THE EDITOR, Sir:
One of our popular dancehall artistes is struggling to understand why his song has been banned from airplay by some public radio stations. His song is a strong commentary against the worrying trend, in our society, where heartless men abuse and murder the very young and the elderly. According to the song, we should "gash them and light them".
This artiste and indeed many in our society cannot see the inconsistency between the noble concern that the song highlights on the one hand and the inhuman response that it advocates against the perpetrators on the other. No one deserves to be mercilessly shot to death. But to take the killer and "gash dem and light dem" is to make us just as merciless as that killer. We are all made in God's image, wicked and righteous, and to "gash dem and light dem" is to disrespect the image of God in another human being. You cannot undo violence with violence.
The song brings into focus another worrying trend of vigilante justice that is being glamorised by the media, especially television news. In my opinion, television stations should immediately stop giving extensive and explicit coverage to these acts, which seem to fuel the already heightened appetite for violence and bloodshed that seems to be a growing part of our culture.
If we are going to confront the problem of violence in our country, we will have to lessen the diet of violence that our people are exposed to at home, school, in the community, in the music we listen to, and the things we watch on television. The problems of murder, domestic violence, child abuse, risk taking on the roads and the quick resort to violence for settling conflicts, all point to a national problem of disrespect for human life and self-hate, which requires a cultural reawakening to overcome it.
We desperately need a rebirth of the gentler and more caring aspects of the Jamaican psyche. Part of the process of reawakening will mean lessening the levels of violence in our music. No matter how justified taking the life of a wicked killer might feel, his or her life is precious too; the means of justice must be as just and humane as the end of justice.
So Mr. musician, I agree that killing and abusing children and old people is wrong and wicked, but it is also wrong and wicked to take the criminal and "gash dem and light dem."
I am, etc.,
DAVE HAZLE (Rev. Dr.)
davehazle@hotmail.com
Kingston 8
Via Go-Jamaica
