What a difference it would make were we to celebrate all of our athletes, regardless of success or not, and encourage them to continue to give of their best when representing this small but significant piece of the rock we so proudly call home.

As an unrepentant “Yardman”, with foreign citizenship, it is immensely satisfying every time I see our athletes wear the Jamaican colours and fly the flag; to hear them speak with that infectiously unique lilt — a lilt that remains the envy of the world, so much so that many try to imitate it. Above all, it is hard to resist the feeling of sacredness and patriotism their collective duty to self and devotion to country stir each time the Jamaican National Anthem is played in recognition of success.

Understandably, therefore, it is sad, very sad, when others go out of their way to distract from or devalue the efforts and accomplishments of our sportsmen and sportswomen. It is sadder still, when dim-witted individuals, with nothing better to think about or do than to make jackasses of themselves by going out of the way to berate these athletes and set upon them out of sheer malice and envy.

It is justly embarrassing for a country that has as its motto “Out of Many one people” to have members of its own citizenry turn on its head the “out of many one people” encouragement to embrace diversity in preference for bigotry and hate — mostly out of wacky assumptions and intolerance.

Sometimes we do not know when to stop and everything boils down to a competition, including but not limited to a completion of cruelty and crassness. Our exposure to social media and technology, while remarkable, has also caused too many of us to showcase the worst in us. Yet, it is not just the advent of social media, it is the subcultural attitude that we seem all too willing and ready to embrace and advance. It is as though we have become helplessly devoted to indifference to the point of irreparable social dysfunctionality. Manifestation of this coldness is as ubiquitous as the sky, and some in leadership care not one farthing about how their utterances or actions could exacerbate the degenerate behaviours they themselves claim to abhor.

For, if we did not know before, we now know “fish” is a derogatory moniker for a homosexual male, and a “white elephant” refers to “a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of…” as with the Trelawny stadium. We also know that when, circa November 8, 2015, then Opposition Leader Andrew Holness addressed supporters in Spanish Town and uttered “…we a nuh fish ’round here…” he was completely oblivious of the “fish” double entendre! To that, my late grandmother would say, “Hey, Chris, that is an everlasting soufflé; so cut it out…”

Seriously?! Are we still deeply convinced that he had no idea what “fish” means in Jamaican lingua franca? Perhaps we should hire a couple of etymologists to adjudicate on the historicity and origins of the “fish”! Matter of fact, about two per cent of all bony fish species are hermaphrodites — having both male and female sex characteristics — are we now going to stop consuming “maca-backs”?

Preamble aside, last week, a few heartless bigots, crude, and downright ‘grudgeful’ Jamaicans, used their exposure to social media (

Twitter) to lambaste, denigrate, ridicule, and humiliate a few of the hundreds of male athletes who participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad.

Some tweets and

Facebook posts by a few Jamaicans, about mostly Jamaican male athletes, would cause reasonable people to re-evaluate their assessment of Jamaica as a modern thriving society. Some of the tweets and posts were so backward and bigoted in words and spirit that even a John Crow would take offence.

However, as if the general incivility was not awful enough, these twitter mongrels, insanely and unprovokedly, turned their vicious attacks, overtly and covertly, on one Jamaican athlete in particular.

First things first: Regardless of what one might think of Omar McLeod, he is somebody’s “pickney”. But, above all, like the rest of us — our many imperfections notwithstanding — he also a masterpiece of God’s creation. He also happens to be a brother, connected by our common heritage. After all, he is authentically Jamaican. He is a Jamaican who — like his fellow compatriots Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and others — has worked very hard and has stepped onto the international stage to showcase his skills and talent and to represent his country. How dare one lame, carnal-minded, egotistical lumpen attempt to destroy a highly accomplished and well-decorated fellow Jamaican! And sadly, how dare like-minded Jamaicans gullibly retweet the malarkey that has ensued in wake of that terrible tweet!

It strikes me as quite odd for a society that professes to have such an unusually high cohort of heterosexual men to possess such an over-abundance of supersonic “gaydars”. Maybe it is the love of “maca-backs” that gives us this extraordinary ability to identify and create such adroit fascination with homosexuality. For, how else could so many be as adept at using intuition to identify and pronounce upon homosexuality, or even crypto-homosexuality, while remaining vehemently opposed to it?

There was absolutely nothing offensive, nothing untoward, and certainly nothing embarrassing about Omar’s reaction to winning the Olympic 110-metre hurdles medal. If anything, there was everything noble, exceptional and satisfying about his accomplishment. In fact, Omar McLeod now holds the record of distinction for being the first Jamaican to earn an Olympic gold medal in the 110m hurdles. He accomplished this by crossing the finish line in 13.05 seconds!

That was by no means an easy feat, but Omar achieved his victory and celebrated with great display of sportsmanship and joviality. What was fundamentally wrong with him jumping up and down in celebration? It is common in American basketball games to see team members slap each other all over the backside. Does that automatically make them queer? Closer home, just look at the camaraderie, Olympic “bromance” if you may, and playful friendliness between Usain Bolt and Andre De Grasse of Canada. Does that vibe call their sexuality into question? Absolutely not!

Nevertheless, the fact that Omar celebrated his win the way he felt best inevitably made him into a different dude. Yet, all it took was the handiwork of one sleazy, lousy windbag to smear the youth’s character and create unnecessary mischief. So brutally insensitive and chillingly cruel was one tweet in particular, it elected a strong condemnation and, an equally unequivocal response, from one of Jamaica’s leading manufacturing, packaging and distribution companies, Lasco.

