It is one thing to open a can of worms. It is quite another matter when the can has been around for so long that it is bent and battered. It is even more interesting when all attempts to keep the lid on the can prove worthless since its worms have long escaped through the numerous cracks and are as present with us as the ubiquitous African snail.
The Ministry of Agriculture, non-governmental organizations, entire neighbourhoods, individual households and even the Defence Force have all joined together, determined to eradicate the African snail, as indeed they should.
On the other hand, the destructive worm of racism (let’s call it what it is!) is left to crawl with impunity throughout our small Barbadian society.
The difference in treatment of the snail and the worm mentioned above is noteworthy. While one creature is recognized for what it is and all attempts made to destroy it, the attitude to the other is often one of selective amnesia and a deliberate blindness.
In my previous column, I pointed to the reality of slavery and the plantation system and the effects they have had on the psyche of Blacks in particular. Today I want to focus on how we Blacks may continue the struggle to break free of the manacles that continue to bind us in ways of which we’re often not even conscious.
Education is one way out. Of course, we must educate ourselves. But at the policy-making level, there must be a conscious and deliberate philosophy that seeks to produce Barbadian citizens who feel positive about themselves. For in the final analysis, it does not matter who likes us as much as whether or not we like ourselves.
The teaching of our history should be mandatory and, in so doing, it is imperative that we make the distinction between the words “slave” and “enslaved”. The first word implies an intrinsic quality, some innate characteristic or predisposition. The second term is accurate in meaning and puts the emphasis where it belongs: the condition of captivity that is enforced against the will of the captive. In other words, Africans and their Caribbean descendants were not naturally slaves by birth, genetics or inclination.
Another very important fact that should be stressed is that all known civilizations were enslaved at some period throughout the course of history. While slavery in the New World was among the worst of its forms, the Europeans and other ethnic groups had been busy enslaving their own for centuries. The shame with which we associate our past enslavement must therefore be shared by every known civilization. In short, the Whites were once “slaves” as well.
Several primary schools must be commended for the steps they are taking during Black History Month to impress upon their young charges the richness of our African civilization, the resistance and resilience of our Caribbean enslaved ancestors and the pride they must take in themselves as black people.
And it is at this primary level that we must begin. A whole generation culturized by BET [Black Entertainment Television] and the like may already be lost to us.
Is most, if not all, of this discussion old hat? Of course, it is. Almost as old and battered as the can above that attempts to house the worms. But even more importantly, the question must be asked: how far have we moved ahead as a people of colour?
We in the Caribbean embraced the Black Power movement of the 1960s when we shouted to the world that black was beautiful. We celebrated the struggles of our ancestors for freedom and justice; the American Civil Rights Movement. We wore our dashikis and afro hairstyles with pride.
“Hard” hair was not a problem; it was not “too difficult to manage”. That was what Afro combs were made for. We were determined to fight our way out of any status of inferiority imposed on us and establish our black identity as one of which we were incontestably proud.
Where are we now? We’ve made significant strides politically, socially and economically. Yet too many of us are still up front in the 100-metre dash away from our own identity as black people. Or perhaps in the so-called global meltdown, we have become confused, distracted and misguided.
Meanwhile, like millions of others, I am ecstatic about President Barack Obama’s second-term election to the White House. Mr President, may you and your family continue to walk under an open heaven.
• Esther Phillips is head of the Division of Liberal Arts of the Barbados Community College. She is also a poet and editor of BIM: Arts For The 21st Century.
