THE EDITOR, Sir:
I AM very pleased that the issue of the 'Braeton Seven' has remained at the forefront for a length of time uncharacteristic of Jamaica. I am also however, disappointed that it took an international body such as Amnesty International to keep it there. The citizens of this country seem to have become numb to the terrible injustices that take place around us everyday.
When will people begin to realise that murdering criminals does not constitute fighting crime? Crime is a social problem, criminals are a result of this problem and not visa-versa. When our children grow up illiterate, hungry and naked how do they survive? When a child sees his brother or father shot by the police in cold blood how does he contain the anger he feels as he grows, the anger and fear of the police, the anger he feels toward a society that stood by and let it happen without a whisper of protest?
The violent death of the seven at Braeton many of whom were children came as no real surprise to me. It was just another inevitable stage in the slippery downward slope our nation has been on intermittently since Independence. And while the children of the nation die, falling victim to both criminals and police, supporters of authority proclaim: "Mr. Patterson is doing his best", "Mr. Knight is doing his best"," Mr. Adams and the CMU are doing their best".
I do not consider myself a genius, I do not have all the answers, at 19 years old I am constantly reminded of the old Jamaican aphorism "young bird nuh know storm".
However, even I realise of Mr. Patterson, Mr. Knight, Mr. Adams and indeed the rest of the "political class", that their best is slowly (or in the case of the 'Braeton Seven', quickly), killing us..........that their best just is not good enough.
I am etc.,
JOHN W.F. SMALL Jr.
Concerned UWI student
E-Mail:
johnsmall30@hotmail.com
