Dear Editor,

The acrimony regarding the recent misrepresentation of the Jamaican flag and the abuse of the Ethiopian flag, coming as close to one another as they have, should serve as a clear indication of a flawed characteristic of Jamaican practice.

I am amazed that in all the reportage I have seen regarding the Jamaican flag incident, nothing was said about the appropriateness of the use of the flag as a backdrop. I am now heartened to see the Rastafari community demonstrating sensitivity to the matter of the appropriate use of a national symbol.

Notwithstanding the incessant protestations of the Opposition, my own experience has shown me that this insensitivity is a mainstream-Jamaica phenomenon that has no regard for party affiliation.

Last year, a flier was circulated by the Jamaican-American Bar Association announcing a citizenship workshop in New York, sponsored jointly by the Jamaican Consulate and the Jamaican-American Bar Association. The flier, promoting a workshop to advise Jamaicans about achieving naturalised American citizenship, a process which requires renouncing one’s Jamaican citizenship, did not only identify the Jamaican Consulate, and by extension the Government and people of Jamaica as a co-sponsor, but also bore the Jamaican coat of arms, implying official engagement.

It was my contention then that no self-respecting nation would be engaged in, and defend this conduct; and the recent abuse of the Ethiopian colours demonstrate that this national insensitivity and disrespect extends to other nations.

Once the objections were raised by the Rastafarian community, no government official should have allowed himself to walk the “flag-carpet” to the VIP area. The use of this carpet is a further demonstration of the insensitivity that continues to plague Jamaica at various levels. In a briefing at the consulate in New York last year, Olivia Grange, the former minister of culture, explained that the celebration of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence would be marked by the return of civics to Jamaica’s school curriculum; and in responding to the swearing-in debacle in Montego Bay, the present government recently stressed the need for civil servants in Jamaica to receive protocol training. As Jamaica embarks on the next 50 years of nationhood, it behoves us all to take a good hard look at where the last 50 years have brought us, and dedicate ourselves to an earnest effort to reshape the Jamaican psyche. And in doing so, we would do well to pay close attention to the livity of Rastafari and the contributions Rastafari has made to Jamaica, among which roots reggae music stands tall.

Carlyle McKetty

New York

USA

carlylemcketty@gmail.com