Dear Editor,
I heard recently that MP Damion Crawford referred to Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters as "dutty Labourites". Since then he has sought to make amends for the comments on Facebook, claiming that he meant no harm.
But, where did this term come from? In 1938, a group of perceived intellectuals, namely O T Fairclough, N W Manley and others formed the People's National Party. The JLP was founded some five years later by Bustamante, LG Newland, Harold Allan, and a few others.
The main difference between the two was that the older party was made up primarily of the intellectual elite of the society, while the younger party was supported by the poorer uneducated people and merchants who understood the link between labour and capital.
Hence, there was a group of comrades who thought that Bustamante was nothing but a rabble rouser and his supporters had only their self-interest and not that of the nation as their main priority.
After coming through slavery and bondage and having some level of achievement, these people looked down on the cane cutters, farmers and dock workers -- Bustamante's crowd -- as inferior. Those workers, as a result of manual labour which they performed, would often have dirt on their clothes. Hence, the "dutty Labourites" label from the intellectual elite.
So, it is interesting that nothing much has changed as PNP supporters, now in the form of Crawford, still refer to JLP supporters in that way.
Today, nearly 80 years after their formation, the PNP still has the bulk of government workers and professionals, while the JLP still has at its core support from the poor and the entrepreneurial class of people, along with a diminishing gap between the PNP middle class of professionals and the growing support in the 25-39 age group for the JLP.
However, it is the JLP that has done a better job at creating jobs and rescuing Jamaica's economy. Sadly, the party has been absolutely pathetic in communicating to the common man, something the PNP has got good at.
In the end, the JLP would do better to remember its early history and sell a vision to the people, instead of marketing itself as the party to turn to when the PNP messes up.
A few more election victories under its belt and more time to govern and one day the JLP will ensure that no one in the PNP will even think of the term "dutty Labourites" ever again; as it is my opinion that the JLP governs better.
Damion Heslop
damionheslop@yahoo.com
'Dutty Labourites' coming from far
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I heard recently that MP Damion Crawford referred to Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters as "dutty Labourites". Since then he has sought to make amends for the comments on Facebook, claiming that he meant no harm.
But, where did this term come from? In 1938, a group of perceived intellectuals, namely O T Fairclough, N W Manley and others formed the People's National Party. The JLP was founded some five years later by Bustamante, LG Newland, Harold Allan, and a few others.
The main difference between the two was that the older party was made up primarily of the intellectual elite of the society, while the younger party was supported by the poorer uneducated people and merchants who understood the link between labour and capital.
Hence, there was a group of comrades who thought that Bustamante was nothing but a rabble rouser and his supporters had only their self-interest and not that of the nation as their main priority.
After coming through slavery and bondage and having some level of achievement, these people looked down on the cane cutters, farmers and dock workers -- Bustamante's crowd -- as inferior. Those workers, as a result of manual labour which they performed, would often have dirt on their clothes. Hence, the "dutty Labourites" label from the intellectual elite.
So, it is interesting that nothing much has changed as PNP supporters, now in the form of Crawford, still refer to JLP supporters in that way.
Today, nearly 80 years after their formation, the PNP still has the bulk of government workers and professionals, while the JLP still has at its core support from the poor and the entrepreneurial class of people, along with a diminishing gap between the PNP middle class of professionals and the growing support in the 25-39 age group for the JLP.
However, it is the JLP that has done a better job at creating jobs and rescuing Jamaica's economy. Sadly, the party has been absolutely pathetic in communicating to the common man, something the PNP has got good at.
In the end, the JLP would do better to remember its early history and sell a vision to the people, instead of marketing itself as the party to turn to when the PNP messes up.
A few more election victories under its belt and more time to govern and one day the JLP will ensure that no one in the PNP will even think of the term "dutty Labourites" ever again; as it is my opinion that the JLP governs better.
Damion Heslop
damionheslop@yahoo.com
'Dutty Labourites' coming from far
-->