I come from the motherland!!

Tue, Aug 14, 2012

Editor: Dr Ralph Gonsalves won’t be the last snake-in-the-grass (Iberian) politician who tries to insult and denigrate the African descent majority population in St Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

In a pseudo-historical mumbo-jumbo article “The end of slavery in St Vincent and the Grenadines and our commeration in 2012” (Searchlight, August 3, 2012), the Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, seems to have jumped off the deep end, and exposed his gut feelings about the issue of race and history in SVG. The Prime Minister is entitled to his own opinions — not his own facts.

Dr Gonsalves’ last paragraph “This is an apt occasion for all of us who now constitute an integrated creolized whole known as the Vincentian component of our Caribbean civilization everyone whatever his or her ethnic or social background to let the poetic words of the iconic Guyanese Martin Carter ring out from the last stanza of his celebrated, ‘I come from the Nigger Yard’.”

The political embrace of this racist poem by Dr Gonsalves, is beneath the office of a Prime Minister. Former Prime Ministers — Hon. E.T. Joshua and Hon. Milton Cato must be turning over in their graves.

We, the majority—people of African origin in SVG, are not creoles — neither are we members of Dr Gonsalves’ Caribbean Civilization. The self-hating words of a lunatic from Guyana, “I come from the Nigger Yard” does not describe who we are.

I will tell you, Dr Gonsalves, who 85 per cent of the St Vincent population is. Most of us are the children of King Jaja of Opobo state, in eastern Nigeria. The King was brought to St Vincent on British war ships with his very large extended family — in exile — in the mid-19th century. Any child of the original people who calls him or herself “I come from the Nigger Yard” is a fool, and any politican who encourages people to believe that is a moron, a political snake-in-the grass, and a political Judas.

The shelf-life of most politicians is about 6 years, before hubris sets in. The African majority population of SVG has been nothing but kind to Dr Gonsalves and his Iberian Peninsula (Portugal/Spain) ancestors since their arrival in SVG. To tar, insult, and denigrate the noble Vincentian majority, based on a poem, “I come from the Nigger Yard” by that idiot from Guyana, should serve as a political wake up call for the Vincentian people.

At a time when the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines should be engaged in debates on issues of national importance – jobs, youth unemployment, the banana industry, health care, the Argyle airport — it would appear that Dr Gonsalves is attempting to create a race war in SVG.

Prime Minister Gonsalves is a disgrace to the Vincentian Parliament in which he serves. By placing the racist poem “I come from the Nigger Yard” in the Parliament archives, those in his political party share in that disgrace for not calling him out. Shame – shame on you, Dr Gonsalves!! Go to hell, you moron — Martin Carter!!

Randy Aberdeen
Brooklyn, N.Y.