Tweet
Black man time now
In 1992, when P.J. Patterson assumed leadership of the People's National Party and by extension Jamaica, the party was already a few years into what was to become the longest tenure in government of any party in Jamaica's political history. When Patterson assumed leadership of the party after Michael Manley stepped aside due to an illness that would eventually kill him, the words on everyone's lips at the time were that it was 'black man time now'.
I guess that meant that it was also 'black man time' between 1967 and 1972 when Hugh Shearer was prime minister, but memories can sometimes be deliberately short.
Manley was prime minister between '72 and '80 and then again from '89 to '92, a period of 11 years. Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party had his turn between 1980 and 1989, nine years. So between them Manley and Seaga ruled Jamaica between 1972 and 1992, a period of 20 years. Both men are light-skinned, so when the much darker Patterson took over, it was easy to throw the 'black-man-time-now' thing into the mix and not worry about it sticking. As it happens, it did.
Being debated
The success of Patterson's tenure as leader is still being debated in many quarters and those debates will continue for some time to come.
Further north, lighter-skinned men ruled for more than 200 years before Barack Obama of the Democratic Party managed to get his foot in the door this past November. It was time for 'black man time now' in the grand old U S of A. History had been made.
Proud
Not to be outdone, the Republican National Congress (RNC) recently elected Michael Steele to lead their party. Steele, for those who don't know, is a black man. Darker-skinned people everywhere should be proud of the accomplishments of these two 'black men', especially in light of the fact that there are still many in that country who would rather see them still at the back of the bus and without access to the most basic of human rights.
But even with that in mind, why do I get this sense of dread about everything? Maybe it's the cynic in me that makes me wonder why it is only now that the black man's time in the US of A has come, when it just happens to be the worst of economic times in that country and the world. Why couldn't Obama have got the country to lead when things were rosy and everybody was happy and well off?
Complete mess
So it kind of feels to me like the US establishment is saying, 'Okay, so you want to be in charge, huh? Here is the country, take it. There's just one thing. The financial markets are in a mess, people are losing their jobs and homes at record rates, and even though this meltdown has its roots in the Reagan administration and we did nothing to fix it, now that it is a complex and complete mess, you can have it.'
And while I know it's not like that, I can't help but feel that in some way, somewhere, all this was orchestrated. I mean, after George W. Bush, anything or anyone could have won for the Democratic Party, but Obama did an amazing job convincing America that he was the answer to their problems. But now that he is president, Obama is seeing that this mess is a really bad mess.
Greatest president
There are two ways to look at this. If he pulls this off and salvages the American economy and creates the millions of jobs needed, reduces the number of foreclosures currently occurring at alarming rates, breaks America's dependency on foreign oil and fixes all the other things that Bush and Cheney broke, Obama will perhaps be known as the greatest American president, ever.
But if he fails, it could be another 200 years before another black man can even look at the White House.
Send comments to [email protected]
In 1992, when P.J. Patterson assumed leadership of the People's National Party and by extension Jamaica, the party was already a few years into what was to become the longest tenure in government of any party in Jamaica's political history. When Patterson assumed leadership of the party after Michael Manley stepped aside due to an illness that would eventually kill him, the words on everyone's lips at the time were that it was 'black man time now'.
I guess that meant that it was also 'black man time' between 1967 and 1972 when Hugh Shearer was prime minister, but memories can sometimes be deliberately short.
Manley was prime minister between '72 and '80 and then again from '89 to '92, a period of 11 years. Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party had his turn between 1980 and 1989, nine years. So between them Manley and Seaga ruled Jamaica between 1972 and 1992, a period of 20 years. Both men are light-skinned, so when the much darker Patterson took over, it was easy to throw the 'black-man-time-now' thing into the mix and not worry about it sticking. As it happens, it did.
Being debated
The success of Patterson's tenure as leader is still being debated in many quarters and those debates will continue for some time to come.
Further north, lighter-skinned men ruled for more than 200 years before Barack Obama of the Democratic Party managed to get his foot in the door this past November. It was time for 'black man time now' in the grand old U S of A. History had been made.
Proud
Not to be outdone, the Republican National Congress (RNC) recently elected Michael Steele to lead their party. Steele, for those who don't know, is a black man. Darker-skinned people everywhere should be proud of the accomplishments of these two 'black men', especially in light of the fact that there are still many in that country who would rather see them still at the back of the bus and without access to the most basic of human rights.
But even with that in mind, why do I get this sense of dread about everything? Maybe it's the cynic in me that makes me wonder why it is only now that the black man's time in the US of A has come, when it just happens to be the worst of economic times in that country and the world. Why couldn't Obama have got the country to lead when things were rosy and everybody was happy and well off?
Complete mess
So it kind of feels to me like the US establishment is saying, 'Okay, so you want to be in charge, huh? Here is the country, take it. There's just one thing. The financial markets are in a mess, people are losing their jobs and homes at record rates, and even though this meltdown has its roots in the Reagan administration and we did nothing to fix it, now that it is a complex and complete mess, you can have it.'
And while I know it's not like that, I can't help but feel that in some way, somewhere, all this was orchestrated. I mean, after George W. Bush, anything or anyone could have won for the Democratic Party, but Obama did an amazing job convincing America that he was the answer to their problems. But now that he is president, Obama is seeing that this mess is a really bad mess.
Greatest president
There are two ways to look at this. If he pulls this off and salvages the American economy and creates the millions of jobs needed, reduces the number of foreclosures currently occurring at alarming rates, breaks America's dependency on foreign oil and fixes all the other things that Bush and Cheney broke, Obama will perhaps be known as the greatest American president, ever.
But if he fails, it could be another 200 years before another black man can even look at the White House.
Send comments to [email protected]
Comment