PNP missed the mark

Jamaican politicians are being urged to be circumspect in their actions and utterances in light of a growing intolerance for politics, politicians and symbolic representation of the nation’s tragic slavery past.

This latest call follows last week’s backlash after Opposition Leader Mark Golding ‘freed’ Claude ‘Big Stone’ Sinclair from bondage in a dramatic episode at the People’s National Party (PNP) president’s St Andrew South constituency conference.

Sinclair denied that his actions had anything to do with slavery despite the firestorm it triggered from those who interpreted it as such. Instead, he said that it was an impromptu series of events triggered by him as he sought to portray how oppressive it was to live in Jamaica under the current Holness administration. His action, he insisted, was without any thought or consideration for neither his nor Golding’s race.

“This is not about the PNP leader. This was a representation of the system and about a party, which by virtue of its track record, best represents the interest of black people like myself. So even if a black man or woman was the PNP president, I would have done the same,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

‘VERY DISTASTEFUL’

Dr Donna Hope, a professor of gender, culture and society at The University of the West Indies, believes the PNP missed the mark with the “distasteful” incident.

She said that Sinclair could have done the same thing in Half-Way Tree square, where he would have been “memed” out by now, “but it happened at a political [event], on a platform, where it was going to be made available … to a wider audience where everyone would make their own conclusions”.

She added: “We have a problem in Jamaica with the kind of symbols and metaphors we are using to reflect slavery, also in a country with problems of race and skin colour, forever. I think [Culture] Minister [Olivia] Grange was also chastised and routinely trounced for that scene they did with the two young men with chains around their necks at some events. It was a similar kind of thing and it was very distasteful,” Hope told The Sunday Gleaner.

“I also found it distasteful in the way that we are using these slavery narratives as if it’s some badge of honour or some kind of joke. We can use other representations to convey the message we want without wrapping people up in chains,” she said, adding that the PNP is missing seasoned professionals to handle its communications and public relations.

“The PNP needs people to work with them so they can understand that they are not in a room by themselves talking to each other, that they are not standing on a platform talking to political activists, and that they are marketing their leader in ways that are rubbing people in different directions, not all of them positive,” she further explained.

She also believes the party is missing the mark.

“They have to hit the mark, and they did not with this one. A lot of reactionary conversations are going on because nobody thought about the implications of the moment. That’s the challenge that I am having. This white man ‘Massa’ [argument] is already out there. And plus we have a bloc of voting age people with smartphones, and a growing intolerance for politics, politicians, and voting,” said Hope.

‘WHAT GOLDING DID WILL BACKFIRE’

Former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) parliamentarian Pearnel Charles Sr said Jamaica has come a far way from the ‘rod of correction’ days of the 1970s and the ‘black scandal bag’ era of the 1990s, name calling in between and platform heroics seeking votes.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner on Friday, he said that local politics is replete with race, class, and colour within its colourful nature.

“Everything a politician does or says on the platform is seeking to get votes. That’s what elections are about. Getting votes to win. Sometimes the action backfires, and sometimes it fires. I believe that what Golding did will backfire,” he said.

Charles recalled that while speaking on a platform in Highgate, St Mary, in 1965, he urged Labourites to vote early “because Parson christen him pickney fus”.

The comment, he said, was meant to encourage JLP supporters to cast their ballots early to secure expected political largesse from a win.

“I was roundly criticised. I still have the headline from The Gleaner somewhere, which was not complimentary. So this issue of slavery is not something that should be trivialised, and anything that reminds people of that will receive anger,” he suggested.

‘IT WAS JEJUNE’

Former PNP parliamentarian Ronald Thwaites, who hosts the talk show Public Eye with Charles, said that politicians sometimes use humour and parody to get people’s attention.

“Let me very clear: We, the politicians, want the people to take us seriously or to take the point we are trying to make very seriously, but we must be careful not to do things that are going to be misinterpreted or counterproductive. I thought that that thing with Mark was just jejune. I am not buying Babsy’s (Grange’s) crocodile tears. I didn’t think it needed to be done, but it was jejune,” argued Thwaites, referencing a statement Grange issued decrying the incident.

He also noted that Jamaica’s political history is replete with issues of colour, class, and race.

Thwaites said that with Golding’s personal and political background, he does not believe the act was intended to disrespect the history of black people.

“I know Mark as a very roots guy, who only intended to act out an act of rescue, if you will. But there is a white man’s burden in this country. It is both a blessing and a curse. In one instance, it makes you more acceptable, and in another, it is a burden because of history,” he argued.

In 26 years of political involvement, he said the instances when he was considered ‘Massa’ – the cruel slave master who dispensed the most sadistic forms of punishment – were negligible.

Thwaites noted that Golding was offended by comments from Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke likening him to ‘Massa’ earlier this year. Against that background, he said Golding would not do anything to give credence to such an unfortunate reference.

“People have no control over where they were born. In Michael and Golding, it’s people who were conscious and have generosity of spirit and willing to move beyond the self-obsession that afflicts people of all racial connotations, especially nowadays, and really give of themselves,” stated Thwaites.

“I am certain that in the moment he did not think about being white. Absolutely not. It’s not something he goes about bragging. I don’t go about bragging that either,” he said, adding that the incident should not cause anyone to think negatively of either Golding or the PNP, given the history of both.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com