Sen. D. Lightbourn and Dr. Carolyn Gomes

Today is December 10th and people around the world are celebrating international Human Rights Day. In Jamaica, a number of non-government organization (NGO) leaders will mark the event with an outdoor radio broadcast on a popular program Independent Talk. For me, this is a very important day, and its commemoration with a radio broadcast is the beginning of a process of public education and awareness, which will definitely help Jamaicans to start the process of claiming their human rights.

Most importantly, Jamaica, which has a history of human rights breaches dating as far back as slavery, will need a comprehensive human rights education program in order to improve peoples’ capacity to claim their rights. This is a necessity at this time because there has never been a deliberate attempt after emancipation to educate the ex-slaves and their children about their newly gained rights. Without such, there will be persistent apathy of  a large number of Jamaicans towards the development of self, community, and country.

View of head table and audience at IACHR Conversation on HR

I attended an event, ‘A Conversation about the Inter-American System of Human Rights’, earlier this month and was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest and curiosity of Jamaicans about the issue. As a matter of fact, they raised a number of issues, which are indicative of their interest and need for more information and education about human rights and the human rights systems at the national, regional and international levels. The main human rights issues that were raised by the audience included:

1. The death penalty, which is currently being debated in Parliament, and which seems to favor its reinstatement
2. Police abuse, excess, and injustice towards people from poor communities
3. Marginalization of the Jamaican poor from national policy and legislative decisions
4. Systemic denial of the rights of the male child and his associated vulnerability to poor education and incarceration
5. Domestic violence and denial of rights of adult males in their homes
6. Absence of youth participation in national planning and development, even concerning them
7. Discrimination and prejudice against people with differences based on religion, disability, age, and sexual preferences.

The fact that Jamaicans insisted on raising these issues, sometimes against opposition, demonstrates that they are ready and yearning for information and education that will better prepare them to claim their rights. Sir Clare Roberts, IACHR Rapporteur for Jamaica, Peoples of African decent and Racism noted that, “the first protection of human rights by an individual is for him to first be aware of his human rights… There is a need to build the capacity of NGOs in Jamaica, so that they can respond to human rights issues.”

Sir Clare Roberts addresses the audience

With all this said, the arguments coming from IACHR and the Jamaican people, at this time, is that we need to ‘buckle down’ and be really serious about this business of human rights. We often times take it for granted because we are not members of marginalized and minority groups. The funny thing though is that we share a common world and the denial of one persons right affects us all.

Let’s imagine for a moment what life was like in the western hemisphere during the 1700s to 1800s–certainly the enslavement and dehumanization of one race of people in relation to another hurt both races. Both were deprived of the opportunity to learn skills that were essential for their survival. Further, we are left scarred with stigmas about the capacities and mannerism of the other. This holds us all back from progress, not just the individual being denied of his/her rights.

Today, I raise my glass to all the people (unrecognized and recognized) around  the world who keep fighting for human rights, equality and justice. I especially celebrate the achievement of Dr. Carolyn Gomes on being awarded the 2008 UN Human Rights Award for her contribution in the field in Jamaica. Her award is a symbol that serious work has started in our country.

Dr. Carolyn Gomes fields questions from the audience

We need to play our part to lobby Government to support the cause of justice and equality in all spheres of life in Jamaica–through policy, legislation, and available and accessible programming. At the individual level let’s increase our awareness and knowledge about human rights and change personal attitudes and behaviors which perpetuate stigma, discrimination, and low and negative expectations of people who are, prefer or dare to be different.

Let us send a message of one love, tolerance, and respect for all humanity!

Article Review: Body Image, Physical Beauty and Colour Among Jamaican Adolescents- Errol Miller (from Caribbean Sociology)

Introduction:

Miller’s article provides a report on the findings of a research conducted with urban adolescent Jamaicans on how they perceive their bodies and conceive of physical beauty in relation to their actual skin colour. Miller noted that historically in the Jamaican society, “…colour has been an important determinant of social niche, economic status and personal worth … for practically all of its history. Whiteness has become associated with the desirable and Blackness with the undesirable”.

Reports/ Evidence of Colour Discrimination in Jamaica:

In the 1940s Kerr wrote:

In Jamaica there is no colour bar and theoretically  any man of colour can go anywhere. But the Government is a white man’s Government and white people still have most of the positions of heads of departments and own much of the business enterprises. Most of these people would definitely not meet the coloured people on terms of equality. This means that there always exists the possibility of discrimination both in regard to jobs and personal snubs. The shops even prefer to have lightly coloured girls as assistants and advertise openly for them. The better positions in banks go to white people; therefore people feel the lighter the skin colour the better their chances of success.

