Was the 'Browning request' story on target?

MARK WIGNALL

Thursday, September 22, 2011

ALL sectors of Jamaica were taken up with the Gleaner story, 'Brownings Please' on September 11, which stated that 'several' local businesses were asking the State training agency Heart Trust/NTA (the Gleaner described HEART in its headline as a State employment agency) for brown-skinned trainees.

The HEART Trust was established by the Seaga-led JLP government in 1982, under an Act to establish a scheme for financing and implementing the training of persons with a view to employment and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.'

Why did the Gleaner story stress 'state employment agency' over 'state training agency'?

All sectors of the society bought 100 per cent into the story and it went viral on Facebook. The first four paragraphs of the Gleaner story read:

'A hundred and seventy-seven years after slavery was abolished in the British West Indies, Jamaica's national training agency — HEART Trust — still has to deal with colour-prejudiced employers who are requesting that trainees be brown or light-skinned as a prerequisite for employment in their firms.

'A highly placed source at HEART Trust told our news team that on the one hand, some employers note the discriminatory requests on forms provided by HEART Trust under a section that asks them to list specifications that the prospective trainee should meet.

'On the other hand, some employers spew out their bigoted requirement to the face of the HEART Trust's training agents or training support officers. "Some are brazen enough," the source said.

"We have had certain firms that have required persons of a certain complexion," said the well-placed informant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media.'

Read that again. The 'well-placed informant' just eight words later becomes 'they.' Could the Gleaner not have not said '...the person was not authorised to speak...?'

When I read the story, the first thing that jumped out at me was, employers could not be that openly foolish in 2011 to be making such crazy requests, although I knew that many idiotic and socially lost black people in Jamaica and in many other countries in the world were into bleaching their beautifully black skins.

Second, the face of Jamaican employment has changed radically from the 1960s -- when all the good jobs, especially in banks, insurance companies and travel agencies were held by brown-skinned people -- to 2011, where almost every bank manager is black-skinned, close to 100 per cent of the staff in those entities are black-skinned and small and medium-sized commercial entities bear a similar face.

I know. I was a teenager in the late 1960s when the job market literally exploded for bright, competent, black-skinned people like me and my Kingston College schoolmates.

Last week Tuesday, I phoned the HEART Trust and told the operator who I was. After being passed through about two departments I ended up with the Communications Department.

I spoke with an individual there who gave me his name and full title. My question to him was this. "In regards to the Gleaner story which stated that prospective employers were requesting people from your agency with brown skins, how do you respond to it?"

He said to me, 'Mr Wignall, I can tell you as far as I am aware that no one from this office or any of our regional offices spoke to anyone in the media about any such matter and I am unaware that any such request has ever been made of this organisation.'

I had what was called a 'wow' moment. After that we talked 'shop' for about three minutes about the skin colour matter in Jamaica, then I told him thanks and ended the conversation. Immediately I called Vernon Davidson, Executive Editor of the Observer and told him what I had gleaned. I also called two other people.

My intention was to build last Thursday's column around that story. On Wednesday morning it occurred to me that I needed something more official from HEART Trust/NTA, so I called back the gentleman. My question to him was: 'May I quote you in saying that you are unaware that anyone in any official position in HEART Trust spoke with any member of the media about the matter which we discussed and that you are not aware that any such requests have ever been made?'

His answer deflated me.

"Mr Wignall, I am glad you called back. I would much prefer not to be quoted in this matter."

I said to him: "Yu know sey yu jus mash up mi story. My brother, I am not one of those hawkish journalist types to get you in trouble. I have your name, your title and I could have gone ahead with the story but I will protect you."

I left my cell number with him and asked that he have someone higher up the food chain call me. Up until Tuesday evening no one had called, so I called back, asked for him but was told he was busy. I spoke to a lady, told her what I was calling about and she told me that the director of communications of HEART Trust had spoken to the media (I missed that) and said words to the effect that HEART Trust did not make an official statement on the matter.

So, does that mean that no 'several local businesses' made any such request of HEART Trust/NTA? Second, how does one define 'several'? 'Several' seems to imply at the very least three and possibly more. Did the Gleaner writer attempt to define 'several' and say like, 'In the last six months the training agency has reported that about five companies have requested, etc...'?

So, what are we left with? Whatever it is, the story has 'taken life', few have questioned its veracity and very conveniently, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller brought up the matter in her presentation to the PNP party faithful last Sunday. Hmmm, makes me wonder. Subliminally, the message was the real 'brownings' were in the JLP.

