J'cans...victims of UK public relations
published: Wednesday | January 15, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I CAN confirm your reader's assertion that most black men in the UK identify as Jamaicans. But I would want to add that many black women do too. Several years ago, I had occasion to spend some 12 weeks in Wakefield, England, on training. I was very surprised when I discovered that about half of the persons I met, men and women, who I thought were Jamaicans, in fact turned out to be from a variety of other Caribbean and African countries. Yet they endeavoured to speak Jamaican and called themselves "yardies".
I would just like to say to my fellow Jamaicans who remain at home, that Jamaicans have simply been a victim of UK public relations management.
Now that the political atmosphere has ripened to accept a policy of visa requirement for Jamaicans entering the UK, there should be an equally dramatic drop in "Jamaican Crimes" as the spin doctors attempt to justify this. We gave these spin doctors in the UK many fertile reasons to use against us. Many in the British public fear Jamaicans in the UK. But the average Jamaican seeking work in the UK and those residing there are hard-working and law-abiding persons. It is the few get-rich-quick parasites among us that cause the problem.
Those among us who speak of the 'benefits' of smuggling ganja never calculate the immeasurable harm to our people and the many opportunities lost because of these parasites. So the next time someone sings 'Herbman shuffling', think of the suffering of thousands of Jamaicans who can no longer travel to many countries and seek a better living. Indeed, we may not have needed to travel to other countries to seek a living, were it not for these low lives and the people who support them.
