Jamaica’s Racial Double Standards and Racial Profiling

Like most coffee lovers around the world the first thing I want when I wake up, is a cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee and on this particular morning I had none, I was fresh out of beans. The first thing I did after getting ready was to drive down to the shopping center to get a cup of Blue Mountain Coffee the best in the world…

So I am in one of my uptown coffee shops waiting patiently in line to get a cup of Blue Mountain Coffee and a pack of Blue Mountain beans, did I mention it was the best in the world? The girl working behind the counter was all nice and chatty to customers in front of me, she takes great pleasure explaining the different blends and gave them service with a smile.

When it was my turn her mannerism changed, she was no longer amused, happy and have a look of annoyance about her. I was confused because I had done nothing to this girl and the only difference between the people who were in front of me and I, was that they were all of a lighter complexion, some “reddas” and some white.

First I gave her a wonderful hearty good morning because that is how I roll, followed by a “how are you this morning”…to which she grunted back ….”wha yu want?”… I ordered by cup of Blue and asked her if she could explain the difference between two packs of coffee and she responded …”it deh pon di package”…. I looked her dead in the eye and said …Pardon me! … Do you really expect me to stand here, in front of you, in the line and read what is on the back of these two packages?

A customer is supposed to be a Customer and all customers should be treated in a Generic neutral manner, which should be the default and the secret to good customer service, once you have decided to treat customers differently just because of how they look or the colour of their skin or some rubbish that is more about you as a person than about the customer, then you have lost the plot. 

Racism and racial profiling is something we normally associate white people and what they do against black people but black people are also guilty of a good amount of racism and racial profiling against other blacks. I read somewhere that New York taxi drivers do not stop for people who are not white but I also read that 98% of the taxi drivers are also not white.

Some years ago I was on a travel messaging board where some black Americans were complaining that they do not get the same level of service and attention from Jamaicans like their white counterparts, one man complained that the bellhop walked past his bags and got the bags of the white tourist behind him.

I also remember reading an article in a black magazine years ago where one black American lady complained that while in Jamaica she got the sun, sand and beach but not the rental dread with the big bamboo because they were too busy running after white women tourist to pay her any mind… It seems Stella was very upset because she lost her grove and could not get it back since no one was willing to help her find it.

I remember having a discussion with a Black American friend of mine about this and tried to explain to him that while it was not right, it is a form of financial racism where the locals in tourist country had trouble telling the difference between the local (low or non-tipping) Jamaicans and black Americans and as such they decided to error on the side of caution when it comes to their financial reward…    

The Most Hated Company in Jamaica:

While I do agree that it would be great if The Jamaica Public Service could eliminate the bloodsucking poverty screaming criminal class stealing electricity and leave law abiding paying customers, I am however not upset that they disconnect the entire area with 70% of the usage coming from illegal connections. Enough is enough and the line must be drawn somewhere. How long must we continue to allow these lazy merriment loving bloodsucking poverty screaming people to live free at our expense? These people have no intention of pulling their own weight in society and as such served no purpose to Jamaica and the nation building process. I agree with what the JPS is doing for the most part and what I am about to say is really not about Kelly Tomblin or white people but more about the racial double standards that exist in Jamaica among Jamaicans.

Everyone in Jamaica goes on and on about the high cost of electricity, how wicked the Jamaica Public Service is and the Jamaican Government gets the majority of the blame for the actions of this Limited Company. With most other entities Jamaicans would seek out the person running that entity and give them constant verbal bullocking, a piece of their minds. They would have been called names like wicked, dirty and nasty and accused of trying mash up the lives of poor black Jamaicans. If the person running the Jamaica Public Service was a Black Jamaican then that person would have been subjected to constant personal attacks on a daily basis by the general public and the media. They would be forced to explain why the light bill was so damn high and their ability to run such an entity would have been called into question over and over again. They would have been classed as incompetent, wicked and evil and several online petitions would have been created demanding their immediate removal.

The Hon. Dutty Black Gal, Helmet-Head and village Dunce are just some of the ways people class the Prime minister, I was told once by an uptown person that Portia Simpson-Miller  really belongs uptown on her knees scrubbing floors. 

The head of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is Kelly Tomblin "a nice looking white lady" as mi granny use to say and how she is viewed by most, we are still a society that uses the terminology "anything too black, nuh too good or me nuh talk to nobody blackka then me and as such she is given a free pass simply because she is white. Kelly Tomblin will never be asked the tough questions, will never be challenged and will never get cursed out in public and in the media. Kelly Tomblin frequents the Jamaica Observer Page 2 social events pages and everyone wants to take pictures with this nice looking white lady who is the CEO of the most hated company in Jamaica but she will never be associated with that hate.

Queen Kelly Tomblin, Mega-Socialite and Darling of Jamaica, even though she heads the most hated company in the land.  

All I can say is that Kelly Tomblin, CEO of the Jamaica Public Service is lucky she is white… because if she was a black Jamaican woman or man the wrath of the Jamaican people would have been brought down on her with all the venom they can muster. I see this as a double standard not on the part of Kelly Tomblin herself because she has done nothing wrong and is doing nothing wrong so this is not against her or really about her. This is about the Jamaican people, why is it that we are so angry with the high cost of electricity but we cannot bring ourselves to treat Kelly Tomblin like how we would have treated a black Jamaican in her position…. Queen Kelly Tomblin should be made Prime Minister of Jamaica because only a person like her can put in place the changes required and she would never be blamed or cursed out for anything!

Why then can’t we treat our own people with the same level of love and respect we show to Kelly Tomblin and people like her? Why is it OK to dog out our fellow black Jamaicans, class them using so many derogatory terms that we would never use against people like Kelly Tomblin who is now part and parcel of our society?

It is the same reason why some Jamaicans would give their fellow local black Jamaicans such poor customer service but stand at attention with a smile when someone with a lighter complexion walks in.

In an interview with Kelly Tomblin the interviewer declared …“Tomblin, who has been running the power company for just over two years, is as full of charm as she is bursting with energy" and a person posted on the Gleaner website … "I really admire and appreciate how Ms Tomblin has taken to Jamaica just like other visitors to our island have done. Here's wishing her all the best..."…. Mi pupa claat…. Hahahahahahaha…

Bi-partisan consensus on Criminality and Protection of the Bloodsucking Poverty Screaming Criminal Class (Also known as a voting block…) trying to live at everybody else’s expense…

Police Bribery and the Rich!!

Bruce Bicknell was charged with trying to Bribe a Police Officer, the case against him was dropped!!!

Member of Parliament for Western Portland, Daryl Vaz reportedly visited the Sergeant at the Elletson Road station and made an appeal to him to be lenient on Bicknell…. We await the result but expect the same as result Bicknell , Vaz is normally above the law anyway..

SSP Forbes admitted to facilitating between businessman Bruce Bicknell and two police sergeants was fined $800,000 or six months in prison… I agree he is guilty but so too is Bruce Bicknell and Vaz!!!