Dear Editor,
Call me old-fashioned, but I received an eye-opener, if not shock, when I attended the Forty-Eighth Annual Graduation Mass and Commencement Exercises for Muffles High School at the Junior College campus in Orange Walk Town.
The people who devised the program must be commended for the wonderful job they did. Kudos to them.
But here’s the kicker that probably marks me as old-fashioned, or just not “with” it. At the conclusion of the Mass, and as the graduation class positioned themselves to star in this once-in-a-lifetime moment to receive their diplomas, we were asked to rise for the Belizean National Anthem.
So far, so good. Then to my amazement, the anthem was sung by the graduating class in three different languages: Spanish, English and Garifuna.
I guess this is where I must be the odd man out. I was in shock, and I really mean SHOCK. I guess my background with most of my teen and young adult years living in the USA has a lot to do with my reaction—the first day in the USA one must understand, don’t mess with the Constitution and the National Anthem. Anyone who has attended a sporting event, concert or any event in the U.S. where the National Anthem is played can relate to where I am coming from. In fact, it’s a great honor for any artist to perform the Anthem at the Super Bowl.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I hold no ill will against any culture or ethnic group. In fact, I remember back in my college days boasting at school to friends that when they visit Belize they will get value for their money, as they’ll be able to travel from region to region in Belize and experience completely different cultures as if in different countries, and yet we’re one people.
I am fortunate; for almost 25 years I have traveled to so many places in the world, that I can say I’ve visited every continent on the globe. That achievement allows me the following comment—Belize is the only place I know of where we insist on grouping ourselves according to our grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ ethnicity. I have no stats, but I would not be surprised to find that less than 10% of my fellow Belizeans can prove to be 80% of what our ethnicity appears to be.
This brings me back to the singing of the National Anthem in any language other than English. I do not know if, as with the flag, there are some legal implications on these types of issues. If not, then I believe there should be.
Here’s my point. We are already divided in this country by politics, religion and to some extent, race. If you do not believe me, check the interview on Channel 7 last week, where the Minister of Housing concluded a statement regarding a house he allowed to be built on St. Michael’s compound, saying of the beneficiary: “she is black” (and a campaign worker to boot, but that’s another story).
It seems to me the Minister did a good thing in looking out for one of his people, meaning a constituent. What race or color her skin is should be of no importance. He assisted a Belizean woman. This racial preference trend seems to be the rule of the day.
I will not touch the Mayan situation; that is unfolding in the Supreme Court at present. By the present standards of political correctness, should the singing of the National Anthem at the commencement also include Maya?
Our National Anthem and other national symbols are what make us who we are as Belizeans. It is not kowtowing to the English to keep the anthem in English; after all, Spanish and Garifuna can also be termed “foreign” languages.
I suppose those who are better versed in this issue may correct me, but it is my humble opinion that some things can bring us together, and if we are not careful, they can also divide us. After all, the anthem speaks for the Baymen, and not many Belizeans are direct descendants of the Baymen.
The closest I’ve come to linguistics is many years ago as a undergrad in college when I took Linguistics 101 as an elective, but I bet that in the translation to any other language, the meaning at the least is changed.
I understand that everyone needs to be inclusive in the affairs of our country, but we need to do so without changing what we stand for as a people; instead of messing with the language in which the Anthem is written, why don’t we adopt cultural music from the different ethnic groups to the words of the Anthem?
Maybe, as Belizeans, we should decide to take pride in an anthem that unites rather than versions that tend to divide. If not, we venture on the slippery slope that leads to the ethnic atrocities of Rwanda, Northern Ireland, India or Sri Lanka. Let’s hope saner heads prevail from “proud Rio Hondo to Old Sarstoon”.
Dr. Carl M. Meggs
(Ed. NOTE: The letter writer’s opinion, of course, is not necessarily shared by this newspaper.)