Exploring subtle resistance, oppression class prejudice intertwined in the fabric of the Jamaican experience

Chapter 3

Exploring subtle resistance, oppression class prejudice intertwined in the fabric of the Jamaican experience.

This section of the discourse seeks to highlight the extent to which our cultural liberation began during slavery through subtle beginnings and the extent to which it was smothered by slavery, oppression and class-prejudice. The vehicle of transmission was by social encounter, dance and protest songs on the plantations pre and post slavery. The ghosts of these negative social forces continue to represent themselves along our cultural journey. Evidence is presented to debunk the myth that dance hall queens and lewd music is a product of the musical revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. It is believed that these repressive forces are continually riding the waves of our cultural evolution. It maps the progress of our culturally rich heritage, the social actors, power relationships and the hegemonic masculinity, the devaluing of women’s contributions and homophobia. It also offers insights, suggestions and strategies for future socio-cultural progress.

In order for me to generate the discussion of our cultural evolutionary process it is necessary for me to digress briefly by giving definitions of race and class prejudice in order to press home the unfortunate fact of how these twin evils and their associated power relationships stifled our creativity as a people. Unfortunately there is still a trickle down effect on our cultural space. It is instructive to note that in post slavery, post colonial Jamaica racism is no longer being perpetuated in its purest form. However, it is replaced by a subtle form of bigotry where lighter shades of persons bearing closer biological traits of white persons receive favourable acceptance in relationships and social institutions

Michael McIntosh, a Social Worker and a black second generation Jamaican born in the United Kingdom summed up his frustration with the class bias that he experienced while on vacation in Jamaica as follows: “In the hotels we were snubbed by workers in favour of white tourists totally ignoring us as if we were not there. When we met our family it became apparent that those of us with lighter hue were treated more favourably. We could tell how they felt by their positive or negative body language. While hanging out with my relatives there I heard blatant self-hatred being perpetrated in patois such as “anything too black nuh good” meaning if your skin is too dark you are not good enough to succeed at anything. The words ‘Mi preffa brownin’, was used to indicate a preference for black women who were of lighter complexion. Political correctness went through the window when a middle class member of the family snobbishly remarked ‘den unnoh deh ah Inglan so long, how unoh nuh ketch likkle colour? This seemed to suggest ridiculously that because we were born in the UK they were expecting our complexion to be of a lighter hue. I observed while moving around that those Jamaicans who dressed in nice expensive clothes were treated more favourably. We got into trouble at our rich aunties house when we invited her domestic helper at the table to have a meal with us. She felt that the helper was not good enough to eat with us as she was of a low status”

Burke and Harrison (2000) define racism as: A multidimensional and complex system of power and powerlessness. It is a process through which powerful groups, using deterministic belief systems and structures in society, are able to dominate. It operates at micro and macro levels. It is perpetuated through policies and procedures of social institutions. Slaves in Jamaica experienced personal and institutional racism and were socially excluded from accessing services in health care, education and housing. They were not paid for their labour and were ill-treated by their handlers and their human rights as citizens were ignored.

There is a longstanding debate in social science about the definition of class. Roberts, (2001) rightly observed that there are two sets of ideas about defining the subject. Marxist scholars define class in relation to the ownership or control of the means of production in a society. The other set of ideas are promoted by Max Webber’s scholars- they relate class to buying power- in contrast to the Marxist notion of the production ownership hypothesis. Neither of those descriptions can aptly describe the class relationship in Jamaica as it is a more complex arrangement. As Jamaicans, class relationship occurs in a saga of relationship exchanges that are both implicit and explicit. Like racism class is institutionalised and sadly acted out in our relationship exchanges of snobbery and  through episodes of social exclusion, oral narratives and either negative or positive body languages.