Lasco’s brilliantly crafted statement and swift action in dealing with the errant employee whose single tweet offended the company’s rich traditions is commendable and, as such, sets the standard by which other Jamaican companies should respond in similar situations. Lasco did not engage in the usual pussyfooting or dilly-dallying. Instead, it offered an unadulterated full-throated condemnation of the act. Very refreshing!

That Lasco took the actions it did and apologised to their fans, friends, customers, consumers, partners, Jamaicans, and everyone for the terrible act, but most importantly to issue sincerest apologies to Omar McLeod, because the company was also offended by the utterance which is in clear breach of its values. That was not all, Lasco did more. Hopefully, its response to the situation is sufficient to jolt us into a particular consciousness about tolerance and civility. Lasco, according to a press release, “…removed the tweet, deactivated the account, and terminated the employee who posted the tweet,” then went on to congratulate Omar on his gold medal victory in the Men’s 110m Hurdles Olympic event.

Unashamedly, the hatred and cruelty continued almost unabated in “twitter-sphere” days after the initial

Twitter posting, and those too preoccupied with disseminating ugliness upped the ante. The disgusting part of all this emanated from the multiple retweets and expressions of solidarity for the original tweeter. Undoubtedly, there are civil libertarians and religious bigots who, in defence of this scurrilous act by an infamousTwitter mongrel, are this very moment frothing at the mouth like horses as they get ready to invoke the “freedom of expression” premise in our constitution.

However, “freedom of expression” comes with certain responsibilities and limitations. For, although the tweet and tweeter expressed unfounded claims and foolish suspicions, it remains instructive to follow the line of opinion from US Supreme Court, Justice Holmes in Schenck v United States [249 US 47 (1919)], concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917. Holmes wrote, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” Put simply, no one has the right to impugn anyone’s character then hide behind the freedom of expression constitutional provision.

It matters not what anyone thinks of another person’s sexuality, let alone suspects it to be, it is completely out of character to propagate falsehood against or assail another person’s character. When all the fame and glory are gone, when the fortunes disappear, all one has left is his or her reputation (character). Therefore, we must do all we can as a society, irrespective of sexuality or inclination, to repudiate any and all actions and utterances that seek to destroy or malign people’s characters due to sheer misunderstanding, bigotry or dislikes or on the basis of how an athlete chooses to celebrate his or her success and triumphs. Nothing less than a national repudiation of the despicable actions toward Omar McLeod and others by intemperate bigots is acceptable, and the repudiation should come from the highest office of the land.

A chance to honour

Now on to the white elephant. The Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium is the largest multi-sports stadium in western Jamaica. The stadium was constructed by the Chinese in time for the staging of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. The stadium was constructed as a joint-venture project between the governments of the People’s Republic of China and Jamaica at an initial cost of US$30 million — the Chinese fronted the entire US$30 million. The facility has built-in seating capacity for approximately 10,000 people, but can accommodate an extra 10,000 to 15,000 with installation of temporary seating.

Like almost everything else involving government, the Trelawny stadium has been largely underutilised and unkempt. There have been many suggestions and proposals around what to do to make it into a First-World, fully utilised, and robust facility. In 2010, for instance, the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), made a proposal to the Government offering to invest US$20 million in developing the university’s western campus on a property adjacent to the stadium on condition that they would be allowed to acquire the stadium to host international sporting events. The Government eventually rejected the proposal on the basis that UTech is a government-funded institution and as such it would be the government that would be undertaking the investment at a time of tight fiscal constraint.

Clearly, the Government of the day that orchestrated the construction of the facility had no real, solid, implementable business plan for the upkeep or proper functioning of the facility; consequently, it has become a colossal white elephant. Obviously, the stadium should never have been constructed ostensibly as a cricket facility. Instead, design and construction should have included multi-sport accommodations, revenue drivers, and training amenities, etc.

Last year, the then People’s National Party Government revealed that plans were afoot to rename the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium the Usain Bolt Sport Academy, after the iconic Jamaican sprint legend. Former minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, told the media that it was a matter of priority, as it was “near and dear to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller”. She advised that $26 million had been approved for the installation of an irrigation system at the facility. The former Government was of the opinion that renaming the stadium Usain Bolt Sport Academy would attract international audiences.

However, as is famous with politicians, they offered no specifics; Neita-Headley did nothing to correct that perception. She offered no specifics, except to say, “I think it will be a great representation of that venue. I love it and I think many Jamaicans love it. It is a great location and I think many people across the world, including sportsmen and women, will want to associate with that venue, more so if it is the Usain Bolt Sport Academy…”

We can transform the white elephant into a first-rate sport facility. Nomenclature is important, and since we must determine a permanent recognition for the sterling contribution of our national sports figures such as Usain Bolt, naming the facility in his honour must include a sustainable plan to make the facility an institution and venue of choice for every single visitor to our shores.

Nevertheless, it is not only about visitors. We must make the Trelawny stadium a touchstone of excellence for every Jamaican, born and unborn, who dreams of attaining success and achieving excellence. It is against this backdrop that I urge this Government, members of the Jamaican Diaspora, and the private sector to step up to the plate and to make this stadium the envy of the world; because nothing else would represent the exceptionalism and rare talent that Usain Bolt possesses.

Burnscg@aol.com