Tuesday, June 25, 2024

George Cadle Price became a priest after his studies in a seminary in Mississippi. He was sent to work in different locations in the United States and Latin America before being anointed Bishop of Belize, and eventually becoming a Cardinal. He left a significant impression on Catholics, and on the country as a whole, as a result of his fighting tirelessly for the less fortunate wherever he went. He died a peaceful death in the country of his birth, after living a long and useful life.

I have often wondered what would have happened to Belize if the above scenario were true? How much the political and religious influences might have veered off in a different direction, rather than the one we are presently living in. Leigh Richardson and Philip Goldson would then have been the leaders of the PUP. Herbert Fuller, the leader of the NP or later NIP. Would the pups and the nips have become the formidable forces they eventually became, and would they have attracted the same group that was there under the leadership of Precio? We will never know, but I do know that Don Hector would have been involved.

The reason I bring this up, is because I was watching the Diaspora Summit in Los Angeles last weekend. It made me think of all of us that left Belize in the sixties and seventies, the majority being overwhelmingly black. Would it have been different if our Premier or PM was a black man, Richardson or Goldson? Would they have been nationalistic enough to make us want to stay and build a better Belize? Would they have been willing enough to teach us our history, instead of leaving it to the churches to plan and execute our curricula? A totally corrupt curriculum where history and civics are concerned, in my opinion.

I was talking to my friend, the person responsible for my outburst of creative energy, and we were both lamenting the lack of interest in the ICJ by the younger generation. Of how the religious leaders co-opted our educational system and molded it in their image, with little or no accountability or pushback from our elected leaders. A gross dereliction of duty to the electorate, in my opinion, and it is still the same.

We both agreed that George Price was responsible for a more active participation by our Mestizo and Mayan communities in our cultural and social and political evolution. That in some ways, they in turn tried to devalue the significance of the dominant Creole culture. As my friend put it, they were jealous of us and our history, from slavery to dominance over the culture, in society as a whole, and in academia. To some, Mr. Price made the Latinos a priority over the rest of us, gave us no incentives rather than to spread our wings, wander off to face racism, and a better life economically. We left in droves, America welcoming us and giving us a chance to start over. Our government did nothing to stop us, ethnic cleansing in a humane manner!

I’m not trying to degrade or disrespect the father of the country. He went above and beyond for the good of the Jewel; he just forgot to embrace us all, equally.

It’s like you living with your family, and your parents having a favorite, and it’s not you. As soon as you are able to, you will strike out on your own. Maybe that’s not a good metaphor for what happened to us Kruffies, but it’s close! And I can’t blame Trump for that one. What a ting!

And now, regardless of what you hear, there are more of us, Creoles and their descendants, living outside of Belize, mostly in America, but scattered worldwide, wondering why we left paradise! Think about that!

Glen