tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post8627467693946216532..comments2024-02-18T04:34:40.897-04:00Comments on Living in Barbados: On The Trail Of The SnarkUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-46682160409396971832009-08-04T17:21:18.176-04:002009-08-04T17:21:18.176-04:00Are Bajans any different from Jamaicans or Trinida...Are Bajans any different from Jamaicans or Trinidadians or any of the other islanders? What do you think would happen if I e.g. went to Jamaica or Trinidad and jumped with both feet into their local politics or social interaction, do you think I would be welcome with open arms?<br /><br />People don’t mind criticism when it comes from their own but they hate it when the critic is perceived to be an outsider even if the criticism is valid. That’s why in the eyes of the Bajan public Tony Marshall can ask questions and you may be pilloried for asking the same. Sometimes even criticizing one’s own is fraught with danger- ask John Kerry- by the end of his Presidential campaign he was portrayed as a reluctant soldier and foreigner (French) to boot. <br /><br />As someone who lived in Quebec during the early days of the PQ and Rene Levesque I certainly knew when to keep quiet (not that my voice was sought or important). Other critical voices from the other provinces were dismissed as “maudit anglais”. One certainly was aware of one’s status as an outsider.<br /><br />I don’t mind your commentary or criticism but don’t be surprised if others feel otherwiseSargeantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-75279008563794649922009-08-04T12:29:27.298-04:002009-08-04T12:29:27.298-04:00Anon (you need a handle or I have to figure out ho...Anon (you need a handle or I have to figure out how not to violate my own policy. I can make one up, but I prefer not to). I look forward to the Barrow points. My investigation is like many things about living, an exploration, from which I hope to learn. I would not say it's futile unless I accept that I have no interest in people, which is not at all true. <br /><br />I would argue that to say 'ahistorical' is not right. If you mean I ignore a certain context, then maybe. Many comments are also 'locked in history' as if nothing can or will change. I think that is as bad or as good. <br /><br />The focus on 'do we care?' is somewhat different if you are basing an economy on 'hospitality', which I would argue means you better care or pretend you do.Dennis Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500715553200132089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-47413090093684370152009-08-04T12:00:40.930-04:002009-08-04T12:00:40.930-04:00I'm not arguing any of those points. Gordon Le...I'm not arguing any of those points. Gordon Lewis' comments are conditioned by little known prejudices in relation to Barbados for almost the same reasons in your lead. Errol Barrow explained in an article - edited by Gordon Lewis himself - and published by the University of Florida - why Gordon Lewis (his great friend) passionately and unobjectively despised Barbados. I will get the reference for you.<br /><br />The point I am making is the same point you appear to be making but then immediately shoot down with references to other countries where you have lived. <br /><br />The point: no two places are the same. No two slave societies are the same. No two people are the same.<br /><br />Your investigation is futile because you start with inherent prejudices about Barbados. Following your writing for a while, listening to you on the radio (especially after the Budget) and picking up your trend of thought generally make you most predictable on this issue.<br /><br />That doesn't mean you are wrong. You are just human. <br /><br />In relation to Barbados and the Barbadian: it is better to have an abundance of good qualities, some of which may sour than to have none at all (apologies to Hearne - a Jamaican).<br /><br />Your comments, for example, on Barbados Underground about immigration are really ahistorical in nature. They fail to appreciate certain historical facts that differentiate Barbados even from its closest historical parallel - St. Kitts. Or Guyana from Trinidad. Or that tiny island that houses both the English and the Welsh.<br /><br />There are those who love us and those who don't. Do the Welsh care? Or the Japanese? Why should we?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-31251279757357941852009-08-04T07:36:53.785-04:002009-08-04T07:36:53.785-04:00Anonymous, Mike is not spot on, in the sense that ...Anonymous, Mike is not spot on, in the sense that no two places are the same, and sense of community needs to have an openness especially when its basis is a total accident, as is the case of the islands that are the legacy of slavery. <br /><br />My time living in rural north Wales showed me a side of small community life that is not the same as in Barbados, nor is it the same as on small Bahamian islands that I have visited. And yes it may be shallow, but I indicated as such at the outset: "I'm not afraid to say that I have only a shallow understanding of Barbadians." I've read Hearne, and like those who have done a deep study, his work will get the credit that is due. I have also read Gordon Lewis' work on The Growth of the Modern West Indies, and I suggest a study of his views too. His opening lines are "It is difficult to speak of Barbados except in mockingly