I know what the colour demographic in Jamaica is like and its correlation to social and economic standing. HEART Trust tends to take in many of those youngsters who missed out on the full benefit of a high school education. Based on the realities of Jamaica where the better-off households tend to send their children to the better prep and high schools, is it not more than likely that the vast majority of those who did not receive the top grades via a high school education would be black-skinned?

I know that I am skating on thin ice here because of the social delicacy of the matter, but the point I am making is that one is more likely to find natural 'brownings' in the upper and middle strata of the society than those who would have a need to seek out HEART Trust/NTA.

Additionally, the larger organisations which would need employees for the front desk would tend to seek young people with, at the very least, multiple passes in CXC or CAPE qualifications. So, if the Gleaner story holds water, it would seem to me that it would be the small to medium-sized entities that would be making such requests of a HEART Trust, already depleted of natural 'brownings' because of our social realities.

Professor Rosalea Hamilton of UTech, formerly an advisor to PNP President Simpson Miller, is president of the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Alliance. Maybe she can tell us if there are any small businesses in that grouping of black people that have been making any such requests for 'brownings.'

observemark@gmail.com

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COMMENTS (24)

Caleb Barrett
9/23/2011

The same Wignall who is always saying that the local business class was decimated in the 90's is here saying that blacks permeate the businesses! Amazing how unfair biased minds choose their "facts" at will.
All the haters who criticize Portia for coming out against what was described by the horribly w,rotten Gleaner story shud also criticize Pernel Charles, right? No, it's only Portia unnu have strength for.

fall mouth
9/23/2011

@Noel Richards, and Wiggy, didn't the Minister of labour Mr. Pearnel Charles come out against this also?
Are you saying his thoughts are of no consequence? You must be careful how you seek to deride others because you might make your friends look bad.

fall mouth
9/23/2011

Wiggy writes: “I was a teenager in the late 1960s when the job market literally exploded for bright, competent, black-skinned people like me and my Kingston College schoolmates.” It is remarkable the concept one can have of oneself and how it can differ from reality. I am wondering if the students at K.C. and the teachers had the same concept of Mark.
But Mark has always lived in a cloud. You can see that from his writings where he is always quoting unnamed sources and of course these cannot be checked.
The school records are still at K.C. I wonder if their truth differs from Mark’s. No Mark, you delude yourself, as I think you have sought to delude others.

Tom Stroke
9/23/2011

@St Ann, don't worry, you will hear bit by bit the things that grandma told me. As a matter of fact, she told be that: "one fool makes many". I understand your gripe, however, as a Jamaican I think I have the right to ask if we will soon see Mama P anointing herself Fresh Princess and proclaiming that it is black woman time now. What is wrong with that?

Donna R
9/22/2011

This is sloppy journalism at it's best. "Off-the-record" comments are always a last resor because they can never really be verified. No way to test the veracity of this story but it hit a nerve. Jamaica has had it's problems with class and color, for the most part and race to a lesser extent, but mostly in the 60s and before. It is disingenuous to say things are the same now, when every where we look are fine examples of black success we can emulate. It's just a lazy person's excuse now.

Petros Haile
9/22/2011

The article in the Gleaner was suspect and should be treated as such. That is what we call journalism - no facts checked? Disgraceful!!!!! Sista P, you should have stayed away from the issue until verification confirmed

Paul Gentles
9/22/2011

@Mark - you are like a bad curry - nice to eat but you know you will be afflicted with diorrhoea in the end!
You could not help yourself put to pull a cheap political punch at the end - there goes the objectivity of your article - start by challenging the objective of the Gleaner and inevetibly you end by throwing barbs at the PNP!

St. Ann
9/22/2011

@ Tom Stroke, Your grandma never told you that, it is no good to take sides? and is not everything good to eat, good to talk?
and your grandma never told you it is not good to take set on a woman, and you must respect woman? like how you grew up with your grandma you don't realize that no woman run from good!! In other words please leave Mama P alone, because she is just as wise, as your Grandma.

Paul Gentles
9/22/2011

This "browning" story is a non-starter for me. The Heart Trust is the most innovative,life changing, game changing,future devlopment plan for our youth in the short term leading to a more productive and economically self sufficient Ja in the long term ever created by any politician - hats off to Seaga! It's just such a pity that the myopic, corrupt way our country operates this program is unable to fulfill it's potential. Businesses are saying our youth are unemplyable, with HEART why??!

Anancy Bedward
9/22/2011

@Mark Wignall, "I know. I was a teenager in the late 1960s when the job market literally exploded for bright, competent, black-skinned people like me and my Kingston College schoolmates".
.
With the historical perspective that you have Mark, why has this not been repeated since? What were the conditions and policies that led to so many employment opportunities for high school graduates at the time? Looking forward to your answer because Jamaica has definitely gone backwards in job creation.

