Golding’s repugnant comment

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Political ombudsman, Donna Parchment, is correct in stating that Mark Golding, the president of the People’s National Party, “breached accepted political behaviour when he called Jamaica Labour Party Chairman Robert Montague ‘likkle bwoy’ The Gleaner, December 19, 2021).

In calling him a ‘likkle bwoy’, Mark Golding appears to be betraying some vestigial remains of the practice of white plantation masters, who could call grown black men ‘bwoys’ with impunity. This was done to castrate their selfhood and demean their dignity, in order to maintain them as their master’s ‘likkle bwoys’. Of course, Golding is not aware that he did anything wrong. How could he? Those who come out of the loins of white privilege may still believe that they have some natural right to disrespect black people.

In censuring Golding for calling Montague a ‘likkle bwoy’, the political ombudsman recognised not only the disrespect shown by Golding towards Montague, but the utter disregard Golding thereby showed to all black men whose ancestors have been called ‘bwoys’ or ‘little bwoys’ by privileged white and brown masters. Those days are done. For Golding’s information, Montague is not a ‘likkle bwoy’. He is a man.

GARNETT WEIR