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| Queen Elizabeth II |
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| Sir Patrick Allen Governor General of Jamaica |
There are many things that we do which reflects our relationship with Britain. Jamaica has maintained a relationship with the Crown even after we gained independence from Britain in 1962, and we still have a Governor General (GG) representing the Queen in Jamaica. I believe that the current GG is the least popular GG we have ever had. The Queen even in death is probably more loved in Jamaica than Sir Patrick Allen. I have done my little informal poll and I found out that very few persons know him.
It is clear to me that when we became politically independent, our founding fathers had now developed a new type of relationship with our former colonizers. It probably was felt that as a small country there would be more benefits with this type of relationship. We should note that the people of Jamaica have always had a special love for the Queen and therefore for years there has been no national push to have our own head of state.
There is now a new move to enlighten the people about our past relationship with Britain and persons are now questioning this continued monarchical relationship. My position is that from a cultural perspective there is need for a change, but this will not rebound in any other benefits for the country. Removing white royalty and replacing it with black royalty will not by itself take us out of the gutter of problems this country is now facing. Since independence our own Jamaican Leaders have not generally done a good job of moving this country ahead. Just think of what we went through during the 1980's and also that FINSAC period.
If we were still a colony of Britain, many feel that crime and corruption would not be so high. Britain has taken a disproportionate amount from the nation's coffers in the past and that has changed to a small minority of Jamaicans now getting that disproportionate amount. It is now. 'Long live the King', which will change to 'Long live the President' and it might still be 'Long live, the long suffering people of Jamaica!
Notwithstanding that, let's look forward to the changes and a better day for Jamaica Land we Love.
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Well, we look forward to see if there will be some kind of apology and reparations to come.
ReplyDeleteMr. Derby, I hope we’re not holding our collective breath as we await the reparations.
ReplyDeleteMr Derby.
ReplyDeleteFor some strange reason your post has brought sad memories on this fine Sunday morning. Your post seems to suggest we should temper our push for reparations and becoming a Republic. Why? I remembered the arrogance of the chorus of the song 'Rule Britania'. Every Englishman, every member of the royal household know the chorus line; "Rule Britania, Britania rules the waves, Britain never never never shall be slaves". It is sung with foot stomping, wine drinking, table banging gusto. They know the evil of slavery and all they did.
They impose their might and imperialist ways to ensure there is no retribution because they would not do well were they to be subject to the treatment they dished out across the world. That is why they don't aplologise, nor entertain the thought of reparations.
I am disappointed that successive GG's could wear the offending badge that has the white man with foot in the neck of a black devil until a white man pointed this out. Where is our dignity as black people. Any conscious black man should have pointed this out the moment he saw it on his breast.
Shame
The post is aimed at generating discussions about our state of affairs and hopefully we come to a consensus about what needs to be changed for us to have a better Jamaica.
DeleteIf it Wasn't the English we probably be speaking Spanish in Jamaica now!
ReplyDelete