Submitted by the Secretariat of the PEOPLES EMPOWERMENT PARTY
The issue of race is ever present in Barbados, and surely underlies the amazing public furor that has arisen over the recent crowning of a white Miss Barbados beauty queen.
And so, we now take the opportunity to revisit the issue of racism in Barbados, and to share with the public a number of pertinent questions that Mr David Comissiong, President of the Peoples Empowerment Party, posed to the government appointed ‘Committee On National Reconciliation’ way back in the year 1999.
These questions – as relevant today as they were seventeen years ago – are as follows:-
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To what extent does the false notion of Black or African inferiority still infect Black, White, and Asiatic Barbadians? If this is the case, how do we correct this state of affairs?
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Are there Churches, religious practices and theologies in Barbados which foster and / or perpetuate the false and discredited notions of Black inferiority, subordination and dependence on non-Blacks?
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To what extent is the distribution of land in Barbados racially skewed and inequitable? If this is so, are specific governmental corrective measures required? Is there a need for “Alien Landholdings legislation”?
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Is the education system doing an adequate job of imparting to our students information about the history and achievements of the various racial and ethnic groups which make up our population? Is the news media of Barbados doing an adequate job of providing the majority Black population with news and information about Africa and peoples of African descent?
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To what extent are there racially segregationist regulations and/or practices in place in the clubs, beaches, hotels and social institutions of Barbados? Are governmental corrective measures required?
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To what extent do businesses in Barbados indulge in racial discrimination in their employment and procurement policies and practices? To what extent is there evidence of race-based business monopolies and unfair race-based business practices designed to eliminate competition?
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What is the precise state of the distribution of wealth in Barbados across race and class lines? Is there a need for new re-distributive policies?
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To what extent is there evidence that the lending policies and practices of banks and other financial institutions are based on racial considerations? Is there a need for governmental intervention?
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To what extent do the major secular institutions of Barbados – the law courts, police force, office of the Governor General, etc – still retain elements of an institutional culture that is alienating to Black and/or working class Barbadians?
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To what extent are the foreign films, videos and music coming into Barbados propagating racially demeaning notions and sensibilities?
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To what extent is the racist historical tradition of the stigmatization and criminalization of the business activities of small black business-persons still in evidence?
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To what extent do we have a sense of consciousness of the great moral wrong of slavery, and of the inhuman cruelties and disabilities that were inflicted upon Black people? Are we prepared to support a campaign for Reparations?
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Is there the need for a conscious effort to rectify the imbalance deliberately built into our national culture by investigating, re-evaluating and re-appropriating aspects of African culture?
If the current storm-in-a-teacup motivates us to address our minds to these vexed yet very relevant questions, then something positive would have been achieved!
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.