Dear Editor,
I have never been a fan of Emancipation Day as a cause for celebration. And I, nor any children I have, never will be.
The very name of this holiday is humiliating in my opinion. It smacks of something given, almost paternalistically, or patronisingly, and allows the former slaver to keep the moral high ground.
It is as if they say: "See, we may have done wrong, but we did the right thing. We freed you, didn't we?"
The reason we are jumping and shouting for this very skewed and unfair relic of history escapes my notice. We didn't get 25 million pounds to help recover from the ravages of supporting England for centuries and making the English and slave plantation owners even richer.
It does no good bringing up examples of other enslaved peoples, such as the Hebrews in Egypt. They celebrate what they contend is a special miraculous intervention of beings in aerial vehicles with awesome powers leading them from slavery. We Jamaicans got a few pieces of rocky ground and the "great privilege" of working four extra years free before "full free".
In my opinion, we should be celebrating Independence Day. This does much more for the national psyche.
Cathy Brown
cathy291181@yahoo.com
Do away with Emancipation Day
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I have never been a fan of Emancipation Day as a cause for celebration. And I, nor any children I have, never will be.
The very name of this holiday is humiliating in my opinion. It smacks of something given, almost paternalistically, or patronisingly, and allows the former slaver to keep the moral high ground.
It is as if they say: "See, we may have done wrong, but we did the right thing. We freed you, didn't we?"
The reason we are jumping and shouting for this very skewed and unfair relic of history escapes my notice. We didn't get 25 million pounds to help recover from the ravages of supporting England for centuries and making the English and slave plantation owners even richer.
It does no good bringing up examples of other enslaved peoples, such as the Hebrews in Egypt. They celebrate what they contend is a special miraculous intervention of beings in aerial vehicles with awesome powers leading them from slavery. We Jamaicans got a few pieces of rocky ground and the "great privilege" of working four extra years free before "full free".
In my opinion, we should be celebrating Independence Day. This does much more for the national psyche.
Cathy Brown
cathy291181@yahoo.com
Do away with Emancipation Day
-->