This week will see the convergence of four historical events of note, which interestingly relate to a few present realities: the birth anniversaries of Nelson Mandela and American civil rights activist, Ida B Wells, as well as the end of the Rwandan Genocide and the anniversary of the publication of Adolf Hitler’s autobiographical manifesto, Mein Kampf.
What do all of these events have in common? In one way or another, they relate to the dangers of ‘othering’, i.e. treating a person or a group as “intrinsically different and alien”, in order to justify their oppression. To be sure, identity formation is a crucial aspect of human socialization, and large chunks of our identity are related to group association. However, the problem arises when that group association becomes toxic, such that you cease to see members of other groups as human, instead, simply as ‘other’.
Herr Hitler thus sold the idea to the German people that the Jews were so different that they were dangerous and that is why so many persons could justify assaulting their Jewish neighbours and looting their stores, because they were no longer neighbours; they were ‘other’.
Mandela spent his life fighting a system predicated entirely upon the notion that blacks and coloureds were so inherently different from and alien to whites, that the races must be completely separated and blacks legitimately oppressed.
Ida B. Wells was a crusading activist and investigative journalist, best known for bringing to the attention of the world, one of the worst aspects of Jim Crow southern USA: lynching. Most know that many black men were brutally murdered because they were falsely accused of sexual misconduct. Few however know that most lynchings of blacks were for far more trivial and heart-wrenching reasons, including “unpopularity”, “miscegenation”, “bad reputation”, “writing insulting letter”, “quarrelling with white man” and “gambling”.
Turning to Rwanda finally, it is said that most of the 1,000,000 people killed and 500,000 women raped during the genocide, were murdered or raped in their own villages by persons who were their neighbours. How does one suddenly brutalize your neighbour with whom you had coexisted all your life? Because they were indoctrinated to believe that those Tutsis were ‘other’, and not worthy thus of their humanity.
No human being, expect the most perverse or warped, is capable of inflicting or justifying the infliction of the type of inhumanity aforementioned on another human being. They can only justify such if they are able to tell themselves that these victims are not like them, they aren’t their siblings in humanity. They are ‘other’.
Therefore, when we speak about racism in the present day, what we really speak about is institutions designed to perpetuate prejudice and discrimination, but also which strive to sow divisions between racial groupings. So we have blacks and whites who view each other perpetually with suspicion because we have contrived this artificial separateness.
In Guyana and unfortunately across the region, you have persons willing to justify a massive assault on democracy and electoral fraud, simply because the fraudsters look like them.
Therefore, in this region and anywhere in the world, we have no hope of healing the wounds of the divisions of race, ethnicity, religion, class and gender, unless we comprehensively eradicate ‘othering’.
Does that require deep, structural change? Absolutely.
But is it equally important for every single person to break down within themselves these toxic notions of ‘otherness’? Undoubtedly.
We often forget that institutions are composed of people. Therefore, while ways can be found to fundamentally alter institutions through legislation and such, there is no guarantee that that can solve the problem of human behaviour. That challenge is best solved when each person resolves to represent the desired change themselves.
Is that an easy task? No. Whether we admit it or not, each and every one of us, of all races and creeds, has some prejudice, conscious or subconscious, which affects how we view and treat to others. The battle ahead therefore is internal. If we want to build the best Barbados, we must rise to the occasion. The alternative is too bleak to consider.
@Khaleel
You need to go much further back in history to gain an understanding of the nature of “othering” in western civilisation. You need to get to the heart of White supremacist ideology.
White supremacist ideology is deeply entrenched in all of western civilization. Read Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant… all giants of the western intellectual tradition; you will find that among the foundation stones of their work the bedrock assumption that Black people were less than human. Indeed that all non European people were lesser beings. The rot is that deep. Upon these philosophical foundations came laws, attitudes, convictions, beliefs, religion, social structures, economic models,… everything poisoned to the very core with the assumption of White supremacy.
This is the heart through which we must drive a stake.
It’s easier said than done.
There is a political philosopher of Caribbean ancestry called Charles Mills whose work has informed much of my understanding of the philosophical roots of White supremacist ideology. His book “The Racial Contract” is quite accessible and you can find a PDF of it at: https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2017/05/Mills-racial-contracxt.pdf.