Henriques also wrote on the matter in the 1940s:

The upper class is composed of whites and fair coloured people who monopolize  executive positions in the civil service, such positions as planters and the professions generally. He further claimed that although a black doctor may have the occupational qualification to be a member of the upper class he would not be accepted as such because of his colour.

However by the 1970s Miller argued that:

At the present time the Government could not be described as a white man’s Government, neither are the heads of Government departments mainly white people, nor do shops openly advertise for light coloured girls. In fact, pressure is brought to bear on private enterprise to employ black people in the better positions. The claim of racial equality is publicly accepted . However the situation at present is not a complete reversal of the 1940s trends. Economic power still resides to a great extent with the white and fair  groups and individuals within these groups do not generally accept black people as equals.

Main Research Questions:

1. How do maturing members of the society (in and around 1970) who have been forming their personalities perceive their bodies and physical beauty in relation to their skin colour?
2. Is there still (in and around 1970) a preference for whiteness and Caucasian features as reported by Kerr and Henriques of the 1940s?
3. How do Chinese adolescents who have been maturing (between the 1950s and 1970) view their bodies and conceive of their physical beauty?

Specific Research Questions:

1. What do you like about your body?
2. What do you dislike about your body?
3. What parts of your body would you change if it were possible?
4. Describe your idea of a handsome boy
5. Describe your idea of a beautiful girl
6. Describe what the average Jamaican looks like

Research Participants Classification:

The 475 secondary school students age 11 to 15 years who were born between 1951 and 1955 were classified into two groups:

1. The White to Black colour continuum, which comprised of six different shades (white, fair, clear, brown, dark, and black) and
2. The Chinese, Indians and hybrids of unions with Negroes

Core Characteristics of Body Image:

The features of body image were classified into three distinct categories: hair and facial features, body build, and general features and strength.

Research Findings:

• Facial and body build features are the most important ones of the body image
• Facial features appear to be cathected in a manner that is related to the colour of the subjects
• The colour relationship was not very evident when subjects were reporting satisfaction, but was most evident when they were reporting dissatisfaction and intense dissatisfaction
• White and Chinese subjects expressed relatively more satisfaction with hair than all others. Only a small amount of dissatisfaction was expressed by the fair group. However, dissatisfaction and intense dissatisfaction with hair increased  as the Black end of the colour continuum was reached
• The subjects having Caucasian hair type were satisfied with it, while those with Negroid hair were dissatisfied
• No white subject reported intense dissatisfaction with nose, while the highest percentages of intense dissatisfaction were reported by the dark and black subjects. The former group was expected to have straight noses, while the latter was not expected to have this feature. Cathexis of nose depends on the closeness of subjects’ nose to Caucasian standards
• The Chinese group responded in a manner similar to the white group about the matter of hair
• In the case of nose, however, the Chinese subjects reported in a manner similar to the darker groups. Chinese subjects cathect themselves within the same frame of reference as the subjects to the White Black colour continuum. Where typical Chinese features approach closely to Caucasian features, subjects cathect themselves positively, but where they differ they cathect themselves negatively
  
• Lips and colour were not frequently reported on by the subjects, but dissatisfaction with these features was only reported by the brown, dark, and black subjects
• Although these adolescents have been growing up at a time in the society when public attitudes are not discriminatory and in fact actively support the idea of the ‘equality of the races’, they still associate Caucasian features with the desirable and the Negroid features with the undesirable
• The six features that were the most popular markers of a handsome boy by 20 percent of the subjects across the seven colour groups were: hair, nose, colour, height, face, and physique
• Five features were common amongst 20 percent of the subjects from all seven colour groups about conceptions of a beautiful girl: hair, nose, face, shape, and eyes
• The average Jamaican described by subjects is basically Negroid in character, which is inferred from the description of hair, mouth, lips, colour, and physique. This is not surprising in light of the fact that approximately 90 percent of the population is of Negro origin
• The concept of the average Jamaican is very far removed from the concept of the handsome boy or beautiful girl. The six most frequently mentioned features used to describe the average Jamaican are the same as for the handsome boy. The average Jamaican is described as: Hair- bad, woolly, kinky, course; Nose- flat, big; Face- average; Colour-dark, brown; Height- medium, tall; Physique- well built, stout. The ideal handsome boy is described as: Hair- blonde, good, straight, wavy; Nose- straight; Face- good looking; Colour- fair, clear; Height- tall, medium; Physique- well built, good.
• The generalisation which it seems reasonable to make is that the average Jamaican is negatively conceptualised in facial features and colour, but positively conceptualised in terms of body build. Interpreted another way, one may say that the stereotype of the Negro is partially undesirable. It is undesirable in colour and facial features and desirable in body build
• The idea of the partial negativity of the concept of the average Jamaican is supported when the miscellaneous comments of the subjects were examined. These include: fools, vicious, crude, hooligans, illiterates, senseless and hideous, monkeys, dogs, dirty and childish, idiots and lazy.
• Both the physical description of the concept and general comments on personality and behaviour of the average Jamaican seem to indicate that it is more negative than positive
• Beauty is associated with Caucasian features and ugliness with Negroid features
• The subjects were growing up at a time when racial equality is extolled, yet their concept of beauty is to a great extent congruent with the ideas of beauty reported by Henriques and Kerr of the 1940s when colour discrimination was commonly evidenced
• White is not the ideal colour, as one would predict, but instead, Fair and Clear
• Although public attitudes are not at present discriminatory, the individual’s private conception of his body reflects a preference for Caucasian type features. Since the majority of subjects are Negroes or of Negro extraction, it is apparent that there is widespread dissatisfaction with such physical features as hair and nose
• The most important features of the body image are of two types: Racial features- hair, nose, colour, and eyes; and Developmental features- hands, legs, toes, and feet.

