For a sociologist, the victory of Portia Simpson Miller over Peter Phillips last Saturday is quite logical. I discussed it last week, and have been writing about it in this column for the last 16 years. I am going to explain it in very simple language: Jamaica is not 'Out of many, one people'.
Jamaica is made up of at least two sets of people: Set one believes that Jamaica belongs to them - its economy, its polity, but most of all, its society - and that other Jamaicans are there for set one's use and benefit; and set two, who feel ignored and bypassed, and convinced that Jamaica is being run by set one in order to keep them down.
Perception is reality; by that I mean that if people really believe something to be so, then they line up their reality and their actions and their attitudes in accordance with those perceptions. Whether or not what they believe is objectively true, in analysing Jamaican society you cannot ignore what both set one and set two people believe to be true, for it is going to be at the root of the logic of how they behave towards each other.
Set one people believe that they know what is best for Jamaica and, especially, what is best for set two people. Set one people believe that they are Jamaica's natural leaders, maybe even that Jamaica is theirs to rule by right, and they have the money (and the power it buys) to control national policy to ensure that they remain in a dominant position.
Build Jamaica
Set two people believe that, since Jamaica is not being run for their benefit, they are not going to work hard to build Jamaica to make others rich. They are going to do their best to migrate elsewhere, there to work hard to improve their economic situation; they do not believe that working hard in Jamaica will get them anywhere. They are going to opt out of the political system, not even bothering to register to vote. They do not accept the national anthem as theirs (and so they will not stand for it); they do not accept the national flag of black, green and gold as their flag (except when it comes to sports), and they respect and wear the Ites (red), green and gold as their colours.
They do not accept the mode of dress of set one people as their own, and they have developed their own fashion statements. They do not accept the music of set one people as their music, and so they have developed their own music, which largely protests against the behaviour of set one people and their ilk elsewhere in the world. (Other oppressed people in the world have adopted this music as their own for the same reason).
Set two people do not accept the religion of set one people as their religion, and so they have their own religion which protests against the world system established by set one people and their ilk. Here I am talking about Rastafari which totally rejects the 'Babylon System' and glorifies Africa; I am talking about Revival Zion, Pukkumina and other 'spiritual' religions which transport their adherents from the present reality into another; and I am talking about various versions of Pentecostalism which reject this world (and everything and everyone in it) as evil and look forward to the world to come as the domain of the justice which they cannot get in this life. I could go on.
Unstable emulsion
These two sets of people reside on one little island, each pursuing their own agenda. Once in a while something happens to briefly bring both sets together (like the Olympics) but in truth, the two sets of people are like oil and water in an unstable emulsion. 'Out of many, one people' is the slogan of set one, intentionally created to try to inveigle set two people to accept the minority leadership of set one people.
In the minds of the PNP delegates, Peter Phillips represents set one and Portia Simpson Miller represents set two. In Jamaica and in the PNP set two people are in the majority. That is why former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said that Portia Simpson Miller was not just the best hope for the PNP: she was their only hope!
With the public tired of the PNP after 18 years in power with little economic growth, and with scandal after scandal, it should have been a breeze for the JLP to sweep to power by a landslide. Yet, the PNP almost won the 2007 general election; they lost by a few seats, a few hundred votes. A PNP led by set one people would not stand against a JLP led by set one people; but any party led by set two people - or people perceived to be set two people - now, that is a party that can capture the hearts and minds of the majority of Jamaican voters.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon.