“Herr Hitler thus sold the idea to the German people that the Jews were so different that they were dangerous ….”
This reminds me of the election “struggle” in Guyana between the parties of the two lunatic tribes.
At least K2 doesn’t equate “Mr. H.” with our Most Honourable Prime Minister. At least that’s progress compared to Piece the Great Prophet. Apparently our Most Honourable Prime Minister had the script checked by Charles Jong before publication in order to avoid domestic or foreign policy trouble.
@ KK
Another insightful and timely article.
I agree with you that at the personal level one has to make the effort to change our prejudices about other human beings who have characteristics that are not the same as ours. It is not an easy task when, in looking around the world ,everyone else appears to have bought into this malady. But we have to start somewhere. Why not with our own individual selves ?
I have no problem with people who have no problem with me. Yet I am very much aware that much of the world does have a problem with me. That is not being racist. It is just facing reality. In order to keep those who have a problem with me from acting on their beliefs it is necessary to take certain actions to protect myself. This is not being racist but rather it is being racially aware.
Just as it is necessary for a young girl to understand the raging hormones of any young man and be wary when he claims to love her, we must be aware of white supremacy and take actions as a race to protect and advance ourselves. That does not mean that all young men are after only one thing or that all non blacks are prejudiced against blacks.
Pretending racism does not exist will only facilitate its continued existence.
I do not have to examine myself because I already know what is in my heart and mind.
I kinda like the fact that there is diversity in the world. Anything else would be boring.
In theory the dismantling of what Khaleel highlights in his article should be possible BUT we know the reality is that it will not. We are dealing with an entrenched behavior that has given priority and legitimacy to an undesirable behaviour. It the opinion of this blogmaster it will be dismantled only when a #BLM moment occurs that forces the many to shift behaviour.
We often forget that institutions are composed of people. Therefore, while ways can be found to fundamentally alter institutions through legislation and such, there is no guarantee that that can solve the problem of human behaviour. That challenge is best solved when each person resolves to represent the desired change themselves.
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If you read the Old Testament there are two types of people, Jews and others (Gentiles).
If you then compare it with the New Testament you see the change for which you yearn.
No longer is God in covenant with his chosen people, the Jews, alone.
He enters into a covenant with all mankind.
He provides the guarantee that can solve the problem of human behaviour.
Mankind cannot do it on their own.
Institutions can’t do it.
Neither can legislation.
The guarantee is written down for all who want to see to avail themselves of and experience the joy and happiness that follows.
The option is misery, discontent, and unhappiness if we rely on ourselves, institutions or legislation.
None of them deliver..
Nobody expects a perfect world but who can deny that mankind has improved his behaviour? There was a time when some human beings ate eachother. Who accepts that as normal these days. There was a time when every damned tribe fought almost every damned day. That was considered to be normal. That is no longer so. Most people try to avoid war. There was a time when slavery was considered to be normal. Nobody thinks it is normal now. There was a time when women and children had no rights. That is no longer accepted in most places. There was a time when a man was tried, convicted and executed all in one day as a matter of course. That is no longer the norm in most places.
So in my opinion human beings have already become better and from what I have witnessed in the last six weeks or so they are ready to make another huge leap.
I know that this does not agree with what Christians believe the Bible says but my opinion on the Bible has never been conventional.
The New Testament however also divides people into two categories, believers and others (non-believers).
Others (non believers) have the opportunity to also become believers.
Comes down to an act of faith.
God deals with “the others” in the Bible.
Man doesn’t.
Hitler decided to do something about the “others”.
Stalin likewise dealt with those who were different … the “others”.
You see the problem.
No faith, no religion, no trust in God and man decides to take on God’s role of dealing with the “others”.
An abomination results.
Do unto “others” as you would have them do unto you!!
Every time this Khaleel Khothiwala broches the subjects of race, class, politics, religion he pretends to come at them with clean hands. Everybody else but him is where causation lies.
From the sounding of his name we would venture that he is a Muslim or has an Islamic familial familiarity.
