put all their hopes in the hands of a foreigner. I have seen business owners hire travelers into senior management positions simply because they “have color” and an accent… half of them are not as qualified as our local people.
Steal from Yard, Promote Abroad!
How many international reggae shows by non-Jamaicans do we need to see before we grasp the reality that our people are being scammed out of the only thing we have left? Open your eyes Jamaicans! Don’t be conquered in this region.
If you have a traveler friend in your midst, be mindful of their presence, pay attention to everything they say and do. They are not your friend. Of course I do realize there might be some exceptions but they are very few, even the nicest ones are simply looking out for themselves. They are not here to save you, they are not here to make you famous. They are here because they are mediocre in their country and in Jamaica they are freely given things and resources because of the colour of their skin. Sadly in 2016 we are still looking for white people to save us.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery!
Look out for them…
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