Dear Editor,

A photograph was recently released on social media via this media entity that purportedly showed JLP Member of Parliament Everald Warmington with his arm extended, saluting the media’s cameras. However this time around he was not observed to be presenting the “V” or “Victory” hand signal typically associated with his political party. Instead, his index finger appeared to be fully retracted, leaving a defiant middle finger, upright in all its glory for the cameras to capture.

Warmington appeared to be “flipping the bird”. Perhaps, the hand signal was directed at the media personnel with whom he had some recent “interactions”. Or, perhaps his hand signal symbolises a wider message to the Jamaican public.

An excerpt from the Wikipedia definition states that this hand signal is an “obscene hand gesture” and “it communicates moderate to extreme contempt in several cultures (especially Western ones)”.

If Warmington was indeed accurately represented in that photograph, it suggests that not only does he have contempt for the media, but a broader contempt for the Jamaican people whom he is supposed to be serving as a member of Her Majesty’s Royal Opposition. It is clear that without a credible Opposition, the incumbent Government will be re-elected, and so the Jamaican people will continue to be subjected to nepotism, mediocrity, and disdain.

I suspect also that there will be a huge uproar about why the photograph was not blotted out or censored for its offensive content. However, context matters, and sometimes the media is required to report the ugliness of such political crassness. This is a case where, were it TV or radio, the announcer would say, “Now, parents, you may want to cover your children’s eyes/ears due to potentially sensitive content.”

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this picture may have distilled the member of parliament’s thoughts into three words, “Jamaica, …”, fill in the blanks. The Jamaican people deserve better so much better. What ever happened to “Teach us true respect for all”?

I say expose this crassness for what it is. Don’t cover it up!

Dr Peter E T Edwards

@peterericthor