Racism Is as Jamaican as Jerk Chicken

Contrary to the prevailing narrative, Jamaica is not a post-racial Wakanda paradise. Our motto's declaration of "Out of Many, One People" is two thousand miles away from reality. There is one group at the bottom of the pile: black people. We are the victims of pervasive police brutality: from illegal hair cuttings to unlawful killings. And we have the highest unemployment, incarceration, and poverty rates.

Jamaica has had over 500 years of institutionalized racism. First, the Spanish colonized us and then the British. White superiority and black inferiority were entrenched in the infernal colonial system. The country is built on a foundation of racism. And after emancipation and independence, there was no effort to dismantle the white supremacist system that is at the core of our society. As demonstrated by the fact that our beloved Hope Road, Hope Gardens and Hope Pastures are named after an enslaver (see link in comments to enlightening new discoveries regarding the Hope Plantation). Also quite tragically, the Tower Street Prison in Kingston was originally a slave dungeon. Upon arrival to Jamaica, Africans were held there until they were sold.

Additionally, the fact that the brown and white minorities are disproportionately represented in government and amongst business leaders illustrates that racism still exists. It is as if we are still living in an apartheid state.

Also on a personal level (the personal is political), many of us don't seem at all interested in black people. Look at who we are romantically involved with. Aren't many black Jamaicans white supremacists?

Furthermore, the current pandemic of skin lightening is a byproduct of our racist culture. And by the way, it's ridiculous to blame songs from dancehall icons like Buju. Maybe the "bleachers" are trying to gain some of the privileges of being brown.

We may not be physically enslaved anymore, but the legacies of slavery persist. The time has come to address the issues that the barbaric racist system created. We need to permanently extricate the myth of inferiority from our minds. And the government must provide real equal rights and justice to Jamaica's black population. Only then will we be truly one people.