Friday, March 29, 2024

What a ‘mother’ country!

Date:

Share post:

So, the so-called “mother country” has shown her true colours again – as if she hadn’t shown them clearly enough in the past.

I’m referring to the Windrush crisis, involving the threat of (if not actual) deportation of Caribbean people who’ve been living in Britain for well over half a century.

Those colours were clearly shown through the years. We saw them in the treatment of the Caribbean people who volunteered to serve alongside the British in the two wars, in spite of clear indications from Westminster that she didn’t want any black people in her army. We saw it in the treatment of those volunteers after they were reluctantly admitted to serve; we saw it in the blatant race discrimination meted out to those who settled in Britain; we saw it in the campaigns of people like Enoch Powell.

Pray tell me, how do you even think about deporting people who’ve been living in your society and contributing to it for over 50 years? It boggles the mind. But this is the “mother” we have loved and apparently still love even up to today. We just don’t get it when it comes to the attachment we have with this “mother”.

 

Glitzy ceremony

 

For even as this crisis was raging in Britain, an event, described by one newspaper as a “glitzy ceremony”, was taking place on the lawns of Government House, the official home of the Governor General, the Queen’s deputy. There, several Barbadians, decked in their best wintry garb, stood before Dame Sandra Mason to be invested with such honours as Officer and Commander of the British Empire.

The Divine in His ultimate wisdom chose to imbue man with the ability to think and make judgements, unlike a computer which can only regurgitate what has been programmed into it. He must be sorely disappointed at the failure of so many of us to make use of this wonderful gift. The parable of the talents, I believe, is a demonstration that God wants us to use this ability He gave us for the advancement of ourselves and our neighbours.

 

Not of their world

 

What will it take for the colonial minions of the Caribbean to get it? You are not any part of the people’s world. They told you so during the wars; they told you so when you went to live with them, and now they are telling you so with this Windrush crisis.

Stand up like independent men and women and stop grovelling. 

How can you wear an insignia branding you an officer of a British Empire that enslaved, brutalised and murdered your foreparents? How can you even wear it as a citizen of an Independent country? Is there anyone in Britain with Barbadian honours?

Liberate your minds from mental enslavement

Another may be able to free your physical body

But only you can free your mind.

Stop loitering on colonial doorsteps after closing time.

 

– OLUTOYE WALROND

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related articles

Natassia’s journey from tragedy to triumph

In a world often characterised by turbulence and uncertainty, a beacon of hope often emerges from some of...

No decision yet on Lester Vaughan School

A firm decision has not yet been made regarding when the Lester Vaughan School will be reopened. Following a...

BDF to conduct simulation exercise on April 2 & 3

The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) will conduct a Mass Casualty Simulation Exercise from Tuesday, April 2, to Wednesday,...

Barbadians reminded to file taxes online as filing season starts

The Barbados Revenue Authority (the BRA) is advising that tax filing season for 2023 begins on April 1 this...