by EZRA STUART STOP PROFILING RASTAS as bad people who are prone to committing crimes!

That's the call from former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Lashley, who says he supports the inclusion of a Rastafarian night in the ongoing Ivan "Speed" Forde Supa Cup football tournament being held at the Parkinson Community Centre playing field.

"The profiling of the Rastafarian in Barbados generally has got to stop, particularly in sports. It is a very wrong thing to select a particular group from your society and stigmatise, bastardise and ostracise them," Lashley said. Rasta night okay

The St Michael South East MP, who is Government's advisor on poverty alleviation, made the point at a recent Press briefing at his Garrison office to launch the second edition of the out-of-season tournament.

Lashley told organiser Forde there was no need to be apologetic for dedicating a night to the Rastafarian community.

"We are talking about the equalisation of opportunities and the majority of them are playing very positive roles in their communities, whether it is sport, culture, education or just basic socialism," Lashley said.

"Not only the police, but people generally believe that every Rastafarian is a bad person. We must stop judging people by their appearance, the clothes they wear and how they wear their hair," he contended.