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Why Are Jamaicans Racist Towards Black People And African Culture?
MY JAMAICAN ODYSSEY: THE OMINOUS SPECTRE OF BLACK-ON-BLACK RACISM IN JAMAICA
I want to talk about an incident that happened to me when I was getting ready to leave Jamaica a few years ago. I remember that I had lost my passport some time ago, but I still possessed some identification to demonstrate that I was the person I claimed to be. When I arrived at the Montego Bay airport, I informed the staff working there that I had lost my passport. They informed me that I would have to take the matter up with customs and immigration before I could board a flight to Toronto. When I went to go speak with the Jamaican immigration officers, I remember that there was another woman immediately before me who also had to deal with immigration concerning the loss of her passport. Incidentally, this person happened to be a young white woman who was getting ready to board a flight to New York. She was dressed very indecently, like a common prostitute, in a bikini top and tight shorts, and although she had absolutely no documentation whatsoever proving her identity, I noticed that the Jamaican immigration officers were very polite and cordial to this woman. They smiled and laughed with her, and after a few minutes, she was let go with not even so much as a reprimand.
When I stepped into the office to speak with the customs officers, the tone immediately changed from an atmosphere of jollity to that of resentment and anger. I told the immigration officers that I had lost my passport, however I did possess the necessary documentation substantiating my identity. Nonetheless, the customs officers said that my driver’s licence or health card was probably forged and that I needed to show a passport in order to board a flight. When I asked them why, they became very nasty. One of the immigration officers was especially rude and vicious. He began asking me if I smoke ganja. I asked him what that had to do with anything. He told me that it was “bizarre” that anyone should accidentally manage to lose his passport and that people rarely, if ever, lose their passports in Jamaica. I again told him that people lose their passports all the time and that I have sufficient identification corroborating my identity. He then asked me if I snorted coke. I again asked him what that had to do with anything. Nevertheless I informed him, for his own personal edification, that I do not use drugs. He then flew into a rage and began screaming at the top of his lungs that I had something to hide. All of a sudden, the Jamaican customs officers got excited and began to accuse me of being a drug mule who was smuggling cocaine into the country. One even suggested that I was a wanted criminal from Aruba and that I had been on the run from the Jamaican authorities for years. They began going through a number of pictures of wanted Jamaican criminals and began comparing my profile with theirs. One of the officers even telephoned one of his superiors, saying that he probably had a wanted fugitive from the law in his office. When I stood up to protest this gross mistreatment, the customs officers, who seemed to be very hyperactive, told me to “calm my *****” and decided to taunt me with threats of having me locked up behind bars for a substantial period of time. I spent a total of 6 hours in that office, being grilled by these customs officers. They were extremely rude and ignorant, displaying all the nastiness and psychopathic callousness typical of the “Jamaican character”. Eventually, I was finally let go, however I was not able to leave Jamaica until sometime afterwards.
I must admit that I was angered by the entire incident. I have travelled to numerous black majority countries in the past, and I have never experienced this kind of disgraceful abuse. On that day, I was very well-behaved and impeccably dressed. The people at Jamaican customs and immigration had no right to talk to me or treat me the way they did. Moreover, I sincerely hoped that my situation was an isolated one; however I have met numerous people of African descent who have also complained of receiving similar mistreatment and anti-black racial discrimination at the hands of bigoted Jamaican government officials and people. I now know that I am not alone in my afflictions. When I think about how Jamaican customs treated the white woman before me, I am filled with an even greater anger still. I realize now that she was given preferential treatment by Jamaican customs and immigration because she happened to be, quite literally, of Western European Caucasian origin. In reality, she didn’t need any passport or identification; her white skin and European physiognomy were all the proof she needed to board a flight to New York. Thinking about it now, I realize that it is no secret that many Jamaicans have a very Eurocentric, even colonial mentality; as a matter of fact, Jamaica is a nation that, psychologically speaking at least, has never really been truly decolonized. I was the victim of Jamaican anti-black racism!
Last edited by Samba : 10-25-2008 at 05:22 PM.
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