Therefore, instead of pretending that these chronic social maladies only exist somewhere outside himself he should critically examine his own cultural heritage.
Such an examination will find for instance that the A-rabs, to which his name is alleged to have come, were indeed the first to pollute the body politic with chattel slavery.
And there is a cultural straight line between chattel slavery and the current degenerative phenomenon of terrorism by Deash et al.
Indeed, his own kindred spirits were operating slave markets in Libya over very recent years.
Separately, he recognizes that massive electoral fraud has occurred in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana but stops short of telling his readers who were the ones guilty of such fraud. Was it because it was the Hindu-fascists of Jagdeo and his PPP? People who look like him and with whom other interests intersect within their generalized class-warfarism against a largely Afro-Caribbean populations. This Khaleel has no critique of his friends in the BLP, including Mia Mottley and Owen Arthur, who are currently stoking a race war in Guyana, interfering on the very side of the people who clearly attempted this massive fraudulent voting of which he speaks.
He talks on the surface about Rwanda but stripes that issue of all the historical and cultural forces necessary for a deeper understanding.
He maligns Adolf Hitler, not without just cause. However, he, like most, and being afraid to be characterized as an anti-Semite, paradoxically he himself may indeed be a Semite, however in so doing buys into the idea that world Jewry wears garments as pristine as lily white and were themselves not the ones who themselves globalized the chattel slavery global project invented by his Arab religionists.
Of course, we take exception to all the other points made. To us they all congeal only at the surface and are therefore incapable of furthering paideia.
@ Pacha
Mr. Kothdiwala is being herald as the hottest political youth on the national scene since David Thompson. He apparently represents the next generation of the Barbados Labour Party.
Connect the dots Comrade…..connect the dots.
Sir William
Our instincts were always so aligned.
Indeed, David Thompson represents no political high water mark. Anybody who ever got to have a conversation with David would have gleamed that he was a fairly average fellow. But the political culture cannot be deterred from lionizing certain sub-types.
That a boy of his ilk could have intentions of imposing himself on the people of Barbados characteristically represents the political decadence which is now unavoidable.
Even here on BU some have shown a particular deference already. Taking him like a babe in arms as if to school him how to master us.
@Pacha
The boy is in his teens, as elders do we have a responsibility to share learning or must every interaction be confrontational delivered via a narrow prism.
David
We care not. Those are not our concerns especially when childish arguments are always used to confront deeper knowledge.
We remember well when David Thompson was taken like a babe in arms and imposed on the people of St. John ahead of other more serious and deserving candidates. Candidates who had decades of service to that parish.
So you must forgive us if our innate inclination is to strangle this intellectual babe in the crib.
@Pacha
How is a young person suppose to acquire knowledge and who should take on that role and responsibility. Forget the past, how does one influence the future.
The problem with the “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” falls apart in the marxist/facist dispensation of the left.
No religion is acknowledged and there are elites to whom the golden rule cannot apply otherwise they would cease being elites.
So if you look at the end result of the Rayshard Brooks episode, BLM moved in and burnt down the Wendy’s and killed people, one of them an 8 year old child.
BLM is a marxist organisation with entrenched elites.
It operates strictly on the NO LIVES MATTER principle that any Marxist organisation adheres to.
They are a Black Lynch Mob, BLM, don’t even have to worry about changing their logo.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/505992-atlanta-mayor-decries-violence-at-protest-site-you-shot-and-killed-a
@John
You are so narrow in your world view that you are incapable of understanding the #BLM translates to mean all lives matter.
@ David who asks “How is a young person suppose to acquire knowledge ?”
Parents .Church. School.MOSQUE.
@Hants
The village, the village. In this case the physical village is now a virtual one.
David
Well, it certainty can’t happen within the confines of a bankrupt political culture, unless the intention is to perpetuate the duopoly regime in Bridgetown.
Especially when those said young people are so committed to duopoly politics already.
