Contributed
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| Michael Spence |
The untimely death of Buju in St James and the untimely troubles facing the policeman are reminders that stress from life itself can cause untimely deaths/occurences.
I offer my sympathies to both families and to the entire Jamaica family.
Since the so-called independence in 1962, we have killed at least 70,000 of our own. Over 50,000 have been ordinary citizens. Another 20,000 have been killed by police and the army.
Jamaica is 98% Black, yet we are engaged in Black-on-Black killings.
Approximately 1 million Jamaicans live in squatters' poverty and squatting conditions.
Afro-Jamaicans comprise 98% of the population but own only 5% of the economy. The remaining 2%, mainly non-Black, control the other 95%.
One must ask if we were better off before 1838. The system is now blurred.
The government and those in Parliament have black skins but appear to operate with white minds. This crisis is global. In America: ICE and deportation. In Argentina: efforts to white-out (Racial Erasure).
In South Africa: expulsion. Black people are being pushed into a corner, off the planet.
Michael Spence
Michael Spence is a graduate of Cornwall College and the University of the West Indies. He is a trained teacher, a sociologist, and a writer for Bark Di Trute.
Very interesting article. Do you have any references for this data please?
ReplyDeletePlease check the Internet.
DeleteBark Di Trute has compiled the figures on murders. and published it.
DeleteThere is a psychological crisis in our land that we're completely ignoring. The sooner we appreciate this factor the better we'll be because we can begin to do something about it. A lot of our people are angry for one reason or another. It would behove us to do some studies to find out why. Also, recently an article was carried in the Jamaica Observer which correlated our high rate of teenage delinquency with absentee fathers. All fathers who fail to parent their children should be charged with child abandonment and neglect. As a society we have allowed deadbeat dads to get away with this scourge. We also need to do something about our dubious reputation of having the highest rate of paternity fraud in the world - wow! We're not even 3 million people. If these issues are not enough to cause psychological scars then I don't know what is. Couple these issues with our ongoing economic challenges and you have a perfect storm. Recall how our murder rate skyrocketed after the economic rug was ripped from under us when 44,000 businesses were destroyed under the high interest rate/FINSAC debacle. Before this we were not recording so many murders annually. We have a lot to do and so it is important that we move from talk to action.
ReplyDelete