Miller’s findings support the rationals given by individuals who practice skin lightening in Jamaica that, “Perceptions of Beauty and Colour Privileging are the Root Causes of the Practice”. Although there is need to attend to the issue as a medical condition that can cost Jamaica millions, we should also take a comprehensive look at addressing the root causes.

It is real difficult for me not to throw personal experiences into this picture, especially because I am still a youth, which is quite the contrary to what my birth country, Jamaica, will recognize, as our youth age ends at 24 years. The National Youth Services (NYS), National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), and other state agencies and ministries do not recognize me as youth, although I am at the regional level. This means that young people in the 25- 30 age cohort in Jamaica have been left out on a limb. We are not morally accepted as adults, and we are not legally recognized as youth. What a conundrum?

In Jamaica the overwhelming majority of those who are unemployed are youth, with employment trending upwards as you move from the youngest, 14 years, to the oldest youth age, 30 years. I must say that in my almost 11 years as a working youth I have not seen or experienced much changes.

Youth work often times limits and predisposes employees to: entry level positions and assistants posts; low remuneration compared to the actual responsibilities of youth and what they generally qualify for; reluctance of agency and organizational leaders to hire youth in leadership positions that they are qualified and experienced for; use of stigmatizing terms to refer to youth in employment, e.g. young Tom come and carry out the coffee; unequal pay and benefits compared to an adult in the same position with the same responsibilities and qualification; disproportional representation of youth in all levels of work and national leadership; and exploitation of youth time in promise for sustainability.

I attended the Commonwealth Youth Lecture (Jamaica) 2008 at the Courtleigh Auditorium on Thursday, October 9. The theme for the event was: “Youth Mainstreaming: The Key to National Development.” It was at this lecture that I encountered the term youth work in Dr. Fatiha Serour’s presentation. Its usage immediately struck a chord in my brain, and it was like giving voice to something that was once mute. On hearing the term, I reached to my friend next to me and said, “Youth work, I never knew that youth do a different kinda work from adults? ” It really woke me up!

Dr. Fatiha Serour

I immediately turned my eyes to the agenda in hand and the presenters who were sitting immediately before me–the most significant role was being played by an adult. While I respect Dr. Serour and found several valuable lessons from her lecture, I believe that she too has contributed to the marginalization of the youth–a key issue which she articulates in her presentation. Looking at the agenda from a youth work perspective, all roles, except that of the Lecture, were entry level and assistants posts–they were all played by youth: welcome, prayer, greetings, cultural item, introduction of speaker, and the vote of thanks. The young man who introduced Dr. Serour even introduced her as a youth–what a calamity?

When will young people wake up and see that they are marginalized in work because the adults refuse to make employment standardized and equally accessible and available despite age, creed, race, religion, etc. Can you imagine that in this day and age, Jamaica a western country, roughly 200 miles outside of the United States of America, does not have an equal employment opportunity Act? Further more, there is absolutely no nondiscriminatory clause to address issues of youth and religion in the Equal Work for Equal Pay Act. What an archaic state of affairs?

We, the youth, need to envision the day when we will be delivering the Commonwealth Youth Lecture, when we have eliminated the concept of youth work, and are able to stand in equality with adults in employment. If we fail to do this, we will fail to exist, as Dr. Serour said in her presentation, the face of poverty was once a woman’s, now it is the face of a Youth. Young people, get up and stand up for your rights!

Greetings, Minister of State

Cultural Item, Commonwealth Youth Lecture, Jamaica, 2008

Introduction of Speaker, Youth Ambassador

Vote of Thanks, Youth Ambassador