Beverley Hanson
9/22/2011

I would like to point out that there are many fair-skinned females in Jamaica who are from the lower/lower middle-class. They may not have the mixed-race upper St. Andrew look but they are light-skinned nonetheless. So, this could negate your argument that HEART may not have fair-skinned female trainees. However, it's great that you are questioning the veracity of the article.

0o k
9/22/2011

Yep Comrades race-baiting as usual. I stopped reading the Gleaner months ago and had to search to find the article. when I read it, i could see there was no there, there!
Just a dog-whistle to the Party faithful on the eve of a Conference.
I wonder when Peter Phillips time come around how they are going to spin the Brown-Man Party argument......Oh I forgot Comrade Manley the well-known race-baiter was a white Jamaican who successfully blackened himself to appeal to masses who lapped it up!

Tom Stroke
9/22/2011

In addition, PJ won an election by campaigning that it was "black man time now". So, since the request to HEART Trust/NTA is for "browning", will we soon hear Mama P hitting the campaign trail telling us that it is black woman time now? Simply amazing.

Tom Stroke
9/22/2011

I see the reasoning behind this article as clear as day. In addition to Mama P's statements at conference, I also noted Lloyd B's statement to the party faithful in Mo Bay. I also noted the statements being made that the govt. is made up of "brown men". Very interesting. As grandma said "rain don't fall unless you see the clouds" I wonder if this is such case. Hmmmm.

Tom Stroke
9/22/2011

D T
9/22/2011

Only in Ja, this is just disgusting. We should not accept this, further investigation is needed and people if found guitly should be in jail.

Mark Forbes
9/22/2011

..small, largely black-owned businesses. His rationale? The larger, lighter-hued business owners can staff their front offices with the multiple CXC- and CAPE- passing brownings who attended prep and the top high schools. Why Wignall thinks this is a negation of the article is beyond me. What is shows though, is that he thinks the issue is the request and not the larger desire for initial contact with a firm to be with someone with the least amount of melanin.

Mark Forbes
9/22/2011

Wignall believes that the browning article was aimed at the JLP hence this pathetic attempt at discrediting it. He wants us to believe that no brownings attend HEART when at this moment there are 'natural' brownings laboring barefooted in escallion beds is South St. Bess. With brownings being a majority only among the upper classes and the top echelon of the JLP, wouldn't their rarity at HEART actually make the article more credible? He also argues that this request could only have come from TBC

Noel Richards
9/22/2011

I'm very disappointed with Mrs. Simpson-Miller's reaction to this because it is a very divisive social issue. She should have ensured that her presentation on the subject was backed up with incontrovertible facts. Before the cock could crow she was on it, she was obviously angry about the issue on Lambert Brown's show, "The Socialist Agenda". That would have been acceptable if she had "proof of occurrence". Name the companies that made the alleged requests Mrs. Simpson-Miller.

Verna Kitson
9/22/2011

You so busy trying to talk about browning, you missed out on the story that was right in front of you: The problem with getting accurate information from gov't - or any other - agency for that matter. You produced a transcript of your conversation quoting the person who told you "as far as he is aware" and that he didn't want to be quoted. How precise is his sense of "awareness"? Given this ongoing looseness in how we talk, can the public trust that these newstories are factual? Self-reflect!

Meat Head
9/22/2011

As a student at the other North Street giant during the 60s, I do remember the prejudices that existed. That is why I took the Gleaner's story at face value, even though the claim that an employer would voluntarily admit illegal discriminatory practices to an outside agency seemed dubious. As a responsible newspaper, one would expect the Gleaner's editors to have done some fact checking. Perhaps, this was not the case here.

Caleb Barrett
9/22/2011

Look at Wiggy! Criticizing journalism practices! If we the readers were ever to open the book on you Mr. Wignal, for your writing which seemed suspiciously timed, politically timed, what would happen?
All the same, I agree that the Gleaner story was very thin, based on marginal evidence, and written for excitement. But do you look in the mirror?
Even today, you seem more interested in protecting the JLP than in breaking down the Gleaner story. Stop it.

Adam Godson
9/22/2011

Very thought provoking article.
Strange things happen,but I have serious doubts that the issue of employees requesting workers of a certain complexion exists as widely as it was/is being made out to be.

Arlie Gray
9/22/2011

Mark, I have always noticed that the individuals who think this way are usually dark skinned people. Could it be that we hate ourselves?

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Was the 'Browning request' story on target?