C. Eddie Edmondson has a bee in his bonnet. He has been trying to get this newspaper’s attention for years. Edmondson is an African American who came to Belize, apparently along with Gary Matthews, in 1985. He has been around and about Belize, and eventually settled in Punta Gorda. So far, so good.
Eddie Edmondson’s material is usually published in the UDP’s newspaper, GUARDIAN, because he is invariably slinging arrows at Evan X Hyde while simultaneously singing the praises of UDP Leader, Hon. Dean Barrow. His latest letter, published in the GUARDIAN last weekend, has been around for weeks. We know, because the letter has been on the Amandala editor’s desk for a while, just for the record.
Weekend before last, Eddie’s letter got published in THE REPORTER, but it was substantially edited. For whatever the reason(s), perhaps the pointed criticism from Partridge Street about the Dean Samuels incident and their City Hall crisis, the UDP decided to go with Edmondson’s irrelevancies last week, unedited and unexpurgated.
Before we proceed, we have to say this. The UDP need to be careful at the present moment. Yes, they should win the general election by default, but that victory is not a given. It is not guaranteed. The UDP are getting free benefits from their various friends at Amandala, KREM Radio and KREM Television. What is it that they hope to achieve by publishing Edmondson’s irrelevancies?
Eddie Edmondson says, he likes Belize “… because Belize reminds me of the United States back in the 1950’s when I was a kid.” This statement is made in the letter’s opening paragraph. What part of the United States in the 1950’s does Belize remind Eddie Edmondson of? That is a question we need to ask.
Edmondson says Belize is “reaching a milestone in seriously considering a black head of state.” Immediately before this, he complains that “discussion about his (Dean Barrow’s) candidacy… in the media are neither favorable nor in depth. His race goes unmentioned in the Belize media.”
One would think that Mr. Barrow would consider it a good thing that his “race goes unmentioned.” Most Belizeans do so consider. We can say that in the Partridge Street section of the media, over the past few years we have read and heard very little that is critical of Dean Barrow.
Edmondson goes on. “Ordinarily, you’d expect the folks ‘back ah di zinc fence’ to pick up on this side of the story. As organizers of the Belize Black Summit, you’d think they would appreciate this historic moment.”
And then C. Eddie “goes off” on Evan X Hyde, and “the lies he told about Barrow.” This is the meat of the issue. This is the bee in Edmondson’s bonnet: he wants Evan X Hyde to start cheerleading for Dean Barrow.
Someone like Dean Lindo needs to take C. Eddie aside and talk to him about 1973 and the formation of the United Democratic Party, while Dean Barrow was still in law school. C. Eddie needs to be told what that same UDP, with the approval of Dean Barrow, did to Rufus X, one of the 1973 founders of the UDP, in 1988.
Then one of Edmondson’s own African American brethren or sistren needs to bring the case of United States Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, to Eddie Edmondson’s attention. Clarence Thomas looks manifestly black in skin color, but all his Supreme Court decisions are white – whiter than white, in fact.
On the matter of Evan X Hyde’s relationship with Said Musa, Kremandala accepts responsibility for endorsing Mr. Musa in 1998 and 2003 (not to mention 1979). If Evan X Hyde is to be blamed for Said Musa’s change of beliefs and opinions, then so be it. We can say that Kremandala ended its alliance with the ruling PUP on December 28, 2004.
In conclusion, we feel that the UDP should be happy that Mr. Barrow’s race has not affected his national popularity. If the UDP start bringing up Mr. Barrow’s race now because they want to bring pressure on Partridge Street, such a tactic may backfire on them. C. Eddie Edmondson has no record of winning general elections in Belize. Where are his credentials?