Delano Franklyn | Jamaica must rid itself of the British monarchy

Prince William, aged 39, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife Kate, aged 40, recently concluded a three-day official visit to Jamaica.

As is the norm when members of the royal family visit, the government, as host, went beyond the call of duty to make sure that the young adult couple enjoyed their stay. It rolled out the red carpet.

Potholes in the roads on which the royals travelled were patched and asphalted. In some instances, work on these roads was undertaken during the work day, creating havoc and greater traffic delays for us non-royal Jamaicans.

Security for the royals was at its highest and tightest, with members of our overstretched and underpaid security forces doing everything in their powers to protect the royals.

The couple, thankfully, left Jamaica hassle free, unlike most Jamaicans who are not able, as promised, to sleep with their windows and doors open and who are left to face the almost daily onslaught of gunmen. The latest murder to touch the raw nerves of Jamaicans is that of Donald (Tabby Diamond) Shaw, the well-known lead singer of the group The Mighty Diamonds.

Children were pulled to form backdrops for the visit of the royal couple in a section of the city.

BEHIND CHAIN LINKED FENCE

A most unfortunate photograph of children standing behind a chain linked fence, trying to poke their little hands through, to meet and greet the royals, reminded many of us of the chains that were used to subdue our fore parents by those who claimed that they were superior.

Invitations were also extended to our beloved Raheem Sterling and Leon Bailey, high-profile Jamaican footballers, among others, to add spunk to the gathering of those who wanted to be in the company of royalty.

The couple’s stay culminated with a high-society dinner at the home of our governor general, the representative of Prince William’s grandmother, the Queen, where select Jamaicans were invited to dress to ‘puss back-foot’ in order to rub shoulders with royalty.

It would be good for us, especially our underpaid policemen, teachers, nurses, firemen, and civil servants, to be told the cost of the visit. If we are not informed of the cost soonest, one of our journalists with a nose for investigation should see if he or she is able to access the information, or an enterprising parliamentarian should take the time to prepare and table relevant questions in Parliament and have the relevant minister tell us non-royals how much of our tax dollars were used to underwrite the visit.

REASON FOR VISIT

The primary reason for the official visit, it is said, was to commemorate the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II on the throne – her Platinum Jubilee.

In other words, the Government, as host, spent taxpayers’ dollars to celebrate the 70th year of the existence of a British throne that was largely financed by the work of black plantation labourers who were whipped and broken into submission by white plunderers who considered themselves superior to us.

Others are saying, however, that the young couple came to Jamaica to find out if our leaders have been influenced by the visionary and firm leadership of Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, whose government recently ditched the Queen as head of state, thus making Barbados a republic.

I am sure that the royal couple would have left with a clear understanding that our government has no intention, any time soon, of heading in the direction of Barbados. They can safely report to their grandmother that despite the prime minister’s use of the multiple meaning words “we are moving on” when he met with Prince William, he, the prime minister, seems quite comfortable with the Queen remaining as our head of state.

If by ‘moving on’ the prime minister meant removing the Queen as head of state, he would have already given the signal that he is prepared to work in tandem with the Opposition and all stakeholders to achieve the two-thirds majority required of our people by way of a referendum. The prime minister has been most silent on this matter.

Others are saying that Prince William came as part of his early introduction to Jamaican leaders and Jamaicans as a future king.

The feeling is that by the time Prince William, after his father, is ready to take up the mantle as king, we will still be twiddling our thumps about whether or not we should cut ties with the British Monarchy and become a republic.

NOT YET READY

It would appear that at this stage, the majority of Jamaicans are not yet ready to tackle, head on, the issue of Jamaica cutting ties with the British Monarchy.

They are not ready because there is no mass-based institution in the country, at this time, showing the tenacity and capacity to get them ready. Neither the political parties nor the Church, the two mass-based institutions with the greatest capacity to mobilise our people into action.

However, affirmative action was taken during the royal visit by some civil rights leaders and activists who, in a long and academically worded letter, found the courage and backbone to express their position to Prince William and Kate.

In the letter, signed by 100 persons, it was stated that they “ see no reason to celebrate 70 years of the ascension of his grandmother to the British throne because her predecessors had perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy (in reference to slavery) in the history of mankind”.

There was also a small, but effective, demonstration by persons who have been in the forefront of the struggle for reparations by the British Government as compensation for the plunder of our resources and the killing of many of our fore parents, during and after slavery, by the British.

In contradiction to the forthrightness of the protesters and letter writers, there were others who had no difficulty sucking up to the monarchy.

According to well-known musician and leader of the Bingi Strong Band and Rastafarian high priest, Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, who provided entertainment for the royal couple: “If yu have one minute fi deal with the prince, whe yu a go do? Resist him and fire bun him? Dem ting de a outdated thing”.

RESISTANCE IS OUTDATED

According to High Priest Smith, and his players of instruments, there must be “no resistance”. Let things be as they are. Resistance is outdated. It is a thing of the past.

There are many in the Church, in academia, in the cultural fraternity, in civil society, and in the media who think like Smith. Ironically, many of the persons in these groups were once in the forefront of our national movement for positive change.

This is the dilemma that faces those who wish to have Jamaica removed from the British Monarchy. Persons who would be deemed forward thinking and who would normally be in the forefront of stoking the ideas of progressive policies now seem to be afflicted by dormancy and inaction.

However, those of us who are not prepared to turn a blind eye to the human suffering and atrocities carried out against our fore parents cannot, because of the ‘non- resisters’ in our midst, give up that which we deem to be the right thing to do, that is, to continue the drive for Jamaica to cut all ties with the British Monarchy, a legacy of slavery.

- Delano Franklyn is an attorney-at-law and the former minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. Send feedback to delanofranklyn@gmail.com.