By Roy Sanford, Freelance Writer
Scott
WESTERN BUREAU:
JAMAICA HAS overcome the crippling effects of racism since gaining Independence in 1962, according to former mayor of Montego Bay, Shalman Scott. Describing the period from slavery to Independence as a "long and tedious struggle against racism", Mr. Scott said the island has managed to incorporate its racial diversity into the development of the country.
"August 6, 1962 represented the culmination of a long and tedious struggle against white racism, injustice and social decay," Mr. Scott noted. "It is a culmination of more than 200 years of unkind and troublesome black/white relations."
According to Mr. Scott, western Jamaica had a serious struggle with troublesome black/white relations. "Up to the late 1950s no black person could bathe or even enter the compound of Doctor's Cave Beach," he noted. "And Professor Rex Nettleford who grew up in this city (Montego Bay) was denied entry as a guest in a hotel right here." He claimed that the racial tensions experienced on the island would have exploded had it not been for two important developments, the granting of universal suffrage in 1944 and political Independence in 1962. "These two events were to provide greater participation and black accommodation in the economic, social, and political life of Jamaica," Mr. Scott stated. "This produced a beneficial outcome, which was the lessening of racial tension through increased racial co-operation."
He added that Jamaica has done so well in the area of racial co-operation that those from the outside cannot fully comprehend it.
Mr. Scott said that 40 years of Independence should give Jamaicans a time to reflect on the contribution of all races to the development of the island. "As we celebrate 40 years of growing up, we are now good enough to look back to see also the positive contribution of the whites, the Jews, the Chinese, the Syrians, the Indians and other mixed races to the growth and development of Jamaica," he said.
Mr. Scott went on to say that the island has done remarkably well in areas other than racial co-operation. "Our education and health system are ranked high in the first third of 178 countries in the world," he remarked. "Our music is internationally loved and accepted, our athletes are well respected because of our international performance demand that respect." He also observed that the lives of blacks on the island have improved greatly since Independence. Mr. Scott was addressing the Independence/Emancipation day church service in Montego Bay on the weekend.
