Trivia: Name these Jamaican fruits

I was reading Deborah Ga-

briel’s book “Layers of Black-

ness” – Colourism in the Af-

rican Diaspora, and the first

thing that came to mind as I

read, was does colourism

really exist today? Deborah

Gabriel, apart from being the

author of ‘Layers of Black-

ness’ is a teaching profes-

sional and a journalist: The

book was inspired by a fea-

ture Deborah wrote about

skin bleaching in 2005,

which followed a documen-

tary about skin bleaching by

a black female filmmaker

and by the failure of main-

stream writers to discuss the

psychological and historical

factors associated with skin

bleaching. The primary aim

of her book, despite its con-

notations of shades of colour

is, she says: “to unite, not

divide people of African de-

scent”.

The thing is, from my per-

spective, the word ‘colourism’

is a divisive word. For those

of you who are unfamiliar

with the term, it is, in blunt

terms, when someone says

“no badda tawk to him – him

too black” or, “don’t go out

into the sun my dear, you

will get too dark!” Colourism

(according to Wikipedia) is a

form of discrimination in

which human beings are

afforded differing social

treatment based on skin col-

our. The preference often

gets translated into economic

status because of opportuni-

ties at work. Colourism can

be found across the world

and the term is generally

used for the phenomenon of

non-white people discrimi-

nating within their own eth-

nic group! Continue on pg 2

Answer is on page 6

Colorism

Caption describing picture or

graphic.

Table of Contents

Colorism Page 1

Trivia Page 1

Tirade on economy, mar-

ket and crime Page 3

Caribbean Union

Creation - CU page 8

JK Production Publication

www.JamaicanAmericanClub.org

Summer 2016

Jamaican American Club Newsletter

Yes, in plain talking it means blacks

discriminating against blacks because

of their colour, which is why many of

the darker-skinned people have opted

for bleaching creams to make their com-

plexions lighter. I read on the website

that in India, Fair & Lovely, which is a

bleaching cream, have cornered 70% of

the bleaching cream market! And there

is a video on the internet made in Egypt

which claims “if you want to be success-

ful and attractive, bleach your skin

white”. It is this kind of misrepresenta-

tion that gave rise to many tragic mu-

lattos in the early 1900s. How many of

you saw “Imitation of Life” by Fredi

Washington who played Peola, a tor-

tured self-hating bi-racial girl who said

to her Negro mother: “Don’t come for

me. If you see me in the street, don’t

speak to me. From this moment on I am

white, not coloured. You have to give

me up!” Wanting to live as white be-

cause she was tired of being treated as

a second class citizen ‘that is being

treated like a 1930s black American’.

She passed as white and begged her

mother to understand, which along

with the 20th century advert cited

above, implies that success comes with

skin colour. So in answer to my initial

question, does colourism still exist to-

day – yes, sadly it seems that it does!

ized racism. Hume, Krieger, Sidney &

Coakley and many others have tried to

state that the lighter you are, the high-

er your IQ level. Have you ever heard

such a load of tosh!? If that is the case,

why is Professor Geoffrey Palmer, DSc,

OBE whose skin tone is dark, one of

three people in the UK who has a Doc-

tor of Science? A Doctor of Science

(DSc) for those of you who do not know,

There is an argument in the United

States that on average, African-

Americans score 7 to 15 points lower

than European-Americans on IQ tests.

Many conservatives believe this is be-

cause blacks are genetically inferior to

whites. But liberals believe that the IQ

gap is the result of nearly three centu-

ries of slavery and yet another 130

years of segregation and institutional-

is conferred on a member of the univer-

sity who has a proven record of interna-

tionally recognized scholarship. Profes-

sor Geoffrey Palmer OBE is such a

member and as such, was required to

submit a selection of his publications on

Grain Science, to the board of his facul-

ty, which decided that he merited this

accolade, along with Dame Jocelyn Bell

Burnell, a white Scientist and radio

to their offspring? Did the perceived

preferential treatment adversely affect

dark-skinned female slaves, or could it

be that because the light-skinned slaves

were remnants of their offspring,, they

were happy to see them being given an

opportunity to enjoy a marginally bet-

ter lifestyle? We will never know. All

we know is how it has been translated

to us through the centuries, that lighter

is brighter and blacker is slacker – but

is that true?

In order to understand the present, we

need to refer to the past, so let’s have a

look at the possible reasons for colour-

ism. Most of us know that light skinned

Negroes were the ones kept in the

house, while dark skinned Negroes

were made to work in the fields. Did

this imply that the light-skinned slaves

were more superior to the dark-skinned

or was it because the mulattos (as

mixed-race were called back then) were

the product of rape and therefore the

slave masters felt some paternal loyalty

“In order to understand the

present, we need to refer to the

past, so let’s have a look at the

possible reasons for colourism. “

Continued from page 1

Caption describing picture or

graphic.

