Melville CookeEvery posse must work. Work harder
- Barrington Levy
IF VERONICA Campbell was to get a 'red money' every time her name was spoken by a Jamaican in this country between when she won the Olympic women's 200m title and now, she would probably have more cash than the person who won the $140 million Lotto jackpot.
As it stands, based on the Government's cash rewards for medallists, Ms. Campbell (for whom I shall fall in line and call the 'sprint queen'), is due US$30,000, based on the scale that was announced. More has been and will be forthcoming, of course, as people get on the bandwagon, but I am speaking here about a specific reward for a specific achievement.
The Miss Jamaica World 2004 contest is now on, with the expected re-runs of cookie-cutter beauties - long-hair, light skin colour, thin lips and noses - who look like someone crushed the contestants of the past five Miss Jamaica World contests and then put some parts together for the current crop. Sorta like recycling cars, I guess. After all, who is to tell a recycled bumper from a brand new one, once it is properly sprayed?
For her troubles, Miss Jamaica World 2004 will win a tertiary level scholarship valued at $1,000,000, a $250,000 modelling and advertising contract, a $100,000 cash award and the Miss World wardrobe, which is valued at over $100,000. Then there is the trip to China, but hey, let's leave out that after all, she must go to the contest, right? And all this is for winning the local title, not the international one. In other words, based on the cash value of the official rewards, Veronica Campbell will get a bit more for training extremely hard for most of her life and being the fastest woman on the planet over 200 metres (as well as third fastest over 100 metres), than the person who is rewarded for being born as close as possible to the white standard of beauty with the Miss Jamaica World 2004 title. And, to add irony to irony, this is in a year when the 'booty' competition has been extended to include talent and athletics.
ATHLETICS REWARDS
Veronica Campbell does not look like the young women who have been crowned Miss Jamaica. She has thick lips, a broad nose and a body that is silent testimony to hard work. In other words, the expected athletic differences apart, Ms. Campbell looks like the majority of women I see on a daily basis. Flip through your mental file of Miss Jamaicas and play 'spot the difference'. There is always the argument that the beauty prizes are privately sponsored, while the athletics rewards are from the Government. True.
Which leads me to ask why the private sector did not propose a reward for medallists? Are they prevented from doing so? So, why is it that we reward hard work (and I am not knocking the Government here) less than we do the 'right look'? Why is it that the non-running Veronica Campbells of this country often have to work so hard for so little, while the Ms. Jamaica types often have a life of relative ease? And let us not forget that in the case of the athletes, Veronica Campbell is by far the best-case scenario.
RESUME AND ASSETS
Before we even consider the other ladies on the 4x100m team, let us think of Tricia Smith. Brigette Foster. Janelle Atkinson. Where is the reward for their hard work? Where is the salve for their heartache? We pay Marcus Garvey a lot of lip service, but we put our money where the 'browning' is. It is instructive that of the three interviews with Miss Jamaica World 2004 contestants that The Gleaner has carried so far, two young women (one of whom is unemployed) have said they entered because they wanted to get a job. And what better place to put your resume and assets on display for a potential employer than a beauty contest, right?
There are, after all, executive types who like nothing better than beautiful women (and these contestants are beautiful, let's get that clear) working underneath them. There are those who will contend that being Miss Jamaica in fact, going through with the contest is hard work. So is sticking out your hand in the boiling sun at a traffic light and giving the same sob story over and over. There is a difference between effort and employment.
It takes a tremendous amount of effort to carry a fridge on your back, but I don't think anyone would count a store looter among the ranks of the unemployed. (Come to think of it, it also takes a lot of effort to clear constipated bowels, but we cannot count the results among the Gross (in the economic sense) National Product, can we?) We have an ingrained notion of what is important and what we should value that is so wrong. So, so wrong.
If white yu alright
If yu brown stick around
If yu black, hol football
or track
Old saying, slightly modified.
Melville Cooke is a freelance writer.
