The more things change ...

The Soloist, Contributor

In last Friday's exposé carried in this newspaper about the lottery scammers in Montego Bay, St James, supporters of Deputy Mayor Michael Troupe were reported as saying, "A same way dem crucify Jesus, but nuh worry me councillor, the battle is the Lord's. Dem cyaa stop yuh ... !

The crowd, it is reported, further contended that the deputy mayor is a good political representative and suggested he was being unfairly targeted. These are the reasons why so many times I feel that my country is hopelessly lost. Too many of us are still too quick to accept wrongdoing in our fellowmen. We will wait to see the outcomes of these arrests, but we must understand that, if found guilty and convicted, criminals of whatever hue, are just that ... criminals.

The Jamaica Employers' Federation's Wayne Chen weighed in on the matter giving the view that future employment will be difficult for persons named as persons of interest, whether they are later freed of charges or not. Come now, Mr Chen - surely you know that this only applies to Jamaicans who are of a certain clolour, class or socio-economic background. Many of our past white-collar criminals, move right along after their dastardly deeds and are hugged and embraced as if they are the cutest, newborn babe! This is one of the things that is wrong with Jamaica 50 years on.

Still, if persons are arrested in the glare of flashing cameras and they are known to all and sundry, how are journalists and the cops going to get away with not publishing their names? What political parties should now be looking into are ways to properly investigate the backgrounds of persons who offer themselves for service, because clearly their little interior committees set up for that purpose have failed!

The problem is that as a people, we are too corrupt at heart; it's almost as if it were in our DNA to do wrong over right nine times out of 10. From the pulpit to the classroom, we just wallow in wrongdoing. When we see these things coming to light, we would rather punish the ones who expose it, than those guilty of the ills. And, there, my friends, lies the rub.

And I see where we have a new man at the helm of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica. Congrats Mr Zacca. On the other hand, my usually credible sources say that someone else attempted to mount a campaign for the top job, but his efforts were torpedoed before he could even announce his intent! Chuckle, chuckle. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Apology

And on that note, I got this in my email last week: 'Lifeline Expedition - Healing the Past ...Transforming the Future, Slavery Apology Comes to Jamaica.' It continues: Jamaica July 25 to August 8, to coincide with Emancipation Day & 50th anniversary of Independence. At this momentous time in the history of Jamaica, a team with representatives from African and European nations, accompanied by descendants of enslaved Africans, will come to bring an apology for slavery in an unusual fashion. The white people will walk silently in yokes and chains through Jamaican cities and at historic sites associated with slavery. This will be followed by a verbal apology both from Europeans and from Africans on the team.

All this is just more headline-grabbing symbolism and a chance for the talkers to do what they do best. When all the emotional dust settles, we will still have a country populated largely by black people who have no control over who makes the decisions about who controls the wealth of the country. And, you will still have ignorant masses bleeting their support like sheep on TV when someone does wrong.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com