THE EDITOR, Sir:
DR. GARTH Rattray's response to hate crime rhetoric, hastily tacked on to the brutal murder of Brian Williamson, is a timely one. By politicising this heinous crime, OutRage may succeed in advancing its own political agenda, but it certainly does not address the larger issue of Jamaica's crime problem.
Murder has become routine violence. One may be placed in the bull's eye of another's wrath for reasons ranging from political affiliation to a dispute over a cup of soup. The truth is that murder motivated from hatred of another's sexual preference has been the exception, despite the island's anti-gay laws.
The answer does not rest in imported philosophical ideas about sexuality. It lies in teaching our children to respect ALL people, to exchange ideas and not bullets. The Government of Jamaica must do more than pay lip service to the now defunct idea of crime-fighting. The greatest honour that can be paid to the memory of Brian Williamson is bring his murderers to justice for slaying a man who has been described as a warm and caring son of Jamaica.
I hardly think it will serve any useful purpose for him to be remembered as the homosexual activist whose death led to the touting of the customary hate crime mantra from the cultural elite of Europe.
I am, etc.,
WINSOME RICHARDS
winrich23@yahoo.com
Washington DC
Via Go-Jamaica