There is an abundance of evidence that class prejudice is the main bug bearer that prevents social, economic and cultural progress in Jamaica. This class prejudice has its genesis in slavery with the plantation class foisting a misleading ideology that because of their wealth, land ownership and biology they were better off than the slaves. Along with these ideas social arrangements were forged in a hierarchical manner. For example, there were the plantation owners in England, The overseer in Jamaica that ran the plantation, there were supervisory staff on the plantation some of which were mulatos and slaves who was divided in working gangs on the plantation. There were slaves who worked as domestic help on the Great Houses where the owners and overseers lived. These slaves were exposed to more privileges than the slaves who worked in the fields.

The governors were sent from England and the local government system implemented used oppressive and coercive laws that were reinforced by locally appointed legislative councils across the Island. Discrimination was perpetuated at various levels and these levels reinforced each other. The slaves were at the bottom of the power relationship ladder that bore the brunt of dehumanising conditions, and verbal insult and beatings that affected their self-esteem and blurred their self-concept. An ideology of divide and rule was inflicted upon them and the social, economic and environmental setting that they lived. This created the structural template for an oppressive class system that was institutional. This class categorisation not only created differences, it implied and entrenched notions of superiority and inferiority reinforced by the rule of oppressive laws.

On a personal level, slaves were denied a formal education the philosophy behind it was intended to prevent them from rationalising and making sense of their oppression which would ignite a social upheaval that would affect the security and economic interest of the white status quo. Through language, false ideologies were forced upon slaves such as being black was ugly, and white was beautiful. This implied a biological social division that was used as a justification for discrimination and entrenched inequality. It was this psychologically enforced misnomer that saw majority of the slaves over time believing, internalising and perpetuating self-hatred. Those who protested by running away from the system faced several beatings, amputation of limbs or in some cases public hanging.

A more subtle form of protest took place culturally through dancing and singing during the major slave festivals at Christmas time. Altkink (2000) a PHD student at Hull University gave insights into how this subtle protest was communicated by slave women through dance and song. She opined that: slave dances were both functional and recreational. It provided an outlet valve for stress, community cohesion and communicated ideas about sexuality and gender roles. These dances were sanctioned by the slave masters who endorsed the activity in contrast with education that they saw as a threat to their interest.

The slaves performed the Johnkanoo dance brought from West Africa. Dressed in harlequins accompanied by two masked male dancers outflanked by women they would lead their dancing procession from their estate of origin to several neighbouring estates. It is well documented by several writers that the masked men teased and heckled their slave masters behind the mask without them knowing. The unsuspecting planters showed their delight and approval of this perceived adulation by giving presents and money to the dancers at their gate.

Sharon Bryant, (2006) an African American historian from North Carolina on her blog opined that Johnkanoo was very much alive in North America and drew parallels with Altkings writing. Her account is summarised as follows: “They gathered in the afternoon with musical instruments, gave thanks for a good harvest and made fun of the plantation owners. The ‘ragman’, (the leader) wore a colourful rag costume, considered to be the spirits of the plantation owners’ family. He was followed by the fancy man dressed in a dapper suit with a tall black hat. He collected money in a tin cup. The parade travelled through the plantation and continued to the slaves’ quarters until the participants were tired”. It was by her account an exercise to vent stress, make fun of the master and acted as a buffer to prevent slave revolts.

The spelling of Johnkonoo varied and its origin and meaning widely contested. However it was widely practiced in the Caribbean and North America during and after slavery. These descriptions were documented by white writers during the period of slavery.

Historian Edward Long and Clinton V. Black have recorded epic descriptions of a vibrant dance hall movement during slavery and a dance hall queen was described. It was written that she had to conform to the expectation of providing a graceful performance when presented to her master. By their account, dance was very important in slaves’ lives similar to the dance hall influence in today’s society. Slave women’s hip wriggling during the slave rituals clearly simulated love making. The male domination in the slave dances conveyed courtship and male supremacy. It generated ideas about sexuality and reproduction. According to J.P. Moreton (year) a Bookkeeper: “The best slave dancers on the plantation raise their status in the slave community. One of them was a female slave called Psyche she earned this accolade because she was good at wriggling her hips. When Planter Monk Lewis requested a performance from the slave community it was no surprise that Psyche was put forward by general acclamation. Not wanting to draw the irate of her master with her hip wriggling skills it was recorded that she gave a performance that was light, graceful and easy spirited. Psyche received a handful of silver from monk for her performance”.

