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Re: It's the Media's Fault
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RichD
Brown mans party?
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Nov 25 03 9:06 AM
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A brown man party?
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
NOW that the "reformists" in the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party have triumphed and the "man of the moment", Bruce Golding, has been shunted into the post of chairman, the ruling People's National Party's spin doctors and propaganda machinery must be working over time.
All this talk about retreating to retrofit, retool and re-engineer is but a panic reaction in the wake of what is happening in the bowels of the JLP. After all, Comrades now see their greatest asset, JLP leader Edward Seaga, heading for the departure lounge and so in terms of appealing to the sensitivities of voters, a new distraction and scapegoat will have to be found. And the PNP is very good at that.
Indeed, already on the ground this writer has been hearing that one of the distractions that may be pursued within the context of "it's black man time now" is that of projecting the JLP as "a brown man party". Of course, this has been said before, but this time round it will have more currency as it can be seen that in fact the persons in the top echelon of the party now have a certain hue lacking in much melanin. Let's take a closer look. Starting with the leader, Edward Seaga, followed by the chairman, Bruce Golding, three of the deputy leaders: Audley Shaw, Dr Horace Chang and James Robertson; General-Secretary Karl Samuda... Need I go further?
Incidentally, was it a mere slip of the tongue when a certain high-profile Comrade in Gordon House recently referred to one of his JLP counterparts as "brown man"? I do not expect the PNP hierarchy to admit that any such propagandist move is in the making. I expect that I will be accused of being mischievous, if not scurrilous, but it is no secret that on the campaign trail, elements in the PNP have always resorted to pilloring Mr Seaga as a white man. They have also argued that Jamaica, which is a predominantly black country, should never be ruled by anybody else but a black man. Interestingly, so far in the history of Jamaica, only one black man before P J Patterson has been prime minister, and that was Hugh Lawson Shearer. History will determine whether or not these two black leaders made any real difference during their respective tenures.
In this vein, the black aspirants in the JLP such as Edmund Bartlett, Pearnel Charles and Derrick Smith, not to mention "Babsy" Grange, must be wondering how they will fit into this new dispensation and what specific role they should play in countering any such PNP propaganda that would paint the JLP as a "brown man party". It is well known that both Bartlett and Charles have seen themselves as "the great Black Hope" within the JLP. Bartlett's double whammy defeats of most recent memory must have been very devastating for him and may well have sealed his fate with respect to any future ambitions he may have of becoming leader.
Charles, who has been playing coy, hoping that his rootsy self would eventually stand out amidst the growing browning of the JLP's top leadership rung, may well have an increasing clout in the party, especially if the PNP decides to foist a black Portia Simpson Miller on the electorate.
Notwithstanding that, PNP president, P J Patterson, has maintained that his party is like a caterpillar that will turn into a chrysalis which will eventually blossom into a beautiful butterfly. This time round, if the economy continues on its destructive path and crime and violence continue to devastate the socio-economic landscape, then the "colour question" will no longer matter.
The fact that the JLP under Edward Seaga was able to sweep the Local Government elections is clear evidence that politics is indeed the art of the possible. My advice to the JLP is that it should take this "brown man" thing seriously and not dismiss it. Find creative ways to work around it. Follow the example of Michael Manley who, though not black in colour, was able to espouse and articulate those issues and concerns closest to the hearts and minds of black Jamaicans.
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