Revisit our history

Friday, February 17, 2012

Dear Editor,

From time to time, the point has been made that an absence of committed people's involvement is a major deterrent to the success of plans and policies for national development in Jamaica. One possible reason for this absence could be that the people do not see these policies as fashioned in any way by the non-European culture and historical origin of Jamaica's majority population.

Here is but one example, brought home most forcefully in a recent BBC World TV documentary on Africa by Jonathan Dimbleby. In the documentary, Dimbleby looked at the role of the Asantehene, the Ashanti king in Ghana. One of his traditional duties is to resolve conflicts among his subjects by bringing the contending parties together in a communal setting, examining their grievances and eventually arriving at an amicable understanding between victim and aggressor, accused and accuser. A consensual settlement is arrived at to ensure healing and reconciliation.

If this very African approach seems familiar, it could be that it reminds us of a similar programme of dispute resolution and restorative justice being pursued in Jamaica. A critical difference here, though, is that the people to whom this is directed need to know from the way the programme is presented, that for centuries their ancestors have been practising this approach to justice and social stability as an inherent part of their culture. If not, they may be inclined to think that the concept is the brainchild of certain European societies whose representatives are brought to Jamaica to educate us in how it is done. So, rather than recognising that this socially constructive approach is a cultural inheritance from Africa, the benevolence and insight of expatriate country experts and international organisations might once again be seen as the answer to our problems.

It stands to reason that if it were emphasised that this particular approach to conflict resolution is an inherent part of the culture of the Jamaican people, they would feel empowered and be more likely to identify with the concept, embrace it with pride as their own and cooperate with greater enthusiasm to ensure that it works. If they are not already doing so, the Dispute Resolution Foundation and the Ministry of Justice should bring this awareness to their efforts at dispute resolution through restorative justice.

By the way, the larger point is that there are numerous examples of this in our attempts at development, a fact which underlines the need to revisit our history, especially during Black History Month.

H Dale Anderson

hdaleanderson@hotmail.com