@PLT
White supremacist ideology is deeply entrenched in all of western civilization. Read Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant… all giants of the western intellectual tradition; you will find that among the foundation stones of their work the bedrock assumption that Black people were less than human. Indeed that all non European people were lesser beings. The rot is that deep. Upon these philosophical foundations came laws, attitudes, convictions, beliefs, religion, social structures, economic models,… everything poisoned to the very core with the assumption of White supremacy….(Quote)
Interesting observation. We need a debate on the Enlightenment and its contribution to the theory of knowledge. I am not sure if Charles Mills will be the guide, but there are other outstanding Jamaican theorists available. Get @Robert Lucas involved since it is also the historical juncture when science replaced formal Christian religion as the belief system for a secular age.
@ Pacha
We should not forget what Napoleon did with the pups on Animal Farm.I agree totally with you. Thompson and Mottley were raised as pups by the Napoleons and we witness the end result. Anybody who feels that Mr. Kothdiwala is an innocent babe in arms waiting to be raised by some political village is naive. Mr. Kothdiwala is no different from Thompson and Mottley. He has long passed the breast feeding stage and has already been unleashed on the other animals. He has been raised by the Napoleons on Roebuck Street just like his leader was and just like how Thompson was by the Napoleons on George Street.
Mr. Kothdiwala is no pup . Already @ Donna was reminding him about respecting his “elders”. Laughable .His elders are not on BU- they are opposite Lionel C Hill supermarket.
Those who have eyes to see let them see…….
@William
If you as an elder see a gap or an opportunity to enlighten what should you try to do?
Steuspe
After KK wrote and PLT and Pmama could come back and say, what they did, has Proven his point when he spoke of making people OTHERS!
Another Example was in Rwanda when they killed hundreds of thousands of their fellow Rwandans calling them Cockroaches. It had Nothing to do with Race, one Rwandan looked like another Rwandan except they were of a different tribe and they were labelled Cockroaches and what do you do with a Cockroach? So we can see that what KK said is Correct.
This Tactic of Identity Politics is the same as calling someone else a Cockroach and those that practice it and Shout it a Loudly as they can, are like the Rwandans calling other Rwandans, Cockroaches.
When we see things as a Principle with the Prism of Race, you have Proven KK Point. He is giving you something that Transcends your Myopic Prism…He is Teaching you how you have been Propagandised. Freedom does not care what his Ancestors were or what Sin they have committed. What he is saying Now in this Day in this Age is about who he is, the Laws that we live by is that a man is Guilty of what he does. HE IS NOT VICTIMISED BECAUSE OF HIS ANCESTORS WRONG DOINGS OR SINS.
We leave God to Judge Nations but we judge individuals for what they have done. The Principle of what KK spoke about is Valid and we would do well to pay heed. He is a young man who has expressed more understanding and wisdom that the older people on BU who have swallowed the Propaganda of Divisiveness and Refuse to see pass it. THERE IS NONE SO BLIND THAN THOSE THAT WOULD NOT SEE.
Thanks KK and the Blog master.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3e/da/c6/3edac6db232f59a69c0c0015a601fa30.jpg
@ William
If you engage this juvenile in debate then you are playing the game. Even critiquing his teenage essay is part of the game, since it implies an intellectual levelling. Just ignore him. By the way, you are right about Mottley and Thompson. Another one was Nigel Barrow. What ever happened to him?
They are also those who did not enter politics, but were raised for the top. Go back to the head boys and head girls at school, the sports captains, etc. Always a signal of grooming for the top.
@ David, ” the virtual village “. I drive around the virtual village in the google bus. lol
https://www.picuki.com/profile/khaleelkothdiwala
Sir William
Yes, we agree!
But when ever these kinds of discussions ensue the most eminent shareholders here could only go back as far as Locke, Hobbes, Mills etc..
Nobody seems to remember that as recently as the Roman invasion of England very few people were even reading. There was no alphabet.
Nobody wonders where the alphabet came from originally, let alone deep understandings about philosophy.
And because we want to see no further that a Eurocentric way of being we will never break through the conundrums enacted daily.
@ Hal
@ David
No games here. I don’t consider his intellect to be juvenile. His use of language is quite impressive. I am not in the business of underestimating people’s intellect . I am no intellectual or academic and like him, as a teenager/ young man I enjoyed vigorous debate and interaction. He has already been given plenty exposure in the media .I understand he has also been on a national platform.
