Re-Shuffling the Race Cards 2

“Who’s really playing the race card?”
(page 4, Tuesday, December 13, 2005, The Tribune, The Bahamas)

EDITOR, The Tribune

As a Bahamian who has lived abroad for the past two decades, I may be somewhat out of touch, but not by much. I use the internet to stay abreast of current events therefore I feel qualified to comment on a topical issue which can balloon into an emotional firestorm to the detriment of all. I speak of the race issue in The Bahamas.

I find it absolutely amazing that in 2005 when supporters of the PLP refer to skin colour, it is said that they are replaying the race card; that they are being divisive; they are digging up old bones from a bygone era. Yet, the minute Brent Symonette and Hubert Ingraham were coronated by the FNM and dubbed the salt and pepper team, Michael Jackson’s “Ebony and Ivory” played in the background: they passed this off as being inclusive.

Black Bahamians cannot allow themselves to be sucked into the clutches of utopia in order to fulfil someone’s political agenda. The fact is the Bahamas is still very much a race-driven, colour conscious society.

If you doubt me, look at the obituary pages of the newspaper: white people send their loved ones to Pinder and Kemp—exclusively. If you don’t believe me, check out the Public Service. Why are there virtually no white Police, Defence, Prison, Immigration, customs officers? Why are there virtually no white Bahamian teachers in the Public school system? Why are there no white Bahamian straw vendors, hotel workers or taxi drivers? How do you explain this? They can’t blame the “racist” PLP; the FNM was in power for ten years.

If you don’t believe me, explain this: black Bahamians spend millions of dollars with Kelly’s, John S. George, Asa Pritchard, et al. When was the last time you saw a white Bahamian shopping at Milo Butler, eating at the Reef or worshipping at Zion Baptist Church? They want economic inclusion but practice social apartheid.

Frankly, from my standpoint, the comments about Brent Symonette from the PLP cannot possibly be because he is a white Bahamian. Edison Key did rather well in the PLP, so did Marvin Pinder, Jonathan Simms and countless others. Indeed, it is the PLP that to this day owns the distinction of having appointed the country’s only white Bahamian to the high post of Governor General—Sir Henry Taylor. So all the talk about One Bahamas is just talk!

Talk to me about One Bahamas when white Bahamians participate in Junkanoo; when they attend the Bahamas Games; when they fly Bahamasair to Miami; when they patronise Lil Generals; when they go to Fish Fry and when they participate in The Love games – all of which have nothing to do with the PLP. Talk to me about One Bahamas when my son can date Brent Symonette’s daughter. That’ll be the day.

Black Bahamians can be duped if they wish. Trust me, white Bahamians, by and large, love you when you’re spending and when you are prepared to give them their country back. Other than that, they’re not checking. They have economic power. We are where we are today because we’ve held political power. Give them the whole hog if you wish. The United States is over 200 years old and a black Vice President is unthinkable. What’s our hurry?

It took generations to dismantle colonialism and generations to cast away tokenism. We still wrestle with an entrenched oligopoly. Therefore, for us to believe that we can fuse together One Bahamas in thirty years is a pipe dream. Indeed, only blacks want this—whites do not.

If white Bahamians make up less than 15 per cent of the population but in 2005 control in excess of 85 per cent of the wealth, then obviously many black Bahamians still feel that white is right and the lighter the better. That is why they run to City Lumber and JBR all week long and rush to Hanna’s and Cartwright’s on Sundays when the “real stores” are closed. That is why black Bahamians flock to Kentucky but whites stay clear of Bamboo Shack or Bertha’s. That is why blacks are dying for their children to go to St. Andrew’s but white Bahamians hardly send their children to SAC—which has the best passes in national exams.

The evidence is crystal clear. White Bahamians, though not all of them, couldn’t stand Hubert Ingraham as long as he was a PLP. The minute he became an FNM he was their saviour—come to save them from the political governance by black Bahamians. Never mind that Ingraham, Turnquest, Foulkes, et al are all black. Somehow the white Bahamians feel that with them in the vehicle of power the white Bahamian would be behind the wheel.

That, my dear friends, is the social psychology of racism in The Bahamas.

FELIX MOSS, PhD
Professor
University of California
Nassau
December 9, 2005