Media, look in the mirror
Dear Editor,
Your editorial of October 13, “Blind to our culture”, correctly notes that Jamaicans know too little of our cultural heroes beyond the reggae/dancehall genres. But like so much of the media commentary on the deficiencies of Jamaican society, your editorial is merely descriptive. It tells us what we already know.
A few commentators go beyond that and try to assess how we got there. Alas, even fewer dare to address, in concrete terms, how we get out of where we are. Why? Because when you start getting concrete, that’s when the rubber hits the road. That’s when the knife strikes the bone. That’s when the hard choices, the inconvenient truths and the necessary uncomfortable changes become apparent.
So for starters, if the public, especially the younger generation, know nothing of Roger Mais or Claude McKay, who is responsible for that? Certainly, the education curriculum would be a prime suspect. For the other suspects, Mr Editor, perhaps you and your media colleagues might try looking in the mirror. When you see what the mirror reflects, then maybe we’ll be on the road to taking concrete measures to fix the problem.
Errol WA Townshend
Canada
ewat@rogers.com