The Bahamian people should be treated with respect. Their nation's sovereignty should be respected and no lobby of any hyphenated Americans should ever be given so much sway that they can deflect a great nation from adhering to principles that should matter.
Sovereignty matters for the Bahamian people.
way of preamble, long gone are the days when Bahamians were wont to dote and fret about what is happening in the so-called Mother Country ﾖ whether referenced as Great Britain, the United Kingdom or England. Long gone are those days when God Save the Queen was the toast of those in power.
Today most Bahamians are focused on what is happening in the United States of America, Haiti, Cuba and surprisingly enough, The Peopleﾒs Republic of China. Here we need only take note of the fact that there are any number of Bahamians are busying themselves with doing business in China.
Some of these same people are – of course – doing business on behalf of Chinese entrepreneurs wishing to use The Bahamas and other Caribbean territories as export platforms for goods destined for markets in the United States, Canada and Europe.
In time – this strategy will also encompass Cuba and Haiti.
But even as we make the point that Bahamians are no longer as concerned as they once were with what is happening in Britain, we underscore the fact that there are Bahamians who will always have a ﾑsoft spotﾒ – so to speak – for their erstwhile colonial masters.
Indeed there are Bahamians of the old school type who still revel in and revere all things British. Some other Bahamians also gravitate to some things Canadian as they search for a semblance of balance between what they consider American crassness and British anachronism, thus the scores of Canadian consultants who are to be seen whenever and wherever consultancies are being sought or proffered.
Others work closely with their American counter-parts.
Perhaps, this is the way it must be in a small country like The Bahamas.
This is no new phenomenon, witness the longevity of the Lyford Cay project and the large role played in it by a cadre of highly committed Canadians who have made that enclave their home, sweet home in The Bahamas. This is to say that The Bahamas we live in today has been built by many.
We hasten to add, however, that The Bahamas is an independent nation.
We reiterate the point that The Bahamas that we know, love and care for is not a county, that it is no Dade County East and that as a sovereign nation it should be treated with respect.
That is why we are today adamant in our conviction and conclusion that people like J. Richard Blankenship should butt out of matters that are none of their business. And from a news perspective, we dare say that we have a serious problem with those in the craft who believe that this manﾒs tedious utterances should be given such high prominence in this country.
But since that legitimate decision by others whom we respect, we say let it be for peace sake- if only for a time. In the meantime, we offer a perspective on sovereignty and what it should mean for todayﾒs Bahamian who would be a nation-builder.
In this regard, it is out of necessity that The Bahamas is obliged to seek friends and allies where they may be found. It is this necessity for survival that has the Bahamas enmeshed in relations with countries as diverse as Britain, Cuba, China and the Republic of Haiti.
It is this unremitting struggle for survival that obliges The Bahamas to adopt hands off approach to problems and issues that involve some of the countries with which it has diplomatic relations.
In this regard, Cuban-Americans would like to goad The Bahamas into taking sides with them as they continue their decades-old struggle with the Fidelistas in Cuba.
The Bahamas – quite rightly – has decided to have none of that.
Today we make this point as we reflect on some of the difficulties small and weak countries have in the world as they try to make their way in that world.
The question as we see it does not turn on making their way in the world, but whether those who are strong would allow the weak a measure of dignity.
And so we say – in the strongest terms possible – that it would be grossly undignified for anyone to insist that a sovereign Bahamas should somehow be made to sing for its supper.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