As for David I am not here to develop talent or feel even that I can develop any political talent for the BLP or DLP.
I am not drawing any elder lines here. Mr.Kothdiwala is more than capable of rigorous debate. You have done the correct thing and given him exposure on BU . As I said earlier I would probably disagree with 90% of what he writes.
He is far better for BU than the assortment of jokers that come here damaging Mottley’s efforts by doing nothing more than being hypocritical and branding people as Dees and advising you to ban people.
If we can put up with those clowns we should actually welcome. Mr. Kothdiwala at least he is not embarrassing The Prime Minister. She should be well pleased with his efforts.
@William
The blogmaster operates with a belief elders in any society must lead the way as far as the young is concerned. It is our moral duty. How do you know by imparting knowledge it will not create the epiphany desired in others? Why did Socrates and the philosophers of old share knowledge in the public place? The advancement of humankind is based on the transfer of knowledge from the old to the young.
@ Pacha
We are never comfortable until we can prove we read the classics and know a few Latin phrases. We are all victims of an essentially racist and decadent Eurocentric education. Very few of us have studied great African thinkers. You are one of the fortunate ones. Quite frankly we seldom quote any Caribbean thinkers. But, in the abundance of water the fool is thirsty.
@ David Bu at 8:30 PM
If the BLM moment did not force a change in the behaviour of racists in USA, what gives you the assurance that it will in Barbados? Racism is a state of mind. Only the racist can decide to shift his perspective. We have to start with ourselves.
@ David BU at 8:45 AM
I hope that Virtual Village Is BU and that all bloggers take it upon themselves not to let the young and promising politicians go untutored. Unless we do this we will get more of the same.
Nuff undergears showing today. The lad is being exposed to the top political requirement, a thick skin.
Beyond examples provided, sexual orientation is another form of othering. It is the constant abuse which drives them ‘offshore’. They too need a thick skin.
@ William
It is a very good idea to know of both the European thinkers AND the African thinks. Is that not true?
@ Hal
Yes that is true. Unfortunately we can only reference what we know and therein lies the problem.
@ William
How do we expand our knowledge?
@ Northern Observer
Note that Mr. Kothdiwala is not complaining nor asking for any help. The gentleman is more than capable of representing himself.
It’s the elders ,myself included , on BU who need real help!
Some of us don’t even respect each other. The elders want people ban; some disrespect the women who contribute to BU, calling them names etc We call one another RH and JA. And then we assume we can actually be elders.
@William
Some of you are too old to bend. It is why real change comes from the youth. Because Kahleel is not complaining it means what?You may have the last word.
>
As a Senior person if Freedom could Share with KK a little insight as we Journey through life and to Enjoy the Spirit of Freedom and not be Encumbered by those who have been propagandised…
If our perspective is right or willing to see that is, “eyes that see and ears that hear” then the understanding becomes unique and each of us will derive great happiness in having “eyes that see and ears that hear”. If you lend your heart to understanding that the God of heaven and earth will mentor you/us and teach you of His ways and of His knowledge and understanding that you may come unto Him and His rest (enjoyment) and be like Him joint heirs with Him to enjoy all that is His, we truly will jump for joy we could not contain ourselves.
Always Question… we have seen that with the use of something as simple as asking questions of knowledge we can gain Understanding and on to Wisdom. “We have nothing to lose except our lack of understanding. We have understanding, freedom to gain and a closeness to God that previously we have not known. Who would have thought that questions are so powerful? Freedom, understanding, individualism, knowing all things through understanding. All mankind has this ability.” To reach understandings we never thought possible, to fathom what we thought was unfathomable. Moreover, the person that teaches us to gain understanding with our use of a question is God Himself not a proxy. A question reveals to us so much about our self, that we are Sovereign, we are Individuals, what freedom is, God is mindful of us, the closeness of God, how to choose, how to vote, and above all, enjoy the enlarging feeling of enlightenment of the His Spirit when we receive it.
