Errol Hewitt, Contributor

"So brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave- woman [the natural] but of the free [the supernatural]. In this freedom Christ has completely liberated us; stand fast then and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery, which you have once put off." Galatians 4:31- 5:1.

Emotional baggage carried ceaselessly by generation after generation, in time seems to become ingrained into one's sub-conscious. While physical freedom was already obtained with emancipation, liberation from such baggage is psychological and requires recognition of its presence and how, when and why it was infused into us. These limitations are believed to contribute to a range of negative behaviour in individuals and the wider community and many, recognising the effects, have determined to shed these encum-brances, but many more are unaware.

The truth is that as a people, we have been carrying debilitating baggage for centuries - likely conceived in slavery from the time of our forefathers. This yoke must now be shed.

For more than 250 years, slaves in this hemisphere were traumatised, dehumanised and murdered to an extent unequalled in known history. And for over 100 years since emancipation, the Caribbean and South America were under colonial dominance and the United States under racial segregation. In fact, the post-emancipation period began with the abused, exploited slaves at the foot of the social and economic ladder.

Most research on their descendants has been done in the U.S.A. where, as a racial minority, such research has been largely focused on crime and violence as indicative of both current and future problems to be confronted, rather than on the causative factors, including the psychological impact of sustained trauma over several generations

On the other hand, the Jews, although experiencing persecution leading to the unspeakable cruelties of the holocaust during the much shorter period of eight years, have done extensive studies of the psychological impact of the trauma, tracked through succeeding Jewish generations and have noted specific behavioural traces.

Trauma passed on

A school of thought has been obtaining increasing support for the concept that the psychological damage from slavery has been passed through succeeding generations to the present.

In Jamaica's case, this would have been absorbed during the over 250 years of slavery, transmitted and further reinfused during the over 100 years since emancipation as 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' for Britain.

They argue that for over two centuries, successive generations experienced the trauma of losing home, family and language. They were degraded, whipped, abused and witnessed the rape and murder of others. For over two centuries, successive generations in response developed means of adopting pre-emptive actions to avoid punishment and being sold. When suffering did occur, they learnt how to survive and overcome until these behavioural reactions became virtually embedded into the psyche and can be traced through the family and community of successive generations. This has resulted generally in a sense of fear, powerlessness and an ingrained sense of unentitlement and lack of self-worth.

They affirm that although universally there are inescapable common patterns of human behaviours, yet extreme trauma- generating experiences over time, such as slavery, can create greater emphases in these behaviours.

Implements of production

Before the slave trade was abolished, slaves were exhaustively used as mere implements of production. Therefore, in maximising production, more males were brought to Jamaica than females. The breeding of slaves would then have been uneconomic in cost and time and in any event, families as basic socialising units were not the focus, although there were emotional ties.

The system of hard labour, being sold, or death, ensured the habitual absence of males from domestic units, causing considerable strain on the more consistently-present female- heads. Those women tended to develop a 'superwoman' syndrome, taking care of all in need in the community, e.g. mothering orphans or ill males in the community - "Gi this little dinnah to Mass Lennie ovah deh, im no hab nobody" - but never feeling entitled to anything for themseves.

Female slaves neither controlled who they had sex with nor were protected against being raped by white officials or male slaves. The former rationalised that black women were part animal with an animal's appetite for sex - always sexually ready. Female slaves, while de-veloping a shame for their bodies, felt both intense fear and anger. These deep-seated emotions were transmitted through daughters in successive generations, though evidenced in opposing ways between stringent modesty and flaunting immodesty characterised by dancehall fashion.

The absence of fathers/husbands meant the scarcity of role models, which tends to become self-perpetuating through the generations, as sons, having no mentors to imitate, fumbled through their own personal experiences. Rather than becoming responsible men, they remained just male, boastfully focusing on the number of children sired [given its commercial importance after the abolition of the slave trade], these being thereby a dual 'badge of honour'. As such, behaviours became entrenched through the generations. they, in turn, generated many problems for individuals, families and communities.

Statistics based on the black community in the U.S.A. affirm that the highest incidence of teenage pregnancies, prison, sex and drug abuse occurs in domestic units without fathers - results many believe to be similar in Jamaica.

It is by understanding the influences on our behaviour that we are able to be free and fortify ourselves against re-enslavement and its debilitating by-products.

The supervisor saw children as an unproductive budget cost and so they were frequently punished by the parent, even for trivialities, the rationale being 'children are to be seen and not heard' - an implicit limitation imposed on their development through the generations. By punishing the child, some parents were posturing a sense of power in the midst of real powerlessness. This is still a reality today.

Institutionalised

Another is the petrifying stare of an adult female slave silently yet unambiguously demanding the child to cease whatever he or she was doing without attracting the overseer's attention. That stare survives today. The overseer's compliment for a child had to be met with deprecating comments, - "Yes Massa, but him stupid" - making the child unattractive for selling, but by insulting instead of encouraging, inculcating into the child uncertainty of worth and ability. Encouragement is still scarce today. As parenting is largely learnt by imitating, so many of these practices become institutionalised.

As the slaves, largely young, strong men, greatly outnumbered the white settlers, the latter vigorously applied a policy of divide and rule over every possible activity - black field slaves against the usually fairer complexioned house slaves, men against women etc. - it is thought inculcating through the succeeding generations today's 'crabs in the barrel' and the feudalistic syndrome in our society.

Our history attests to us being a strong, resilient people, thriving despite oppressive cruelty, yet maintaining our humanity to the point where we have responded kindly to those who were cruel to us.

Despite the divide and rule policy we were, when necessary, able to put aside differences, with house slaves for example passing food and information to save the lives of black field slaves. Undergirding all this was a deep spirituality which recognised the reality of a God who sees all humans as equal and from whom they drew comfort, expressed in song through the vestiges of their own culture.

But whether we accept 'trace theory of memory' or 'post-traumatic slave syndrome', there is no denying the continued existence of deviant behaviour in our society which, for example, drastically affects our families and which touches all aspects of our lives. Absentee fathers and husbands, how we raise our children, the 'crabs in the barrel' syndrome of selfish disunity etc., none are ends in themselves but rather, generate waves of other major negatives in the society. These are problems of major importance which urgently require healing.

The research available to date does suggest that many of our behaviour patterns can be traced to trauma experienced during the centuries of slavery and colonialism and propose that its findings not be used as an excuse, but as a means of becoming liberated.

Research needed

This needed liberation is on three fronts: we need every individual to be acquainted with our culture and true history, generating pride, a sense of self- worth and an entitlement to realising his/her full potential. At the community level, we need to reorder our education system, relating it to a national plan and at its core, the ability to think and reason - basics to real understanding. At the national level, needed is leadership that understands our path through history with the competence and commitment to facilitate the progress, not to be an obstacle. Needed at all levels is a church which replaces current philosophy for the applied word of God.

But a considerable amount of research is still needed in Jamaica to trace and fully understand today's manifestation of the effect of centuries of consistently intense trauma. While we have talented and experienced academics and social workers in the areas of sociology, social psychology and anthropology, substantial funding is crucial.

Our people are our most valuable asset; we need them liberated and at their full potential. Perhaps our private sector and the diaspora will see this as an area not yet fully explored and worthy of their support and enlightened self interest.

"If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm." (African proverb).

Errol Hewitt is an information and communication technology planning consultant with the United Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He may be contacted at estahewitt@yahoo.com