Poll respondents ignorant of slave history
Published:Wednesday | June 29, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I do not think the vast majority of our people find the headline 'Give us the Queen', published in The Gleaner on June 28, either amusing or reflective of their opinion. In fact, the headline is a misrepresentation of the Bill Johnson poll, which purports to seek an answer to the following:
"Generally speaking, do you think Jamaicans like yourself would be better off today if Jamaica had continued to be a colony, or do you think you would be worse off today if Jamaica was still a British colony?"
The question did not deal with whether the Queen, as a person, is preferred to our political leaders. That answer would have to be yes not only in respect of our political leaders but most political leaders today on the planet who lack the grace, dignity and human kindness, which she has been demonstrating throughout her reign.
Slaves to britain
The opinion of the Jamaican people is best expressed by the decision of both sides of our Parliament to see Jamaica's full Independence by this country becoming a republic before the 50th anniversary of our independence.
The pollster must have come to his conclusion by asking questions of those 1,008 members of our society who do not know anything about slavery, colonisation and imperialism. The respondents seemed not to know that before 1962, the majority of Jamaicans of black complexion have been virtual slaves of Britain or at least on the same footing as prisoners who are neither free nor able to make decisions for themselves.
By the way, Mr Johnson has sought no reason from those uninformed members of our society that he interviewed, and so his finding must be rubbished, just as the headline.
OWEN S. CROSBIE
Mandeville, Manchester