Unlike the respected doctor bird, Jamaica’s national bird, the John Crow (Jan Crow) has been a most despised and vilified species on the Jamaican landscape. A carrion crow, whose duty as designated by Mother Nature is to rid the environment of rotting carcasses, its official name across the world is turkey vulture, but over these many years Jamaicans have so dubbed this “ugly, black bird” its current name.

Indeed, throughout my lifetime, only once has the John Crow been looked upon in an admiring way, and it was during my teen years while walking along a Montego Bay beach when a group of tourists paused to view some John Crows hovering in the sky, marvelling how “Jamaican turkeys fly so high!”

There is also the revered “John Crow Batty”, which is strong illicit overproof white rum so named as it is said you would need to have the stomach of a John Crow to drink it. And, by the way, the number for John Crow in the Cash Pot lottery game is 26, so go try your luck!

Many years ago this newspaper published an article by me entitled ‘Where have all the John Crows gone?’ At that time, the previously ubiquitous bird had become very scarce; and even to this day it is not as frequently seen across the length and breadth of the Jamaican landscape. Needless to say that, as a carrion crow, this winged creature plays a critical role in the island’s ecosystem; performing a task that very few living beings carry out on a daily basis. In this vein, there is the popular folk song with the following words, “John Crow say him no work pon Sunday, think a lie him tell kill you mawga cow!”

Be that as it may, with the advent of social media political bloggers of both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and People’s National Party (PNP) have been using images of the John Crow in most derogatory and calumnious ways against their respective opponents. Of course, this despicable practice falls within the ambit of Jamaicans oftentimes likening their enemies as “dutty Jan Crow”.

An image of this not-so-loved bird can also instil morbid fear in the hearts of individuals should it pitch on their housetop as it is thought to signal that a death is imminent.

In my boyhood days, a rare sighting was that of seeing “a parson John Crow”, which was said to be the Alpha male of the flock who was rarely seen and whose sighting would suggest that something terrible was about take place.

But, as many Jamaicans often say, “Put fun and joke aside…” using the John Crow as a means of insulting one’s foes, which has become a national pastime, should be condemned. It is in poor taste and should be actionable in a court of law.

Maybe I am overreacting, but this frequent practice of attaching a John Crow to the body of a prime minister — this has happened with Portia Simpson Miller and Andrew Holness — is really going below the belt. On the other hand, the lowly John Crow, who continues to help keep our environment clean which helps to lessen the possibility of the spread of certain diseases deserves our respect, not opprobrium.

Indeed, it can be surmised that in the aftermath of the widespread devastation of Hurricane Melissa the John Crow would have had a veritable feast all the while playing a pivotal role in Mother Nature’s scheme of things.

However, on a more sombre note, both the JLP and the PNP bloggers and social media influencers should be asked by their respective political organisations to “cease and settle”.

In the final analysis, the John Crow deserves our respect, not ridicule. Then again, this nasty practice brings into sharp focus the question as to whether or not these bloggers and some of their insidious postings should not be placed under major scrutiny as well as, should the nation’s cyber laws be strengthened to deal with such calumny.

Many will hasten to insist that the citizen’s right to freedom of expression/speech must be upheld, but with freedom there must also be responsibility.

Against this backdrop, what has been happening in the nation’s Parliament, where our lawmakers are protected from being sued for libel or slander based on comments they hurl at each other, the standing orders need to be revisited to established more respectable rules of engagement. In the wider society, expletives and dirty language are so commonplace, even the very young now spew “bad words” or other such nasty utterances which have become par for the course. Recently, there was a video going the rounds on social media featuring a kindergarten student on his way to school telling a man to “GSYM…BB!”

The time has come for our elected representatives to help uphold and establish standards of behaviour relating to free speech which adhere to decorum and civility, all of which should be part and parcel of the values and attitudes architecture. The hullabaloo and kerfuffle over the interfering with the mace is but the tip of the iceberg which the good ship, Jamaica, is, whether wittingly or unwittingly, sailing full speed ahead towards.

Seriously, if the John Crow could speak, it would no doubt join in the chorus calling for responsible free speech and a greater level of respect for one another regardless of our role or status in the society.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 50 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.