The air in this town is filled with conversations that are laced with recrimination.
Some of that talk in the air has to do with what – if anything – the Hon. Alfred M. Sears could or should have done concerning the opening of a new school year.
And then there are those talks concerning extradition and the extent to which certain people can access justice in the United States of America.
There is also a more muted conversation concerning the extent to which Bahamians are complicit in either facilitating or covering up crimes.
Take note that The Bahamas is quite a paradoxical place. It is that kind of place that boasts more churches per square mile than any similar sized plot of land anywhere on this planet.
But at the same time, this country of ours wears the dubious distinction of being one of the most violent and crime ridden places in the world.
In addition, while many say that the wages of sin are death; there are other Bahamians who know that there are times when crime does pay.
Regrettably, The Bahamas is also that kind of place where mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters � and other family members routinely ‘cloak crime’ and live off its proceeds.
Some of this nation�s most notorious criminals do sometimes have strong community support and that this support amounts to another sophisticated type of Bahamian style cloaking.
Even now, there are old timers who yearn for those days when children could be taught that manners had the power to take them through life, and for sure these same old timers fondly remember the time when the report of a murder was exceptionally bad news for the community at large.
Indeed, we too remember that there was a time in The Bahamas when the community itself could be revolted and when families could be shamed by the errant antics of one of its members. Alas! Those days are gone; and for the most part, those days have been forgotten.
There are other instances where wrong doing of a more subtle nature never hits the news. This is due to the fact that many Bahamians routinely cover-up wrong doing or when this is not their choice, they turn a so-called ‘blind eye’.
Either way, the motto seems to be: see no evil, say no evil.
In this regard, we note that when we were younger and perhaps a bit more na�ve about any number of things, we would listen and hear about this or that �bad boy or girl who was being ‘cloaked’ by their parents. At that time, we did not get the full meaning behind what our elders were suggesting.
But as we grew older and perhaps a bit wiser, we came to the understanding that cloaking involved deliberate decisions to cover up wrong doing. And so it was that bad boys and bad girls were shielded by their parents and loved ones from facing consequences for their actions.
Some thing akin to this is happening today.
This time around whole communities seem to be complicit in ‘cloaking crime’ and living off its proceeds. We are also being told that there are instances where certain police officers are said to be involved in providing both ‘intelligence’ and protection to people who allegedly are involved in any number of large scale criminal enterprises.
A similar point is made concerning other men and women who work in the uniformed branches of the public service. It is widely said and assumed that some of these men and women routinely �cloak� any number of crime enterprises.
And so, whether the reference is to human cargo trafficking, gun running, drugs transshipment or just plain old street level thug action, there is evidence galore to support the contention that there are Bahamians who will �for a price- cloak whatever needs to be covered up.
Most Bahamians would concur – if asked to check themselves – with the proposition that their beloved country is suffused with crime, trickery and other instances of wrongdoing.
Things are so bad in this department that people some time suggest that the real fault on the part of many is not that they are criminals, but that they are dumb enough to have been caught.
There are also cynical people who do believe that everyone has a price. These are the types who routinely seek to buy whomever they wish. In many instances, they succeed. Though widely known and accepted ‘as the way things are’ little of this ever comes forward for public scrutiny.
This is when cloaking is being practiced big time.
Editorial The Bahama Journal
