Orville W. Taylor Who will claim him? It is easy to determine whether he is Jamaican or American. If he had said he was on his way to Jamaica to 'boom' up the killers of his mother, then Kevin Christopher Brown is absolutely a yardman. My evaluation: Jamaican-born, American bred. He enlisted in the American military in 1999 and did a stint ending in 2007. Say whatever you want, if you serve in the army of a country, then you belong to them. Risking one's life to protect a country that might not want you is the greatest act of patriotism. It even beats having dual citizenship while serving in the Jamaican Parliament.
Brown, clearly of unsound mind, attempted to board an Air Jamaica flight last week, with all the ingredients necessary for the making of a bomb. Well, not everything, because one important component is a cool head, whether properly screwed on or not. Given the increased security at American airports since the tragedy of 9/11, one cannot help but think that he was not in his right mind. After all, explosives are the main contraband that security agents look for, and pipe bombs are among the most obvious.
If one follows Hollywood movies, his behaviour is not that strange. His mother was murdered after having arguments with lessees of her property, while he was on his way to spend his honeymoon in her hotel in Jamaica. In films, this is a recipe for revenge and a Rambo-like riding off in the sunset. It is reminiscent of a 1954 film, The Queen of Montana, starring Ronald Reagan, in which he intervenes with guns blazing, killing villains and restoring stolen land to the daughter of the murdered owner. That is justice in the movies and even in Disneyland, a short distance from where Brown was caught.
Nonetheless, it is not in fantasyland that he learned his methodology of not awaiting the natural course of justice. He was part of an army that entered Iraq against the ruling of the United Nations. True, Saddam Hussein was a murderer, but he should have been tried as a war criminal in the International Court of Justice, and Amnesty International deplored his hurried execution as inhumane. More about them later.
Twisted
Brown was socialised in an environment where reality is twisted beyond recognition. While it is unquestionable that he committed an act that could land him in prison, he is evidence of a dark side to the American military, especially as regards people of colour.
Never mind the success stories of generals; Benjamin Davis Sr, the first black general or, Daniel 'Chappie' James, Colin Powell, William Ward, the highest-ranking black in the military, and a few others. Service in the American military is not necessarily a guarantee of a great future for 'brothers'. Between the Vietnam and Iraq wars I and II, some 275,000 American veterans of all ethnicities, are homeless. Although, the majority are from the earlier conflicts, estimates by Veterans for America are that at least 10,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan now live on and under bridges. Just over 40 per cent of them are black
Typically, they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and a range of other psychological and physical ailments. In fact, more than 45 per cent of them are affected by either PSTD or schizophrenia. Some of them also abuse alcohol and other narcotics. Yes! Liquor is a drug as well. What is most important is that based on the condition developed during their tours of duty, they become socially dysfunctional.
Unable to readjust properly to civilian life, and more so with their spouses, large numbers of them are kicked out of their homes, become estranged from their families and have to adapt to a life of solitude, trapped by the catacombs of their minds. Persons, like Brown, who are discharged due to mental disability, are reported to be surviving on less than $330 a month. Remember, these are persons who, due to their psychological incapacity, cannot work or are seen as high-risk prospects for jobs. Everyone has seen the Rambo series.
Killers trained in the military
The military is a place where killers are trained. Many of them do it well and are so immersed that there is nothing else that they can do. Our Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) personnel can only imagine. There is a hell of a difference between a five-hour shoot-out with cowardly bleached-out faced, spangie-wearing, Jamaican gunmen who are constantly praying to Father God, and an Allah-loving Jihadist involved in a 'holy war'.
This comparison is not incidental because, once again, Amnesty International has put us on their 'white list'. Why? Because "Jamaican authorities are wilfully neglecting the poorest communities by failing to tackle the violence - and its causes - that is shattering inner cities." While this conclusion is correct, the danger is that Brown's Jamaicanness will be falsely linked to his troubles.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In recent times, the US military produced mass murderer Timothy McVeigh, who blew up the Oklahoma City building in 1995. It also created the homicidal maniac John Muhammad, who 'seeded' young Lee Boyd Malvo to assist him in his 2002 killing spree.
African-American servicemen are particularly vulnerable. Former chair of the US Commission on Human Rights, Mary Frances Berry, coined the concept "the paradox of loyalty" to describe the dilemma of black patriots fighting for a country and the system that marginalises them. Amnesty International needs to talk to the Americans.
Hopefully, they won't dump him here, although since he has family and property here, he will be much better off than many of his colleagues.
Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona.
