Time for The Queen, GG to go!
Dear Editor,
The following is an open letter to the Governor General of Jamaica Sir Patrick L Allen:
I am a concerned citizen who is worried about the welfare of my country.
As you know, the position of governor general is a representative post, embodying the symbolic authority of the Queen of England. It is a colonial post that embodies the legacy of oppression and colonialism that our national heroes fought so hard to oppose. Therefore, I must respectfully admit that I consider it to be an insult to our national struggle, our racial dignity, and our status as an independent nation to have a political post representing the same colonial authority whose direct ancestors instituted colonialism, slavery, and racial discrimination in Jamaica for centuries.
We gained Independence from Britain, and have got nothing in return, to the point that Jamaicans now need a visa to visit the UK — all while the UK’s monarch is still Jamaica’s head of State and UK citizens don’t need a visa to visit Jamaica.
Additionally, recent conduct signifies no change in racial attitudes towards Jamaicans, and black people in general. For as recently as 2015 UK Prime Minister David Cameron visited Jamaica and bluntly denied a request for an apology for slavery and didn’t even entertain discussions regarding reparation.
Also, I cannot forget the now-infamous broach which depicts a white angel standing on a black man’s neck which was worn by you signifying a blatant disregard for our racial struggle and of the equality and human rights of black people, especially in light of the George Floyd killing that bears such striking similarities.
In a country in which the people are by far a majority black population, and our national heroes fought so hard to expel the British colonisers, the new generation deserves to live with dignity and not have a white former colonial oppressor as their symbolic head of State. It is time for the nation to install our first-ever black, Jamaican-born head of State and complete the process of Independence while instilling a sense of self-respect and racial and national pride.
Additionally, our new head of State could provide a productive function in the governing affairs of the country, instead of being symbolic and a burden on the taxpayer. He could oversee the prosecution of corrupt politicians and high-level government officials while seeing to it that government spending is monitored and long-term national objectives are aspired to by successive administrations.
We haven’t enjoyed 59 years of incomplete independence before being faced with a potential Chinese colonisation, coupled with the unfortunate reality that foreigners are given more privileges than us in our own country by our own Government. So, as a black Jamaican, you can clearly see the desperate need to remove a white colonial figure from the constitutional position of head of State and reinforce a sense of racial acceptance in Jamaica.
For these reasons and many more I respectfully request that you advise the Queen of England to abdicate the position of head of State of Jamaica and subsequently resign from the position of governor general.
I do regretfully acknowledge the sensitive nature of this letter and the magnitude of my request and therefore I respectfully suggest that you solicit the opinions of the people of Jamaica regarding this matter. Thank you so dearly for you time.
Toraino Beckford
torainobeckford@gmail.com