Classism – Oftentimes A Mask for Silent Wrongs in Jamaica
As the ongoing debate and discourse about class, colour, identity and ethnicity continues to be debated, as the discourse continues on social media, on the streets, on verandahs, in the printed media such as the numerous letters to the Editor in the Jamaica Observer, The Jamaican Blogs™ and electronic media such as CVM with Mr. Simon Croskill, we realized how entrenched these issues have become and have no intention of going away.
Any Postcolonial society in which people are marginalized, looked down upon as inferiors will be divided to the point of resistance and possible rebellion.
Power whether economic, social or cultural in the hands of a few people can be disastrously devastating .
A house that is divided will soon tumble down. Interestingly it will tumble down or gravitate towards indiscipline when one side gets away with atrocities, corruption or injustices as is the case with many countries where people of Afro origin find themselves as the “Others.”
But let’s look at a serious issue which is a feature of Jamaica and those who are the privileged ‘Classist”. I am referring to wrong doings or crimes in which those of a silent hue or colour get away because of the silence in that sphere, in the space of Uptown. For several decades uptown or classist people have found ways to decriminalize crimes which if happened in the wider society would undoubtedly result in imprisonment.
First, incest. Incest has always been a big issue in uptown. How do they deal with it?. They ship out the aggrieved party to Miami, and frequently the culprit. Many of us have heard in hushed tones of the evil committed against daughters and stepdaughters, yet the law has never been able to take its course because the hegemony of a particular class has allowed the culprits to get away because of their ability to finance the aggrieved party in apartments and lodgings in South Florida.
The next big issue is gun impropriety. Many young, including sons of prominent light skinned politicians have been caught with guns, either illegal guns or guns destined for bird shooting. A few years ago a prominent politician’s son pleaded guilty to possession of his father’s shotgun at a bird shooting fiesta. In our corrupt society, he only paid a fine and was given a warning. Again, there is silence because the general media is oblivious to this as money is used to hush up the crime. Then we have crimes against humanity – the flooding of our shores with hard drugs from Colombia. Power, colour and money allow riches to be made from illicit drugs which destroys people’s lives while the perpetrators sleep without conscience. There are lurid stories of hardware being stashed with drugs, escorted by crooked cops while eyes turn in opposite direction.
On a personal note at university years ago , an accounting student was fired by a Jewish big wig because the student refused to write off millions of dollars worth of damage to packed goods at a Jamaican port. As is usual for us, the black majority, he had to pack his bags, protecting his dignity but not succumbing to the evil of those who pretend to be honest and decent.
By Maurice Christie
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