Saddened by the ruling

THE EDITOR, Madam:

My first time watching Django Unchained was a few years ago while at a barber shop in New York. In this film, Django was a slave in the United States but he was given his freedom by a white doctor who was a bounty hunter, who then used Django as his assistant.

Django was free to ride a horse but some white folks still had problems with it and they were always in shock. However, the scene that was shocking to me was when Stephen, a slave on Calvin’s plantation, protested against Django riding a horse and sleeping in the big house, which was out of bounds for plantation slaves.

Slavery was abolished in Jamaica on August 1, 1834 and the country gained independence in 1962. When I think of the words emancipation and independence I think of freedom – to think, learn, worship, love, and work – regardless of colour, hair type or texture, social status and political or religious persuasion.

I was saddened when I heard on the news that the Supreme Court ruled that Kensington Primary School did not breach the child’s constitutional rights when it denied her access in 2018 for having dreadlocks.

Did we see a Django Unchained happening in real life?

I long for a Jamaica where we are not judged by the texture of our hair but by our character.

RENORD CAMPBELL