The Best thing we can do is to be True to Oneself, Overcome Life’s Challenges as they are presented and know that in life nothing is given that we will be given the strength to bear. Do Good and Good will attend you…
Moreover, Always Remember…These Principles will Lead you to Choose Correctly if you Apply them to your life…. Enjoy Your Journey…
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/25/e2/07/25e207c79d6038ada4196d32b3a3c1c2.jpg
@ Hal
That’s what educational systems are for. Otherwise it’s seeking your own sources of information. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual since the system does not encourage such knowledge.
Peace.
Sir William
You can’t give up that old canard. Yuh back with that again. That demonstrates to all the kind of man you really are. Given an axe to grind you dont leh go for shiiite.. How intelligent is That? We are fairly sure that you would have called yourself a rasssoul or a jackass at sometime in the past. Move on Comrade!
Certainly, you’ve worked with people who have done worse to the ancestors.
Separately, your argument about Caribbean academy hardly exist. At the end of the day nearly every Caribbean thinker, at the base, is dominantly Eurocentric in orientation.
Wuh mek yu suh racist pachamama? Childhood trauma or sein so? Yu sick as shyte. Yu is what does pass fuh “academic scholarship”?
@ William
Part of the regular abuse on BU is the phrase: S/he thinks s/he knows everything.
Kant, Mills, Enlightenment etc piqued my interest then it had to be sullied with the character assassination. If it ain’t simple, pie in the sky rhetoric, some folks on BU struggle. Classic one poneyism, no wonder them lose dem deposit.🤣🤣
Hal AustinJuly 13, 2020 12:29 PM
@ William
How do we expand our knowledge?
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Learn how to learn!!
I certainly agree with the young man’s comments that “the alternative is too bleak to consider”. Certainly for members of he minority community who would be hard pressed to find an alternative country where they could live an unfettered life of comfort and peace; unchallenged by the majority community.
If the Barbadian black majority population were to become frustrated by their presence they could emulate past events from Zanzibar, Uganda and Kenya where certain minority groups were targeted, expelled or butchered. Because their presence had a negative impact on the majority black populations.
This contrasts with the experiences of black-faced minorities who reside in foreign countries. Throughout the Middle East region blacks are terribly mistreated. You could say this about all non-black countries. The young KK would prefer not to discuss this. He and his family have probably enjoyed a sweet, serene and stress free life in Barbados – yet, he comes here with a defensive post warning bloggers of the dangers of racism and how it could lead to genocide. This is the same young man who came on BU and stated that he would not be commenting on the death of George Floyd.
Some of us would be comfortable to see the back of certain minority groups in Barbados. Some of whom appear to be surreptitiously influencing how this country is governed; which is having a deleterious effect on the quality of life for the majority population.
The young KK needs to stay in his lane and would be wise to acknowledge that the only people who should have a say in how Barbados is governed are those whose ancestors took the lashes and built the foundations of this country with their blood. I am afraid that would disqualify the young man and his ilk from having a seat at the table.
Spoken like a bona fide immigrant.
@ TLSN July 13, 2020 2:14 PM
Barbados is a global brand, not Haiti or Guyana as you think.
Who brings all this money into the country? Barbados belongs to those who pay for everything, not the naive masses who just live there. Barbados belongs to the the expats, the foreign villa owners and all those who work in areas like tourism and offshore financial industry, bringing in the much needed forex.
The rest is just tolerated, no matter whether they are black or white.
In Libya they still sell black people from West Africa. I do not her the Muslims protesting. Black Lives Matter, but not in North Africa.
Chasing ethnic minorities out of the country is typical Nazi policy. Ethnic persecution is never an expression of rational politics, but a sign of the weakness of inferior societies. All countries that have pursued this policy are now known as shit holes or had a hard time to recover. Those countries that rely on good coexistence are comparatively better off today. Like Switzerland.
Clever governments take advantage of minorities by taxing their business profits and establishing economic relations with the home country of the minority.
The folks that on here cussing Khaleel about ilk are clearly blind or don’t know what his mother looks like or other Kodthiwalas in Bim. SMFH.
https://www.facebook.com/ken.lovejoy/videos/10157011252486510/
@ Pachamama July 13, 2020 6:21 AM
“Of course, we take exception to all the other points made. To us they all congeal only at the surface and are therefore incapable of furthering paideia.”
