George Floyd murder vs policing in Jamaica
who sits in the Senate as a legislator, Brown must do everything in his power to defend at all times.
I find it disconcerting, if not disingenuous, when public servants make intemperate and dangerous remarks and then try to cover them under the cloak of a personal opinion. People are viewed through the prism of the professional presence they represent in society. If they hold important
The murder of 46-year-old George Floyd, a black man, by white police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, USA, has been on the minds and the lips of people around the world. The spectacle of Chauvin defiantly placing a knee on the neck of the handcuffed Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds, while ignoring his pleas, “I can’t breathe”, touched the stoniest of hearts — even in a country like Jamaica known for wickedness by the police.
While we display righteous indignation at the unjustifiable act of brutality by law enforcement officers in a place far from our shores, we should look in the proverbial mirror, examine our sordid history and our own offices, such as a senator, the burden on them is heavier to weigh carefully what they are going to say before they utter it.
Words have meaning and consequences for people. I wonder how many people who heard Brown were convinced of his opinion, and who might not have heard his retraction of it. Worse, how many might have been emboldened to act on his words since he uttered blood guiltiness with police killings.
From my own casual research, talking with people, a significant number of Jamaicans favour the type of policing practised by controversial former Senior Superintendent of Police Reneto Valentino Adams as the way to deal with rising crime and violence. Most worrying is the finding coming out of a 2016/2017 public opinion survey, conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), that close to one-third of it. After all, he is a big man in the people’s Parliament, and for some people that has to count for something. Also, for them, he said nothing wrong for which he should be berated. The fact that Brown could not see the error of his ways and offer an immediate retraction in the Senate does not help. I am not sure I heard a robust condemnation of the statement by his Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle when he uttered the statement.
It is not always easy to separate a private opinion from a deeply held belief which may have issue in the formulation of public policy or law. If the pope should say that God is a racist, he would be hard put to characterise this as a mere private opinion. He may really believe this, but he would be advised to think carefully before uttering it, given the possible ramifications of it in the Catholic Church and the rest of Christendom. Many may agree with him and many may not. But would it be wise to say it?
Private opinions are just that, private. If you want to make a public show of them then be
Jamaicans would give up some of their rights for the police a have free rein in going after alleged criminals.
The matter of police killings is real bad. Erica Guevara-rosas, director for the Americas at Amnesty International, put out the following statement, July 8, 2020: “As the world willing to accept the consequences that may flow from this. And this does not mean being a coward or having the right or freedom to express your opinions as you feel. Such expressions must be grounded in wisdom.
Building character
On another not-too-unrelated matter, Minister of Education Fayval Williams, in her sectoral budget presentation, has indicated that the ministry will soon be including character education in the curriculum for public schools. I applaud this move — which should have come long ago, even before former Prime Minister P J Patterson launched his values and attitudes campaign. But, as they say, better late than never. The contours of this curriculum are yet to be worked out, but whatever is done must have a strong practical component, and not just a theoretical framework.
I suspect that the teacher-training curriculum in our teachers’ colleges will be upgraded to accommodate this experiences a collective moment of outrage and grief over the killing of George Floyd and so many other black people in the United States, the Jamaican Government must take the opportunity to put an end to its own human rights violations by the police.”
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group conducted an extensive review initiative. I remember back in the day teaching a course at the Church Teachers’ College on the foundations of moral development. It was intended to expose teachers to the practical necessities of moral decision-making, character-building and orientation. Many years later I wonder what has become of this course. Now we are considering character education for our children. It can only do good in the framing of young minds for the building of strong, moral foundations which will impact their lives as adults.
But it will not be an easy task in a society that is a petri dish for all kinds of debased and immoral behaviour. The minister has good and noble intentions and this column wishes her and her ministry well in this pursuit.
Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books:
Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm
Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life. and
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of Jamaica’s human rights record out of which came several recommendations. One in particular gives a measure of the serious nature of police killings and other abuses in Jamaica. “End abuses by security forces and other government agents involved in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and life-threatening prison conditions, and ensure swift accountability for those who commit abuses by implementing existing mechanisms to investigate and punish abuses and clearing administrative backlogs.”
By virtue of our track record, Jamaica has no moral ground on which to commiserate with