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Behind the troubles of Afro-Belizeans

EditorialBehind the troubles of Afro-Belizeans

Afro-Belizeans living in Belize – the Creoles/Kriols and Garinagu — have never had much economic power, and for decades their fortunes have been dwindling. The Creoles (Kriols) comprise less than 25% of our population, but in 2017, 50% of persons serving time in Belize’s main jail were from that group. The Belize Crime Observatory listed the 2021 murder rate in the area of Belize where the most Afro- Belizeans live, as being a staggering 72.64 per 100,000. Insincere or naïve Belizeans tell Afro-Belizeans to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Sincere Belizeans, and fortunately there’re many of them in our beautiful country, want to find out what’s going on with their brothers and sisters, and how they can form links to help them improve their condition.

It’s important for people to observe what’s going on around them, so they can learn and emulate the good things they see in their neighborhood, and avoid the bad things. While observing what’s going on with their neighbors, people must keep a firm grip on themselves, so they don’t fall victim to pride, if they are more successful than their neighbors, or envy, if their neighbors have more than they have.

Things were simple when countries were peopled by a single group (tribe). But there has never been a nation without problems. There will always be divisions among individuals and peoples—divisions over religious beliefs, political beliefs, economic policies, wealth distribution, social positions, and the location where people live (rural vs urban). In countries that have more than one group, race and cultural issues are added to the mix.

In our Belize, we have more than a fair share of differences to divide us, if we allow them to. It is hard to pin down which of the potential dividers is the most volatile in the rest of the world. We have seen so many countries split apart over political, economic, and religious differences, and along tribal lines. Our country is blessed with many groups, and we boast to the world about the harmony that exists here; indeed, we have had a fairly long run of peace between and among our many groups, but having seen what has happened in other parts of the world, we have to know that if we don’t work at it, things could fall apart.

Ask any Belizean to tell you which group is the hardest to deal with, and they will unfailingly say, Afro- Belizeans, particularly the Creoles/Kriol. A number of non-Afro groups in Belize came here to escape war, poverty, or religious persecution, so few are strangers to hardship. Even the Mayan groups, the original peoples of this land, many of them are here because within the borders demarcated by the European conquistadors, they were oppressed. While nearly all of our groups have experienced troubles, none face the unique hardships of the Afro-Belizeans.

Briefly, since the Europeans introduced a blond, straight-haired, blue-eyed, thin-lipped, narrow-faced man as God, people of African descent, being farthest from that phenotype, have been maltreated and maligned. The fact is that Jesus the Christ, direct son of God or prophet, did not look like the picture painted by the Europeans, but they have used their world dominance attained via the barrel of the gun to impose their bias.

Briefly, the modern Belize was built on the backs of people who were predominantly of Afro-ethnicity. Naturally, over time the percentage of Afro-descendant people in the population has diminished because Belize is surrounded by countries peopled by Maya and Mestizos, the latter also called Hispanic.

Natural phenomena, as we are seeing with climate change, play an important role in the movement of peoples. In 1961, Hurricane Hattie, a cataclysmic storm that was tracking north, away from Belize, made an unexpected turn to the southwest, a turn that had epochal ramifications, particularly for Afro- Belizeans. Belize City, Gales Point, Mullins River, and Dangriga (then Stann Creek Town), the population centers with the highest concentration of Afro-Belizeans, were devastated. Around 70% of Belize City was destroyed; the US opened its borders for Belizeans left destitute by the storm, and there was a massive exodus of Belizeans, mostly Afro-Belizeans, from our shores.

Afro-Belizeans have watched their percentage of the legal population decrease further over the years— in the 1980s when thousands from neighboring countries took refuge here to escape civil wars, and this year, when an amnesty for people who are here illegally will cause their percentage of the population to fall even more. For many Afro-Belizeans it is taking some getting used to, the number of places that are being taken over by faces different from theirs.

Consider what happened after slavery “ended”. We entered the age of colonialism, and the Afro population (Creoles/Kriols) was groomed to serve the colonial masters in the public sector – as public servants, teachers, police officers. Meanwhile, the colonial government started focusing on agriculture, as the forest stock in a forestry-dominated economy had been severely depleted. A small segment of the Afro population engaged in the productive sector, those in the rural areas in agriculture, and those who lived on the coast, in fishing. The majority of Afro-Belizeans, locked in the main urban area of the country, now find themselves competing for scarce jobs with new Belizeans who accept wages that are the bare minimum.

Jobs as laborers in agriculture are available, but unattractive to the urban Afro-Belizean because living conditions on farms are poor, and wages are of necessity low, so that our raw products can compete on the world market. Added to the unattractive wages and poor living conditions is the fact that farm owners prefer pliant foreign laborers, who come to work on seasonal work permits.

By no means are Afro-Belizeans the only group that is stressed. The Afro groups have reason to complain, but so do the other Roots groups. For example, the grocery business was dominated by our Mestizo group, and they have lost their share of that to the Asian group that arrived after Belize began selling economic citizenship in the 1980s.

Things can only be well if all are getting a sufficient share of the pie. It is the worst of times for Afro- Belizeans, because not only are they experiencing serious economic woes, but violence, mainly triggered by poverty and the US drug war, is stymying the group’s efforts to thrive. Bullets are flying, and the young men, young women and children too, are falling. In this violent environment, Afro-Belizean entrepreneurs are trapped, unable to give their all in pursuit of their daily bread on streets that have been taken over by thugs. Parents live in fear every moment their children are outside of their homes.

Afro-Belizeans have every reason to call on the country’s political leaders to help the group overcome their troubles. Afro-Belizeans can’t look for other groups to “put out” for them; some of them have problems too, but it’s important for other groups to have a better understanding of their Afro brothers and sisters, because we share this space and we are all Belizeans.

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