'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

[CyberPhobic]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It was during an office conversation the following month that she mentioned her Jamaican origin, 'to which colleagues appeared rather shocked and questioned my fair skin. <span style="font-size: 17pt">I explained the situation'</span>, Ms Moxam said.
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DWL. The situation? But a whe di?

All mi haffi sey is YUH WRETCH YUH!!! Wha nuh come out inna di wash wi come out inna di rinse.

[Suesumba]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

she probably considers herself white among us blakkies and touts her superiority based on her good hair and fair skin. that's a guess on my part to.

[CyberPhobic]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SueSumba</div><div class="ubbcode-body">she probably considers herself white among us blakkies and touts her superiority based on her good hair and fair skin. that's a guess on my part to.

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Funny but har hair was di dead givaway fi me. It look press.

[andronian2]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

Racism...aye sah.

I remember when I left Jamaica w/ parents and moved to a predominantly white country a few years ago.
In Jamaica, everybody is a person and you approach others just like another person whether dem 'coolie' or 'chiney' or w/e.
And, of course, given JAs demographics you don't have much interaction with whites and those you deal with are often very 'Jamaican' culturally.

So being young and naive, wen mi come a farin mi tink 'white people' were 'people' and dealt with them as such.
Of course, it didn't take me long to learn that 'white people' were 'white people' not just 'people'. lol
So many little incidents made sense once I allowed for the conclusion that it was due to white racist tendencies.

I became AWARE of race in a way I was not aware in Jamaica.
Maybe this 'end of innocence' eventually happens to most Jamaicans who end up in foreign lands.
But this lady seems to have had her first real tangle with racism. What a wake-up call.

[Panajar]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

Historically the majority of Jamaicans that have predominantly European blood tend to claim their European ancestry while down playing any trace of African roots they may posses. Some are of the misguided perception that their European roots should afford them special privileges separate and apart from those afford to Jamaicans who have predominately Africans features.

The following article published in the TIMES illustrates the complexity of the color caste system in Jamaica. Where a female from a prominent Jamaican family who considered themselves white, was surprised to find out that in Canada she was regarded as <span style="font-weight: bold">COLORED</span> and because of that designation she suddenly found her self on the receiving end of racism. Her father a powerful Jamaican “white” vehemently denied she was &quot;colored&quot; and made it proudly known that she was<span style="font-size: 17pt"> “one-eighth Negro, seven-eighths white&quot;.</span>

<span style="color: #660000"><span style="font-size: 17pt">CANADA: Musty Policy</span></span>

Pretty,<span style="font-weight: bold"> olive-skinned Dorothy Holtz,</span> 21, was a happy bride-to-be when she arrived at Vancouver Island late in August. From her home in Jamaica, she brought a tiered wedding cake and a long bridal gown. Her English fiance, John Michael Hewitt, 30, was a biology master at the exclusive Shawnigan Lake School for boys near Victoria. Hewitt, who formerly taught in Jamaica, had splurged his savings to furnish a cottage on the school grounds and buy a car. Dorothy had plans for a formal wedding, a big reception, and a happy life in the campus community.

In ten days the Hewitts were married, but it was all tragically unlike Dorothy's dreams. Two witnesses were the only guests. Alone in the cottage afterward, the couple nibbled at the big cake. Four days later, brokenhearted Dorothy packed her unworn wedding gown and other belongings and went back to Jamaica.

<span style="font-size: 17pt">What had happened might never have been publicly known except for the fact that Dorothy's father, Noel Frederick Holtz, is the accountant-general of the Jamaican government. When his tearful daughter arrived home, Holtz roused his colleagues to protest to the Canadian government about her treatment in Canada. The Shawnigan authorities, sai[size:14pt]d Holtz, had objected to a &quot;colored woman&quot;* </span>on the school property and suggested that Dorothy should leave. Her husband protested about the school's &quot;ancient, musty policy,&quot; but he let Dorothy go home alone because, he explained, he wanted to &quot;face the situation out&quot; at the school and make it possible for her to return [/size]later.

<span style="color: #CC0000"><span style="font-size: 14pt">Father Holtz's outburst got quick results. The Jamaican House of Representatives unanimously passed a protest resolution.</span> </span>Great to see that the Jamaican government of the time stood up for one of its citizen, how dare Canada degrade this woman and call her &quot;colored&quot;.

FULL ARTICLE IN THE TIMES

[andronian2]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

What many people don't realize is that white racism is primarily about the notion of WHITE RACIAL &quot;PURITY&quot;.
Hitler's holocaust of the Jews was not about religion; it was because he did not consider them white.
The idea that you're only 'white' if you have NO black ancestors (one-drop rule) is another manifestation of this.
The 'black brute' stereotype in which black men with big penises are seeking white women to rape is yet another.
Heck, even in this story the boss wants to know why white women like black men and the white lady (coworker) wants to ingest little black gingermen.

So if people really understand the reaons for white racism then they'd understand why being part-white is not helpful around racists who consider themselves entirely white.
You're only what all the taboos that they set up in their societies was trying to prevent, obviously to no avail.
In societies that are stratified by colour but in which the upper class is not fully white 'high-colors' may forget what the system implies.
Then they're in for a rude awakening in socities where the people on top consider themselves fully white and wish to preserve that status.

[andronian2]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

This is one of the reasons I think that many black people are totally off target in what we want and what we strive for.
Many people strive for 'integration' not realising that forcing peopel to attend the same school does not change attitudes.
The truth is that de facto racism still exists in de jure 'integrated' societies but in those societies 'black' institutions are considered irrelevant.
So you end up being up the creek without a paddle.

Today, I think we often get caught up in the idea that we'll soon be an equal part of systems other people have created for their own advantage.
However, when slavery was over, many freed slaves refused to work on the plantations again even for pay.
Maybe if we'd stayed focused on divesting of these systems and creating instutitutions for ourselves we'd be better off.
But due to both opposition and distraction we didn't; we bought into the systems instead and adopted some of their negative aspects to use against our own.
So here we are still having to deal with the indignities of racism while hoping white people will be fair in dealing with us despite the odds.

[britisha]

Re: 'Racism cost Jamaican-Briton her job'

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CyberPhobic</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SueSumba</div><div class="ubbcode-body">she probably considers herself white among us blakkies and touts her superiority based on her good hair and fair skin. that's a guess on my part to.

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Funny but har hair was di dead givaway fi me. It look press. </div></div>

Dass y I said in di oddah chred that some of them the hair is like coir [kyah]...very thick an haawd fi comb.


**aaaye* Sue...: if that is the case, she was rudely awakened.

<span style="color: #3333FF">.......in all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path....give thanks</span>