As we are in the middle of “Emancipendence” week and as we hail our achievements brought by political independence, it is timely to look at some things that have held us back. Yes, we are 48 years independent tomorrow, and yes, the physical infrastructure has improved by leaps and bounds, and yes, Jamaica could well be the best known small island in the world. But mental slavery is still with us and it shows itself in many ways.

The fact is that more than 90 per cent of all Jamaicans have African heritage. A lack of appreciation for black beauty as seen in bleaching is a negative that holds us back. If we do not believe ourselves to be equal to anyone we will not use our full collective potential. I am tired of telling people who wish to isolate me from the majority because of my brown skin that “coffee with milk is still coffee” and therefore I am a black man although mixed. This is an important reflection for an emancipated mindset.

My paternal grandfather Rudolph Augustus Burke was black. My other grandparents were of mixed heritage, which explains my brown skin. People of mixed heritage can change shades from darker to lighter or from lighter to darker. I was a much darker child but as a teenager I had become brown and more so as an adult. Now that I am “browner” I am not treated in the same way. This goes against the emancipated mindset.

In my July 8 article, “Entrenched arrogance”, I pointed out that the JLP being a union of the capitalists with a party of labourers have in it some entrenched arrogance. Thanks for your comments, many of which were positive. As would be expected, not everyone liked the article. On July 19, a letter by Hugh Williams appeared in this paper. The first sentence was, “Mr Burke, you have it all wrong”.

But nowhere in the letter he showed where I had it all wrong and indeed, if anything, confirmed that I was right. However, a lot of what Hugh Williams wrote is true. Norman Manley was a brown man, and many middle-class people flocked the PNP and did not even bother to note that it was a socialist party. And yes, many of them were arrogant. It is true that Norman Manley’s Drumblair residence, in the words of Hugh Williams, “was then known as an elitist enclave”.

It is true that jokes prevailed about Bustamante and Isaac Barrant. And it is true that secondary school boys who came from JLP families were taunted. All of this I know about because I am of an age to know, having witnessed these things (I am 56 going on 57 ). It is also true that Norman Manley did not suffer fools gladly, even if he did more to conceptualise for the poor than anyone else.

But as Hugh Williams pointed out, all of this changed with Michael Manley, which means that it did not become entrenched in the PNP. Mr Williams did not oppose my point that with the combination of the capitalist class with the JLP after their own political parties could get nowhere politically, the upper-class arrogance in the JLP became entrenched.

Hugh Williams needs to look up the meaning of the word “entrenched” in a dictionary before deciding which political party has entrenched arrogance. I bring all of this up again because in terms of coming to an emancipated mindset, upper-class arrogance is something that should come to an end.

The recent shooting of a man in St Ann by the police is a case in point. We need to learn that two wrongs do not make a right, let alone three. A crowd goaded the policemen to shoot him again. This is a sign that there is a level of barbaric behaviour in this country that needs to be addressed with a view to finding a way to stop it. The people who goaded the police are just as morally guilty and legally guilty as well. I believe it is called aiding and abetting, and this point should never be missed.

It is true that the mission statement of the police force has never really been changed since its establishment after the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865. And the police force in Jamaica was established for the sole reason that poor, black people would never again rise up against the white masses. This is not good enough in an independent nation. But it must also be known that if the police behave in a barbaric fashion it is partly because they are drawn from a nation of barbaric people.

It is also partly because the training, which should counteract such behaviour, has failed to do so, despite the excellent training that I have heard about. But one could argue whether it is possible for training of less than a year to stop entrenched behaviour that is rooted in our society. We need more people to come forward to counsel our young people. I have been doing this all of my adult life. Those with such skills should come forward so that we can collectively achieve an emancipated mindset.

ekrubm765@yahoo.com