Page 2 Jamaican American Club Newsletter

astronomer who discovered what

turned out to be neutron stars, also

called pulsars. When I interviewed Pro-

fessor Geoffrey Palmer who is the au-

thor of “The Enlightened Abolished” on

my radio show in March of this year, he

told me that the reason he accepted the

OBE the day before his mother died

(apart from his mother telling him he

should) was to show that he was as

competent and as intelligent as anyone

else on the planet, and that is of course

regardless of colour (shade or other-

wise)! So let’s put this colourism to bed

and end it with the famous words of

Marcus Garvey:

The appeal I now make is: "For God's

sake, you men and women who have

been keeping yourselves away from the

people of your own African race, cease

the ignorance; unite your hands and

hearts with the people Africa, and let

us reach out to the highest idealism

that there is in living, thereby demon-

strating to others, not of our race, that

we are ambitious, virtuous, noble, and

proud of the classification of race.

develops in this, entire population will

be disenfranchised as is the case in in-

ner cities around the world and espe-

cially here in Jamaica . As the flight of

capital retreats from areas because the

policy for these areas are not realistic

for the development growth of formal

markets, public and private sectors will

also retreat as any investment must

show a return on investment (ROI).

lead to complex derivatives and com-

modities futures. Derivatives are really

just complex futures as well.

These futures markets becoming plan-

ning tools that can change the policy of

any nation hence the market control

the policies, the policies control the

economy and the economy is controlled

by private and public sector. If a gap

This ROI can be tangible or intangible

return but a positive return none the

less.As our garrisons in Jamaica has

become disenfranchised the government

past and present has allowed the finan-

cial sector to black list these areas.

Continue on page 8

Carol Lawton

Tirade economies, markets and crime

As our garrisons in Jamaica has

become disenfranchised the

government past and present has

allowed the financial sector to

black list these areas.

Page 3 Summer 2016

Crime blooms where there is a vacuum in

law and order. This space is filled by the

informal organizations known as gangs.

These gangs do not exist because of poverty

but as a power structure to control re-

sources. Poverty does not cause crime but

the lack of law and order coupled with poor

management of economies. Markets it must

be noted cannot be controlled due to the

many variables that encompass it both in-

ternally and externally hence government

can fix economies not markets. Thus with

strong economies the pressures of the mar-

ket can be statically forecasted which will

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Caribbean Union Creation - CU

Cheers went up when it was reported that Haiti would be allowed to join the African Union.

However, a few weeks went by when The African Union (AU) stated that Haiti will be denied

associate member status on May 17th. According to article 29.1 of their AU constitution, only

African countries can have membership. These African countries will Buk dance for their for-

mer colonial masters and coon for the Chinese but deny the 1st Black county, who threw off the

shackles of slavery, recognition and membership.

Is the African Union (AU) the White man’s #1 pet and fetch boy? The African way, according

the African Union, is that Europeans and the Chinese everywhere are welcome to join. However

Black people especially Haiti need not apply. Haiti, don’t allow anyone to disrespect you!

This is an example on why Caribbean counties should form the Caribbean Union – CU. Feder-

ations with various islands were formed in the past and did not last. However, they are many

more things that bind Caribbean than divides the islands. Multinational corporations do not

care where they set up sweat shops or call centers. By uniting, the exploitation and marginali-

zation can be minimized.

To be competitive one has to have marketable skills or your country will become irrelevant.

Caribbean nations must understand that our location and character of each island is an asset,

if marketed correctly. It is time to reexamine a new Caribbean Federation and create The Car-

ibbean Union. The Caribbean region is too small of an area to be so fragmented. I.e. Cuba has a

stronger relationship with Russia than it does with its neighbors.

The Arab league, NATO, and even OPEC are examples of how powerful community of nations

can be forged. One can only wonder if the AU would have responded in the same way or be ef-

fectively willing to shift position if a more prosperous nation, say Brazil, had demonstrated sim-

ilar interest in joining the AU. Don’t go where you are not wanted. Leave with dignity and cre-

ate your own union with other Caribbean nations.

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Organization

P.O. Box 62 Elk Grove, IL 60009 USA

JamaicanAmericanClub.org

clearly land ownership whereby a per-

son can not be force out of their capital

because of criminal elements as this is

duress. The rule of law and not politics

or fear should apply. If land owners

consider these properties as valuable

assets which the capital market recog-

nizes as assets then a move to destroy

the garrisons can begin. But when a

free for all is allowed to operate with

this basic resource informal organiza-

tions are cultivated as a means of self

preservation hence the ultimate pariah

for a government to control is born and

that is the informal economy which

policy cannot control or direct thus giv-

ing power to the informal organization

as a revenue generator is in place to

fund their activities with no regard to

law and order.

E-mail: JamaicanAmericanClub@yahoo.com info@JamaicanAmericanClub.org

This is not a unique anomaly for Jamai-

ca but the norm around the world espe-

cially third world where informal settle-

ment ie squatting communities exist.

Crime exists because the people here

are at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid.

The social and economic fabric of com-

munities are gone hence a battle for

scarce resource which most times are

controlled by political and criminal forc-

es.

The government has the ability to end

this blacklisting and informal settle-

ment by using the full force of the state

to enforce law and order. It has the

ability to ensure that a titled property

in the inner city is considered an asset

vs a liability by banks, insurance com-

panies and the owners of property

themselves. It has the power to define

Continue from page 3

United, we can never be defeated.

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