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Pachma, another well thought out piece.
Very few would appreciate the intellectual depth and philosophical breadth of your exposé.
Fortunately for the lad, he has been exposed just to a glimmer of light shining on those topics which he feels comfortable debating.
This clearly is seen in his unawareness of the Eastern equivalent of what took place in the West.
He ought to see his story as a childlike interpretation of the Cain & Abel fable.
Or in his ‘religious’ acculturation, “Qābīl and Hābīl”.
Why not ask the lad in, Kabbalist fashion, what did Abel do to attract his “Other” brother Cain’s ‘deadly’ wrath?
It might be a bit too advanced for this kid’s intellectual age to ask him to place his story in the same crucible of ‘high’ thought.
For he, the lost soul searching in-between eras of human thought, might also misinterpret -in the most superficial of ways- the Kabbalist story of an innocent Jesus being sacrificed on the cross of life to save the entire set of humankind; from the Jews to the Japanese of the land of the Rising Sun.
Oh what a wonderful day it would be on BU when KK can express his views on Jesus the Saviour of all mankind under the Sun of Righteousness!
Stay safe, brother in Light! Imhotep will be proud of you!
@ Enuff July 13, 2020 7:15 PM
Critics of the government claim that Barbadians are docile. I counter that by saying that our people are intelligent and farsighted. Barbados has so far benefited greatly from the fact that we all live together so peacefully. International investors like stability and security. Added to this is our extremely stable democracy with a one-party rule.
To whom do we owe this stability? Our dear leader, Mia Mottley!
All those in Barbados who always complain about one-party rule should take a look at Guyana, where the two parties in the system are fighting each other to the death with knives and machetes …
@ Tron,
I trust that you are aware of the plight of blacks who migrate to foreign countries to earn an honest living and end up being abused.
Take the example of Lebanon which is now an indebted and broken country. You will find many Lebanese who have migrated and settled in a number of African countries where they live the life of Riley – unencumbered and at peace. This is in complete contrast to African migrants who were invited to work as domestic services in Lebanon.
Tron, either you are unaware of the plight of the black diaspora throughout regions such as The Middle East or you simply do not care. To use the word Nazism is uncalled for and is juvenile.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/nigerian-migrant-worker-home-ordeal-lebanon-200713174512139.html
@ TLSN July 14, 2020 2:36 AM
I am of course aware of these abuses in Arabia and China. I am also aware that the Arabs are still trading with black slaves.
That is why we need legal rules and enforcement to prevent this. As a convinced globalist and capitalist, my basic assumption is that every form of discrimination (racist discrimination is an important part of it) diminishes prosperity and curbs economic growth. That is why the North must no longer rob Africa. Africa’s population is so dynamic and large that it holds considerable economic potential – provided that the countries are given the chance for real development.
Apart from that also YOU will have to admit that the current events in the “United” States and in Guyana should be a warning to all of us. Good political governance means bringing people together and balancing interests, not dividing people. When politicians play the race card, they do so because they have no success to show. So they appeal to the lowest human instincts.
At least we have a leader in Barbados who unites and inspires people.
KK’s pictures show him to be of some black ancestry. His mother appears to be black judging from her facial features.
Don’t know why he is being attacked on that front.
Kinda proving his point.
This is how I see KK.
He is an intelligent young man who does not wish to be passive in the political process.
I am sorry if I cannot demonize Mia and everyone who associates with her and write them off. As I have stated before, the political process is broken here as it is in most places. Politicians are as duplicitous as our system and society allow them to be. They come from our society and are very much a product of it. We cannot look at them as though they came from Mars.
I will continue to see people as flawed human beings rather than demons. If that makes me naive then so be it but I shall continue to treat them as such because I too am a flawed human being.
@ Tron July 14, 2020 12:50 AM
Now, now dear Tron, you are taking this sycophancy parody a bit too far or you are taking the political Mickey out of your goddess MAM to the max.
Barbados has always been promoted (and advertised) as a very “stable democracy” and a ’preferred’ visitor destination with a highly literate population which ‘co-exist’ in social and racial harmony to impress and attract investors.