derisory terms..." Why would a history scholar open with that? He views Bim as having the structural configuration of Victorian England. He adds that 'Educational culture...meant...the ornamental development of the privileged individual, not the general enlightenment of a community". <br /><br />North Wales was fascinating for the fact that antipathy toward outsiders was mainly directed against the English or English speakers: I was not English in local eyes, and I also learned to speak Welsh. By the same token, Japan, a much bigger country has some of the most insular attitudes one can encounter, so there is more to the whole story than size or location.Dennis Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500715553200132089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-2752135367086962652009-08-04T07:18:25.027-04:002009-08-04T07:18:25.027-04:00Mike,
You are spot on! And I truly thought that s...Mike,<br /><br />You are spot on! And I truly thought that someone like Denis (who I only know from his writing) would understand this. <br /><br />I urge Denis to read a little piece by John Hearne (a perceptive, thoughtful Jamaican writer) writing in the New World Journal at the time of Barbadian independence that investigates in a forthright way what the Barbadian means to him. This inquiry by Denis is not new or perceptive. It is as old as the Dominica Hills.<br /><br />I find Denis' treatment of this subject to be a superficial, weak and surface dismissal of the real strengths of Barbados and Barbadians. <br /><br />We have had little but we have done alot with it and those who don't like it can go and jerk chicken!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-41431342071479237922009-08-01T08:10:41.703-04:002009-08-01T08:10:41.703-04:00Barbados is not alone - both you, Dennis, and isla...Barbados is not alone - both you, Dennis, and islandgal246 could be describing Scotland, Ireland or many other places with an identifiable indigenous community where some citizens practice a sort of reverse snobbery - if you leave us, travel and return or move in from elsewhere, don't think you can bring your smart ideas with you ! It's even true of country towns where to head for the big city, means you're a 'stranger' when you return. <br /><br />Is it a sin to be proud of the community of which you feel part (however you define 'community')? And, a sin to be defensive to the point of giving offence to those who criticise? Even if that appears "cobwebbed"?<br /><br />(Isn't it strange that Jewish, Polish or Irish people tell the best Jewish, Polish or Irish jokes but resent it when a 'stranger' tells the same joke?) <br /><br />I'm part of a community now which seems to want to open the door to all comers - leaving a minority group wondering just exactly where their identity can be found. I can't tell whether that's good or bad. (There's a sneaking feeling in me that says that some 'outsiders', with little to contribute, are taking unfair advantage of a society which my ancestors have worked hard to build)<br /><br />I've long admired Australians for their ability to be fiercely defensive of their national identity, proud of their convict past (even to the point of boasting which convict ship their ancestors arrived in!), remorseful and rectifying about their past treatment of the aboriginal community, and yet welcoming of in-comers who can add to the 'common wealth'. How do they do it - and are they getting it right?<br /><br />Is it good to be proud of who you are and where you hail from? Or is it bombastic and boorish to defend what you have against what you percieve as threatening change from the outside world?<br /><br />Keep going Dennis, but you'll probably disover that the inner Bajan has the same look as most of the rest of world ! Like a stick of rock - it'll have the words "human being" running right through the middle !<br /><br />Mikeventuremikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5498961727602805543.post-28522546155660170962009-07-31T18:43:46.077-04:002009-07-31T18:43:46.077-04:00I have lived in Barbados since 1967 and today am s...I have lived in Barbados since 1967 and today am still considered a foreigner. I speak almost like a bajan but that dosen't make a difference. I realize that Bajans do not like anyone except for white people from over and away. They hate islanders and Bajans who have lived abroad. They even dislike the young ones who have gone to school overseas and have come back to look for work. To sum it up they do not like themselves, they do not like to be called black and deny that they are descendants of slaves. They treat their own with contempt and are not an enabling society. You invite them to your house for a meal and they will never reciprocate. They have a standard of living for white people and one for black. When a black person aspires to move up and live in a well to do area they say that that person wants to be white. I get cussed by neighbours for cutting my grass and keeping around me clean. I have learnt to live my life and choose my friends carefully. I have created my piece of heaven and many would say to me 'you got nuff work to do in your garden'. This is small island life and sometimes we are lucky to find a few gems amongst the locals. I am still hoping to meet persons who are of similar mind like myself.islandgal246https://www.blogger.com/profile/09139072456332225087noreply@blogger.com