THE EDITOR, Sir:
I AGREE with the letter re: "Colonisation in reverse" of December 29, 2002.
I live in Toronto and I find that white youth have also taken on this negative behaviour that they perceived to be Jamaican. The profanities and the badmanism are supposedly what define a Jamaican.
Unfortunately, Jamaican parents residing abroad are not educating their children about our cultural heritage because many of these parents are too concerned with westernising their children. Consequently, their children are forced to learn the negative aspects of our culture through popular culture, and some members of other groups in turn adopt this negative behaviour.
I am not lashing out at the dancehall culture because there are still deejays and reggae artistes who are positively representing our country. I am also a teacher and I have observed that in the classroom, students from all ethnic backgrounds are using Jamaican Creole to be insolent and defiant. I even see this negative behaviour being expressed by young people when they are in confrontation with bus drivers, store merchants and anyone else who they think holds some form of authority.
It should not be difficult for us to define who we are. We have a rich cultural background and we need to remember the positive contributions that have helped to shape our cultural identity. With such a strong cultural background, there is no need to take on the task of always trying to prove that Jamaicans are not a bunch of ganja-smoking people. Jamaicans need to stop allowing others to appropriate what is Jamaican and we need to also stop accepting these negative images that are being projected by the mass media.
I am, etc.,
EBONI EWERS
eboni_soul@yahoo.ca
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Via Go-Jamaica