MAM came and found it the same way she came and found the ‘Special Entry Visitor Permit’ proposal ready to be dusted off and presented it- like any smart politician would do- as a ‘Red’ initiative.
South Asian anti-black racism: ‘We don’t marry black people’
Amit is Indian and kept his relationship with Michelle, who’s Ghanaian, secret for years – because he feared his family’s reaction. He says that racist attitudes about black people in his community can be influenced by colourism and the caste system.
Rapper Raj Forever’s music draws on his Jamaican and Sri Lankan heritage. But growing up he was made to feel like an outsider in the Asian community and has heard offensive slurs used to describe black people.(Quote)
@ Miller July 14, 2020 8:28 AM
Just compare the madhouse called Guyana and Barbados. Then you quickly learn to appreciate the alleged submissiveness of Barbadians, our one-party system and much more.
Mia Mottley governs in difficult times like no other prime minister before. Her rational and friendly presence on television will bring us international investors back.
https://youtu.be/zvi48-Fb7ls
You Tube
Barbados Good Morning .. The Nicholas Brancker Band feat. Peter Ram
MIA JOINS CALL FOR REPARATIONS
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has joined the CARICOM Reparations…In One Breath She is Inviting them to Come to work from Barbados and in another Breath Soliciting Reparations???
I Always wondered Why we would want Reparations from England and Not From Africa for it was the Africans that sold us to the Slavers and why we would want Reparations from England when they Paid Money to Free us.
Do you Know if any money was paid in Reparations who would benefit from it? It would be the Governments. It would NOT be the people …The People Never Get anything.
Mia would be Better Served by asking for Debt Forgiveness than trying to Posture about Reparations! And in the Game of Tit for Tat it would only take a Tat to Bankrupt Barbados Off Shore Banking sector.
We have more to Lose Going Forward than we Looking Back!
Along with the Ploy to Remove Nelson on Emancipation Day… The Brits will Consider Seriously Packing up and leaving Barbados… Certainly Driving the Brits away, What then?…Brits Support our Tourist Industry…
As a Lawyer, the PM would know that one is only Liable for the Crimes an Individual commits and she wants to hold all the Citizens of the U.K. Liable and to pay for what their Ancestors did. However, she wants to hold them Liable for something that ended almost 200 years ago. Are the Scots and the Irish also going to ask for Reparations? And if we go further back are we going to ask the North African Countries for the Reparations for the people they took as Slaves in those Northern Countries. Are the Jews going to be paid Reparations at the hands of all Countries that inflicted great suffering on them? When do we Stop this Type of Backward Thinking!!
SOCIAL COMMENTARY
…”This will not end well. Now she has certainly spoken many truths, but also much error. Will Britain really emancipate us from mental slavery? Will they cure our health problems due to the dietary bad practices of slavery times? Does political theft, mismanagement and corruption have anything to do with our massive debt? Will we now sell our birthright for a plate of food? Just do away with independence then and let the big countries support us and control us. She is like a Trojan horse wheeled in courtesy of Feundel’s perhaps planned indifference and incompetence, while hiring those from the Previous Administration into her Administration!”
The PM Should Take Note of….
AFRICA’S ROLE IN SLAVERY
This is absolutely the best of times to talk about the African participation in slavery. This is absolutely the worst of times to talk about the African participation in slavery.
There is strong preference for uncomfortable truths about the matter to be kept out of sight. But this is a good time to undertake a disinterment.
The great early 20th-Century black writer of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston, bitterly complained that “the white people held my people in slavery here in America. They had bought us, it is true, and exploited us.
But the inescapable fact that stuck in my craw was: My people had sold me … My own people had exterminated whole nations and torn families apart for a profit before the strangers got their chance at a cut. It was a sobering thought. It impressed upon me the universal nature of greed.” And we might add, the universal nature of slavery.
Read More @ http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20151025/africas-role-slavery
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/sites/default/files/styles/jg_article_image/public/media/article_images/2015/07/14/SlaveryDem.jpg?itok=DCBD0fxO
https://www.desmog.co.uk/2019/08/27/how-dark-money-overseas-flows-boris-johnson-s-government