EDITORIAL - Out of many, how many people?

THIS NEWSPAPER, like the many people who have weighed in on the issue, is surprised and flabbergasted that there could be employers in Jamaica of the 21st century who would make the complexion - the lighter the better - of individuals a criterion for employment.

But worse is that not only do these employers entertain the thought, but they are confident enough to verbalise it to recruiters and trainers, in particular, at an organisation like the Government's skills training and certification agency, HEART Trust/NTA.

The most obvious and immediate conclusion from this state of affairs - highlighted by The Sunday Gleaner in the September 11 edition - is that, 177 years after the abolition of slavery, Jamaicans still struggle with questions of race and identity. Self-esteem and status, to a large measure, hinge on the colour of a person's skin.

In this societal arrangement, black or dark-skinned Jamaicans, who are the vast majority, are broadly at the bottom of the social ladder. They are, concomitantly, also at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Luckily, these sociological tensions have not deteriorated into group conflicts, as has happened in other countries. The colour dichotomy exists, paradoxically, in what, on the surface, seems to be social harmony. Clearly, though, all is not well.

Spurred by popular culture

Indeed, the Jamaica conundrum over a complexion-coded approach to status and sense of belonging can be observed daily in the young women and men who bleach their skins in ineffectual searches for resolutions in their favour. They are, of course, spurred on by a popular culture that declares its love for 'mi browning' - brown or light-skinned Jamaicans.

The problem of colour and social well-being is clearly complex and finding a solution is not easy. It will demand multifaceted policy and other interventions to give real truth to the national motto: Out of many, one people.

Stamp out discrimination

But there are some obvious things that must be done by the State which, not of themselves, ensure a national love-in, but will limit, if not prevent, discrimination against black Jamaicans because of the colour of their skins,

The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, approved by Parliament earlier this year, lists among those rights and freedoms: "The right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of:

(i) being male or female;

(ii) race, place of origin, social class, colour, religion or political opinions."

Placing colour among the criteria for job recruitment in Jamaica is, on the face of it, unconstitutional. Any person who is deprived of a job solely because of his or her skin colour has a cause of action.

Moreover, it would seem to us that for a firm or individual employer to declare such a criterion to a training agency, especially one run by the State, is also an actionable offence. HEART Trust/NTA would, we feel, have an obligation to point out the folly, but if the behaviour persists, the agency should push for an investigation.

Perhaps, too, this a matter for the Office of the Public Defender and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue to protect the constitutional rights of black Jamaicans.