Dear Editor,

Within one week two Facebook videos labelled “brawls” went viral – the Riu Brawl at the Riu Hotel in Jamaica and the Montgomery Brawl in the United States.

The Riu Brawl video displays two seemingly African American guests shouting aggressively at a hotel waitress. The obviously dissatisfied guests angrily walk away, but not before violently pitching a cup or glass of liquid into the waitress’s face. In response, the waitress physically grabs and starts beating the guests, only to be eventually pulled away by her co-workers.

Based on social media news networks, the Montgomery Brawl episode occurred when a riverboat consisting of many African American passengers was unable to dock due to the presence of a smaller boat. Prior to the arrival of the riverboat, a black security officer informed the white American passengers of the smaller boat that they were docked in a restricted area, but they refused to comply. When the riverboat arrived, the same security officer attempted to shift the smaller boat but was confronted aggressively and beaten violently by white Americans who appeared to be passengers/owners of that boat. Witnessing the violence towards their “brother”, several African American men and women entered the fight and beat the white Americans who were attacking the security guard.

There is a nexus between these events and the manner of reporting, notwithstanding the separation of time and geography. First, it is inaccurate and misleading to label them as “brawls”. The Oxford Dictionary defines a brawl as a “rough or noisy fight or quarrel”. Both incidents were initiated by people (African Americans and white Americans, respectively) who violated and disrespected individuals responsibly performing their duties. When violated, it is natural to defend one’s dignity. It’s not a brawl. It’s a violation.

Second, we need to recognise the historical and cultural realities that trigger such violations and their concomitant responses. We cannot discount centuries of historical oppression of enslaved Africans in the United States and tandem with it white entitlement and privileges, racism that motivates the antagonists, and the inherited trauma that may have triggered such a violent response.

Incidences have historical, cultural, and emotional root causes. When we understand root causes, we avoid mislabelling, which distorts the truth. One example is the so-called Morant Bay Rebellion. The use of the word “rebellion” places emphasis and blame on the so-called rebellious, landless peasants. Relabelling it the Morant Bay Massacre focuses on the brutality of the initiators and tells the true story.

The moral arising from these stories is to drill down root causes, label to pinpoint truth, and propose actions to redress.

Fr Donald Chambers

frdon63@hotmail.com