Edward long commented in his writings that it was plain to see that the slave women were born with the gift of dancing by the skills that they displayed. However, he was less impressed by the fact that children started to wriggle their hips at an early stage so much that he felt that it affected their walking making them as he described it, “Walk with a swagger”. Moreton stated that: it was amazing to observe the agility with which they moved and twisted their joints. Mary Ann Reid a slave woman from Unity Hall held a dance. The guests had to pay a small entrance fee to dance all night. Entertainment was provided by fiddlers and the slave guests were served with pork, yam, and plantain. There was a combination of admiration and debasement of how women dance during slavery.

Women’s contribution to the development of the popular culture of Jamaica has been undermined and has not received the attention and respect that it deserves. The popular cultures in past and present times have been bedevilled by hegemonic masculinity. Like race, women’s sexuality has always seen a biological matter that hinders their progress in every sphere of life. The sex difference of women has always been used to screen out or unjustly perpetuate injustice against their rights in pre and post independent Jamaica. In the early recordings of the emergence of our popular culture they had to take a back seat role. The Jonkanoo dances were led by two masked men. Today the reggae industry is male dominated and the success of women in this genre of music often depends on them forging sexual liaisons with influential producers in order to get the exposure that they so rightly deserve. The emergence of reggae music and its focus on consciousness through writers give the misleading impression that it owes its success solely to the emergence of Rasta music of the nineteen sixties and seventies and again women have been omitted.

 The great icon the Honourable Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) became famous internationally in part due to an emotionally moving rendition of “No Woman nuh Cry” this sang drew attention to the difficulty of women’s conditions in Trench Town Jamaica an urban blight community battered by poverty and social exclusion. But how can the female singers, songwriters and dancers of past and present wipe their tears when their contributions have been excluded by the producers, writers and consumers of this beautiful art form? During slavery, slave songs were customarily the domain of slave women. Slave men only took the lead in work and funeral songs. The playing of instruments was male dominated and the lyrics of the song composed portrayed a sense of community spirit. Slave women expressed through their songs features of history that affected them most such as the beatings they experienced, enforced separation and forced liaisons with their masters. They clearly described in their songs how male slaves on the instruction of their masters held them down, stripped and flogged them in a way that was below a dehumanising standard.

So the Jamaican culture is subtly represented along class lines the culture has straddled a number of social relations with a strong masculine overtone that continues to discount female contribution and degrade any other sexual identity or their contribution to national life. In fact it is illegal to be gay and socially dangerous to act out any semblance of males not being masculine enough. There is a pervading feeling among the masses that the colonial master has represented himself through the old boy net work that constantly perpetuate a class war trough wilful act or omissions in order to keep themselves in power. Garrison constituencies is one of such political arrangement that I will revisit from time to time during this discourse.

Much has been achieved despite the drawback mentioned Jamaica is often described as the cultural Perl of the southern hemisphere our music, sports and food speaks volumes to our achievement. A web of deceit in the form of classism is spun around the countries people and has impaired their social interaction and prevents social cohesion at a cultural level. It has created social tensions resentment and divisions among people. It ails for legislation in the form of an anti-discriminatory legislative framework to tackle these problems.

Donavon Reynolds is a London based Social Worker/Human Rights campaigner and Independent Writer. He is the Author of “Poor & Boasy”: which takes a humanistic view of Jamaica’s culture. The foregoing is an excerpt of chapter 3 of that book. Please feel free to send your critique or comments to dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk. You may also post your comments on face book, Twitter or at the section reserved for feedback on this blog.