THE EDITOR, Sir:
THERE WAS an enormous tamarind tree across the road from where I grew up in Montego Bay. Every so often, I would stand in awe as a particular man would climb it and 'limb' it. Even now, decades later, when I visit the old home the tree is still there, bigger than ever, still occasionally being 'limbed' by someone. The decades-old effort at containment reduced the shadow it cast for short periods but failed to halt its growth. Is there a lesson here for our battle against crime?
There are roots to every issue, whether tamarind trees or violence. If our intention is to contain, then a periodic lopping of branches will do the trick. If the intent is to eradicate, then the roots become important. Where are there roots of our violence problem? Could they lie in how the state treats some of its citizens?
Oppression of inner-city residents is institutionalised. Police still kick off doors there and manhandle people with impunity. Ghetto youths don't do well in exams or read and write well. Are they all dunces? We do not care much as a society, that they are condemned to poverty and hopelessness by a web of poor schools, poor living conditions, and poor prospects. The roots of our problem lie here.
Although other people might accept oppression fatalistically Jamaicans find ways to get out. As our society is at present ordered it gives some people no stake in it, so they do not play by its rules. We should not be surprised when those with no realistic path out of degradation make and take whatever 'opportunities' they can.
I am, etc.,
MICHAEL NICHOLSON
Liguanea Avenue
Kingston 6
