Once again, the words of wisdom emphasized by my grandmother echoes in my head. “Where ignorance is a bliss, ’tis folly to be wise!” This profound thought came about after reading a response to one of my recent editorials entitled “Dr Percentie taken to task” by one Dr. Keith Russell. ﾠI assume that he is one of those Reverend Doctors as I am unaware of any Keith Russell in the medical field. Dr. Russell’s presentation contains a number of assertions and assumptions that because of their inaccuracy has led him to some illogical conclusions. The issue that I presented was the irrelevancy of race in the Bahamas today, particularly as it relates to politics or even becoming Prime Minister. Regrettably, it appears that Dr. Russell is trapped in a time capsule in the past where he is quite contented to reside. Should he check his calendar, he would discover that the Berlin Wall has fallen, Nelson Mandela had been freed and man has landed on the moon. It is now time for him to look up and move on with the times.
Just for the record Dr. Russell, my father-in-law here in Boston is one of the world’s leading retina (the area of the eye that sees colour) specialist. Myopic or tunnel vision persons like yourself who can only see things in black and white could certainly benefit from his services. Why on earth do you suggest that being colour blind “is a dangerous malady for black people to contract?” This trend of thinking makes absolutely no sense in today’s Bahamas. Dr. Russell then went on to suggest that “many Bahamians consider Mr. Symonette’s whiteness a problem…..not because they are racist, but because of historical experiences past and present.” This statement is both contradictory and ridiculous as Dr. Russell is suggesting that the Symonettes are still practicing racism today.
My position on the past is quite straight forward as I indicated that there were some injustices in the past as it relates to the majority of Bahamians. In my youth as a PLP, I campaigned extensively against the UBP and what they stood for. However, we run a risk of improper conclusions when we try to analyze 1950’s problems with 2000 and beyond spectacles. Decisions of those days took into account the general circumstances of those days, which may be very different from today. What Dr. Russell and others like him do not understand, was the fact that prior to July 10th, 1973, there was no law prohibiting the evil act of discrimination. It was possible to discriminate without any legal consequence, except that of moral convictions. That all changed on July 10th 1973 when the Constitution of the Bahamas, the Bahamas highest legal authority came into effect. Embedded in the Bahamian Constitution is a provision guaranteeing protection from discrimination based on race, place of national origin, creed and religion. Simply put Dr. Russell, the situation or anything similar that occurred under the UBP government could not happen again in the Bahamas. The British were quite clever to insert that clause in all post colonial constitutions to prevent one group out of spite, hate and revenge denying another group. That is why back in 1991 when Dr. Franklyn Walkine, then the PLP MP for Acklins, Crooked Island, and Long Cay questioned why some white people traveled to Long Cay for the opening of the water project. I quickly took him to task by reminding him that all persons in the Bahamas are protected by the Constitution; therefore he had no right to question their right to travel through out the Bahamas.
Dr. Russell then went on to suggest that somehow whatever negative values possessed by the UBP was genetically inherited by Brent Symonette, who was a mere boy at the time. This is pure nonsense as there is no scientific proof that social values are pre-determined. The lack of objectivity by Dr. Russell with regards to the UBP is astounding and consequently any opinion that he is now presenting is clearly biased. For God ‘s sake man, the UBP has been out of power for almost forty years, that is almost two generations of Bahamians ago. They are long gone and forgotten! Why is it that some people still tote around baggage left by the UBP is beyond reasonable comprehension. Why is it that when Marvin Pinder, an admitted UBP in his youth with a desire to be a UBP Premier, was not challenged by people like Dr. Russell even when he became a PLP Cabinet Minister and could have possibly become Prime Minister?
Of course, the PLP has exploited the racial issue for their benefit. By unconstitutionally referring to the Bahamas as a black country, it was suggesting that there was an advantage to being “black” in the Bahamas. Remember when the Honorable Paul Adderley in his capacity as Minister of Finance suggested the possibility of denying or limiting business licenses to persons in a particular class? This is the same Paul Adderley who along with A. D. Hanna and Sir Clement Maynard some thirty years after the introduction of the Bahamian flag appeared on the Darold Miller Show to explain the colours of the flag. The prevailing view at the time was that the black on the flag represented the people of the Bahamas. This of course was a bold-faced lie but it served the political agenda of the PLP, that was to divide the Bahamian people. Disgracefully, this is what some teachers were telling the students in school as well. Paul Adderley as a former Minister of Education did nothing to correct this gross misrepresentation of the Bahamas most significant national symbol.
In any adversity with human conflict, according to Louis Farrakhan, for healing to occur, there must be atonement, that is, recognizing the wrong and then trying to correct it. For the Bahamas, this should have been an easy task as our Constitution describes the Bahamas as a nation with Christian values. The whole concept of Christianity is based on forgiveness. In the words of Christ, “love others like you love me.” The Bahamas unfortunately is noted for its hypocrisy of Christian principles. How can anyone condemn the UBP racist policy as wrong and evil and turn around and do the same thing? There are so many examples of where the victims of racism have turned that negative energy into a positive force of unity for a divided people. For example, Nelson Mandela of South Africa. This man spent twenty-seven in a prison under conditions that none of us can imagine because of racism. Upon his release from prison, his first statement was “I don’t want to live in a country run by blacks….or whites. I want to live in a country where the government is democratically elected.” In other words, judge a man by the content of his character and not the colour of his skin. The colour of a man’s skin should be no more significant than the colour of his eyes. A few days later, Nelson Mandela was at the home of the widow of Pieter Botha, the Prime Minister of South Africa, who had imprisoned him, having tea and discussing the future of race relations in a democratic South Africa. Because of this racial unity, South Africa continues to be a prosperous country. Compare South Africa with the economically disastrous situation in Zimbabwe where President Mugabe is ruling the country along racial and tribal lines.
Dr. Russell, its obvious that you do not know me at all. I have been fighting social injustice, racial or otherwise all of my life, not just in the Bahamas. but around the world. I risked being expelled from University demonstrating for the freedom of Nelson Mandela. I have been tear gassed in a counter demonstration against the Klu Klux Klan in front of the White House. Just this past Mother’s Day I once again battled the forces of ignorance here in Boston when some “bald head” White Revolutionists attempted to spread their campaign of hate.
The pathetic attempt by Dr. Russell to insult my heritage shows his ignorance of Bahamian genealogy. Obviously he doesn’t know his facts. As a guideline, a U.S. Supreme Court had defined racial a descendent. It ruled that if a person is 1/32 of a race, then you are a descendent of that race. That is, if one of your great grandparents was of a particular race even if you don’t display the physical characteristic of that race, you are a descendent of that race. Dr. Russell, to help educate you, I will invite you to the Hanna, Tynes and Heastie family reunion in July 2006. Thanks to Gavin Tynes
By: Dr. Leatendore Percentie, D.D.S
