THE EDITOR, Sir:
JAMAICA CAN once again be proud of the achievements of our finest in a race that we placed first, third and fifth. We are doing some things right so we must not despair. Asafa Powell's triumph is also the triumph of decent hard-working Jamaican men like his father, his coach and many others who have contributed to his development as a person. As we approach Father's Day, we must acknowledge those like my own father and husband, as well as thousands of men across the social spectrum as exemplary.
Many Jamaicans have been raised by stepfathers, grandfathers and other men who have delivered on the promises of love and care. It is this commitment to caring for our young that must inform the action of individuals, families, the community and society. We still have too many persons who are fatherless. "The Fatherless Crews" grow without love and care; some of the members do not know their fathers, do not have their names, have never received more than brutality and ill-treatment.
We can see the results of this every day. Young men the same age as Asafa have become seasoned gunmen and killers who take the lives of others like they are clapping mosquitoes. Boys are being fathered by men who arm them and make them killers. I recently looked at a poster of Jamaica's most wanted men and wondered who and what kind of men their fathers were. Their mothers have also played a role and we need to reform the way we live as men and women and as parents. When children come from homes in which they are cared for or wanted, the outcome is so often positive, but there are still too many Jamaican children who do not have the experience of love and care.
We must discontinue the practice of only identifying mothers when children achieve and we must identify and encourage those fathers who are not doing their share. For centuries, the majority of Jamaicans have been struggling with a legacy of slavery in which people were encouraged to breed children to join the workforce but were not encouraged to love and care for them as families. The 21st century must cause us to address these problems which have contributed to the undesirable state of many aspects of national life. We see some very successful Jamaicans who remain insecure as a result of the absence of father's love.
The members of the families of the ethnic minorities might have had to struggle with many difficulties here but never the trauma of the destruction of families wrought by slavery. I hope that we can be so encouraged that Asafa's generation of fathers will right the wrongs of history. A new generation of Jamaicans deserve father's love. Today's fathers need love and praise.
I am, etc.,
HILARY ROBERTSON HICKLING
hilary.robertsonhickling@
uwimona.edu.jm
