Our Readers' Opinions
August 12, 2005

Divisionism only pulling us down

EDITOR: As the citizens of tiny island states, such as our very own, St. Vincent and the Grenadines struggle to respond and try to solve our many problems, our focus on those problems is hindering our ability to source their origin. Implicit in this failure lies the origin.

We need to reflect on that period of history – colonization – not so much from our own personal experiences, but rather the thinking of the colonizers.{{more}}

Painful as it is for some of us to accept, they (colonizers) had achieved what they set about to achieve.

To no avail, we could spend eternity pitying ourselves rather than reflecting and try to find a reason why that horrible period lasted for as long as it did.

The divisionism more than anything else was the fulcrum. That period lasted over 400 years. Yet 400 years later, we are politically now considered masters of our own house, if we can call it that. Be that as it may, divisionism in St. Vincent and the Grenadines remains at the fulcrum much to our own demise. When would it end? To answer or not to answer remains a dread Vincentian luxury.

Attempting to deal with any of our day-to-day national problems is a waste of precious and valuable time in the presence of divisionism and its attendant precipitations which gives comfort to personalities and disrespect.

As we view the unjustified hunger and poverty which are bedeviling our own ancestoral stock the world over, it has its origin in divisionism. An inward look at ourselves should provide the answer.

“Don’t let the monsters from the mainland come down here and tell you what to do”.

“When THEY no longer have bananas YOU will have fish”.

Just who are “THEY” and “YOU”?

Stanley M. Quammie