Shun Ronald Mason's anti-CARICOM claptrap

 Oneil Hall, Guest Columnist

In the same way Ronald Mason is willing to fight against the Caribbean integration movement, as evidenced by his latest column 'Independence and sovereignty' (Sunday Gleaner, July 6, 2014), I am willing to fight for the integration movement.

Mr Mason's insularity has no boundaries. When he speaks about Jamaicans and the integration movement, he should presume to speak for himself, not others! It is clear that generalisation is fallacy in an argument. Mr Mason's articles are full of fallacies and show him to be clueless about the integration movement.

Despite the challenges we have in the Caribbean with integration, Ronald Mason is far from grass-roots Jamaicans' reality. Check any given Caribbean island and you will find Jamaicans selling on the road! You will find them in the supermarket, in the lawyers' offices, on the entertainment stage! Could you imagine, if we should do away with Caribbean integration, how many Jamaicans will have to get work permits to continue to work in our sister islands? Tessanne Chin, who recently visited Barbados, would also have to get a work permit before she could perform.

Think again! There are hundreds of Jamaicans across the Caribbean working and benefiting from regional movement. Jamaicans have the highest number of CARICOM Single Market and Economy workers in any given Caribbean country. I can assure Mr Mason that they, too, would be willing to fight for the integration movement.

Such an embarassment

Ronald Mason should keep quiet and stop embarrassing himself. He is a disgrace to the legal fraternity.

Let us not get it twisted. It was a mere 50-plus per cent of electors who voted against the Federation of the West Indies! We do have another 40 per cent who voted for it. The margin of victory was quite slim. It wasn't a landslide.

At the same CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting Mr Mason criticises, the tenor of regionalism rang true, especially when our new CARICOM song was being sung. Did you hear it? Did you see the pride on the faces of our regional heads and on Facebook?

Ronald Mason's commentary reflects a lack of knowledge of history. The purpose of the West Indies Federation was to reduce the administrative burden of Britain, and to also act as a medium of giving the British West Indies colonies independence as ONE state. Federation was about Independence.

On that note, federating was not opposed to Jamaica becoming an independent nation. The vote was whether we should go Independence alone or go as ONE West Indies.

Integration is not about giving up our sovereignty and independence. It is sovereignty bargaining for the betterment of all the people of this beautiful region. Jamaica has much to lose if we decide to go on our own. And why should we? Because Ronald Mason says so?

Oneil Hall is a research student in Department of History and Philosophy, UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and oneil.hall@hotmail.com.