Golding disrespected the blacks’ struggle for freedom, says Grange
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Culture Minister Olivia Grange has accused Opposition Leader Mark Golding of making a mockery of black people’s struggle for freedom.
She made the remark in response to a viral video of Golding, who on the weekend during a People’s National Party meeting, was seen parading a man of African descent in a large chain around his neck.
Golding was shown positioning himself as the architect of the man’s freedom.
“I was horror-struck when I saw Mark Golding pull the man by the large chain around his neck while laughing and having a jolly good time. My heart sank as I remembered the ancestors who were similarly treated as they endured hundreds of years of unspeakable oppression and brutality perpetrated by white colonial enslavers in a long war for our freedom today,” the culture minister said.
“All of us have been the beneficiaries of Emancipation given to us by the ancestors. We mustn’t take it lightly that today we live the life our African ancestors could only dream of. How could the holder of such a high constitutional office as Leader of the Opposition so disrespect our ancestors who gave their lives so that we could be here today?” she added.
The culture minister, who also has oversight of the National Council on Reparations said: “the ‘slavery scene’ in which the Opposition Leader positioned himself as the main character and chief arbiter on the issue of whether a black man is freed, is deeply offensive and is an affront to the entire nation.”
Grange went on to describe Golding’s actions as “reprehensible”, adding that it has angered Jamaicans worldwide.
Minister Grange says “Mr Golding’s reprehensible conduct has angered Jamaicans from all walks of life as his performance mirrored a very painful period when our ancestors were chained and pulled by chains about their necks sometimes before cheering crowds at auctions where they were sold or as a mere act to fulfil the perverse pleasure of the oppressor,” Grange noted.
“Would the ancestors be pleased with Mark Golding’s behaviour? Would they cheer him? Or would they reject him and condemn his behaviour?” she questioned.
She has demanded an apology from the Opposition leader.
“…at a time when we are demanding that enslavers set things right for the hundreds of years of chattel slavery of our African ancestors, we cannot accept this behaviour from the Leader of the Opposition,” Grange said.
“Mark Golding has made a mockery of the sacrifice of our fore parents. He should at minimum apologise and commit never to disrespect our people again,” she added.