Why we stay so

Keith Noel, Contributor

DR ERROL Miller, in a research exercise conducted some years ago, concluded that a significant number of Jamaican students had career goals that were quite unrealistic when one considered their academic attainment and their plans regarding their education.

In a way, this is typical of one aspect of the Jamaican mentality. It ties in with a general attitude that no one is better than a Jamaican, no place as great as 'yard'.

When a popular sportscaster on 'Sports Commentary' in discussing football, continually speaks of the other countries in the Caribbean as "likkle curry-goat teams" and, in doing so, includes even arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago, he is, to his mind, not being disrespectful, but realistic. To him and many other Jamaicans the idea that another Caribbean island could have a better football team and a superior programme to Jamaica is unthinkable. This sometimes causes anti-Jamaican sentiment among our regional brothers. They see this as Jamaican arrogance and typical disrespect for her Caricom partners.

But this attitude, they don't realise, is extended to other countries as well. It, in fact, also holds true for places like, say, New Zealand, Fiji, Madagascar, and the Emirates. We don't expect ever to be beaten by any of these countries at nearly anything we take seriously and we don't even pause to think that many of the countries we feel we are 'naturally' better than may be larger, richer and have more facilities than we do. Dem deh country don't suppose to cyan manage we!

This is the reason why we take our success in track and field so much in our stride. It is only natural that we should top the world. An interesting discussion always occurs when the name of one of our schoolboy or schoolgirl track stars who did not make it to the top rungs of international competition comes up. They are written off as 'wutless' or as having never had real quality, or if not, their 'failure' to succeed at track is attributed to a decision to focus on their academics and to put a track career on the back burner.

This is also the reason why the man in the street is not surprised by the fact that Bob Marley is seen as one of the most influential men of the last half of the 20th century. This is as it should be. Him come from yah!

Garvey's significance

But what I would like to now consider is the significance of the impact that Marcus Garvey had on the black world, and his contribution to African, African- American and Caribbean philosophy. Think, too, of how much effort the capitalists and exploiting classes in the United States (and worldwide) put into bringing him down and discrediting him. Then there was Michael Manley and his contribution to the discourse on the political and economic relationships between rich and poor nations. It is interesting that his idea of a New World Economic Order is still a base element in the discussion of the future of the world. Manley may have made errors of judgment in national politics, but some of the ideas he posited are still at the base of the international movement of those who want to free the world of poverty.

Blessed with this brilliance, and with this attitude of its citizens to themselves, Jamaica was, for some time, poised to be a type of iconic leader of the Third World, a beacon to which all peoples with a history of exploitation could look. Born in this era, too, was the Rastafari movement, with its disturbing questions on the role religion played in our lives, with their views on nature and on 'ital', with their concept of 'I and I' which bonded black persons by suggesting that each is an extension of the other. They gave another foundation to this potentially unique society. It also gave the world reggae music - the music of struggle. So, could it really be that we were given all the tools to be the most influential nation in the struggle for a new world order and we blew it?

That is why we 'stay so'. We were created to make a serious difference.

Keith Noel is an educator. He can be contacted at: columns@gleanerjm.com.