21.7 C
Belize City
Friday, March 29, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

From The Publisher

PublisherFrom The Publisher
For me, one of the absolutely most beautiful Creole proverbs is, “Every john crow tink ‘e pickni white.” There are at least two things happening there. One is the reality of the racism to which our ancestors were responding with folk wisdom. The “john crow” is a vulture which used to hang around the lampposts along the open sewer canals in the old days. You don’t see them in the city any more, and some people say it’s because of the high tension electricity wires. The john crow is a bird which is unquestionably black. And, in the slavery and colonialism days, to be white was to be “tappa tappa.” So from the status of scavenger john crow to that of being white was an almighty leap.
  
The second aspect of the proverb has to do with the overpowering love parents have for their children. Some parents so love their children they can see no fault in them, while many parents believe their children are, in visible and material aspects, better than the children of those around them. It is a characteristic of parents, then, to love their children, sometimes inordinately and sometimes unreasonably. “Every john crow tink ‘e pickni white.”
           
Now in Belize there are many parents who have pulled their families up by their bootstraps, so to speak. By dint of hard work, sacrifice, discipline, education and so on and so forth, there are families where the parents grew up poor, but they have succeeded in creating a lifestyle for their children which is luxurious.
           
When such parents look across the fence and perhaps see poor parents who are struggling to survive, for sure they can see from whence they themselves came. But it is very, very seldom that these nouveau riche will spend any of their money, or even their time, trying to assist their neighbours. In a way, you can’t blame them, because the psychic scars of their own poverty are still too raw for them to become philanthropists. 
           
Personally, I was raised in the milieu of competition, and I believe, on the adult basis now of my personal observation, that competition is something which is unavoidable, and not only that, it is good. At the same time, perhaps contradictorily, I would not want to be excessively wealthy in the midst of need.
  
I remember when I was about 11 years old one of my classmates at Holy Redeemer Boys School lost his mother. I had a grandaunt who had been living in New York City for decades, and she would send boxes of clothes now and then for us. It so happened that just before the funeral, my grandaunt had sent a box which had in a suit (jacket and tie) for me. So, I was sent to the funeral in the new suit. I recall being uncomfortable with the fact that my classmates were not as fortunate. In a sense, you can say it was a case of my being overdressed. The thing is, it is not as if I can’t be as vain as the next man: there are occasions when I enjoy fine garments. That funeral was not one of them.
           
Let me return to the original thesis – parents and their natural, sometimes excessive love for their personal children. When parental love becomes excessive, parents lose sight of the community aspect of our existence as Belizeans. Such parents begin to move in circles and gravitate to groups which disdain the struggles of those who are less fortunate. In these circles and groups, the wealthy compete with each other for the latest and most fashionable baubles, bangles and beads.
           
I don’t look at life this way. All of us are human beings, created in the image and likeness of God. I don’t literally have to give you the shirt off my back, but at least you should be able to have one, if I have many, if you need it. This sounds reasonable, I’m sure, but there are Belizeans who believe that if you give anybody any of your plenty, you are encouraging such a person in laziness and dependency. There are Belizeans who take Darwinian competition to the extreme.
           
This is a conversation we need to have in Belize. The reason is that the vast majority of Belizeans claim to be Christians, but the dominant philosophy amongst those who are successful is not Christ-like. My understanding of Christ is that He emphasized spiritual values and required that we should seek to become Good Samaritans. Somewhere along the way, Belize Christianity lost sight of the real Jesus and drifted into whatever it is Belizeans are engaged in today.
           
In conclusion, from a practical standpoint I wish to say that if your child has the world, and the neighbour’s child has diddly, at some point along the road of life the chances are your neighbour’s child will find a way to make your child uncomfortable. If you don’t want your child to experience that discomfort, then you should find a way to have some crumbs fall off your table, you Dives you. Remember now, you and your children are not islands. We live in communities and we aspire to nationhood. It is, indeed, in giving that we receive. I believe this.
           
All power to the people. Power in the struggle.

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International