COMMENTARY: Ganja, hypocrites, and social racism

By Alred Frett, Contributor

Some things require change and we should try as hard as possible while others are impossible to change and we should accept that without traumatizing ourselves mentally and physically.

My friend went to sleep last night and when she awoke, she was white and I went to sleep last night and when I awoke, I was black but that’s the way we are and that should never be a problem. Many of us have met good, ordinary non-racist white people and we have also encountered quite the opposite but it is the failure to recognize these differences that could mean our doom.

Recent reports still show the wicked feeling empowered enough to express post slavery open hatred for black people in our own backyard. Maybe they still see this as the Danish West Indies. You may have seen how one alleged individual, referred to on internet as ‘Virgin Island Vicky’, publicly proclaimed her love for President Trump and hatred for Obama and all black people while vacationing in the US Virgin Islands.

It is claimed that she was eventually escorted off island but the fact that she came and misbehaved tells us the extent of their feelings of power and racism.

Evidently, those who think less of themselves would also have us think less of ourselves and it’s left to us to accept or reject this mentality.

Often the challenge seems impossible with obstacles high, the enemies many and those you fight for often fight against you… Nonetheless we should see our role as a mission to enlighten others so that no one will be forced to abide in perpetual darkness.

Sometimes we need both electricians for light and plumbers to cleanse

We should never be surprised when our message of antiracism is distorted by the truly racist in their attempt to deceive and mislead… Their subplot is for you not to realize that racism could not and was not started by the slave. White supremacy was started and continued by the master and any effort to ignore this reality can only provide excuse and opportunity for 21 st Century discrimination.

It is against this background of denial and racism that we must preach and teach our message of enlightenment until even the blind will see and the deaf will hear… There will be detractors and distractors at every turn but we must not become sidetracked or fooled for the only way to solve problems is by first acknowledging their presence in order to better isolate and eradicate them.

I may speak of some but that’s the mere tip of the Iceberg because oppression and discrimination come in all forms, – no one size fits all. They may be as open as shooting black youths in the back or as hidden as denying our children access to education.

The practices of racism are all around us and the pretence of being politically correct just makes the pile of S**t higher & higher.

Denial provides no answers and bigotry ignores fairness and justice

The problem lies in the absence of fairness & justice such as when a black man, Mr Paul McCowns, is arrested for trying to cash the cheque he had earned after three weeks in his new job.

Not only was he refused service at the bank but they accused him of trying to cash a bogus cheque and had him arrested until his employer confirmed Mr McCowns had indeed earned his money. We see the absence of fairness and justice when a black tenant is blocked by a white tenant from entering his own apartment just because they regard blacks as unable to afford the finer things in life.

We see the absence of fairness and justice when white under-cover Officers shoot black undercover officers when they were dealing with the same criminal situation at the same time.

Even after escaping the tyranny of apartheid, we see the absence of fairness and justice in the old practice of using private security forces to remove blacks from a public beach in South Africa.

We see the absence of fairness and justice when a black hotel guest is evicted from his room because a white security guard was annoyed about him speaking to his mom on his cell phone in the lobby.

We see the absence of fairness & justice in Brexit which is manifested in an attempt to block nonwhites from access to England after she had invaded and pilfered their resources. And where are the fairness and justice associated with UK’s Windrush decision to expel West Indians after they had been used to rebuild England following massive devastation resulting from the second World War?

Under what concept of fairness & justice would USA leaders shut down their government on the pretext of not being supported in building a Wall with the expressed intent of blocking non-whites from entering America while no such restrictions are placed on migrants from white origins?

Is it fair and just for Trump and Republicans to undo President Obama’s legacy just because he is black?

Often the roots are deeper than the branches

These questions can go on forever but we know that it is all about racism and oppression so when I speak of South Africa, Denmark and slavery and you claim that such things changed following Mandela, Queen Mary and the Danish West Indies; I say ‘not really’; especially when dormant pockets of discrimination now see Trump as the perfect opportunity to resurface.

South Africa and Israel follow in the footsteps of Trump and Denmark’s government’s behaviour toward migrants is universally recognized as “an exception in its toughness and intolerance”. In fact, Denmark not only suspended participation in the UN Refugee Programme but approved measures that include confiscating the cash and valuables belonging to these migrants.

While most countries would make an effort to hide their racism, Denmark plans to make things even tougher by exiling immigrants to an island, once used for researching infectious animal diseases.

For too long our leaders have been slow to represent their people or realize that we are all migrants and the wickedness done to one has the potential for wickedness done to all. Consequently, at home and abroad, the rich and powerful take advantage of us. Billions spent on so- called drug wars with lost lives and opportunities.

We see Mexico and Jamaica ostracized and crucified with the lives of their citizens wasted in prisons and graveyards just for being accused as growers of marijuana, ganja, pot, weed, hemp, cannabis or whatever they choose to call it.

International ganja hypocrites

It is well known that Hemp or Weed was only outlawed for financial and political reasons. In fact, 14 years ago Tony Blair’s government downgraded this to a class C drug – meaning having least harmful effects – but under Gordon Brown, it was reclassified to class B – meaning being more harmful.

Today, we see major nations scrambling for ways and excuses to reclassify it to Class C. None of this is being done for us. The same self-righteous suppressors that crucified the small man is simply seeking to make the same weed a source of their national revenues. They call it cannabis instead of ganja and tout its values as a low-risk drug with little or no associated deaths and only 10 percent user addiction as compared to alcohol users with 15 percent and tobacco users with 32 percent.

They feel that by proclaiming its medicinal value, they can reprogram our minds while tailoring and packaging the product to suit their own social and financial agendas.

Such efforts are dedicated to paving the way for the US, UK, Canada and others to use their social and legal systems in the legalizing of weed and replacement of Jamaica and others as producers of ganja for consumption. We are already seeing states within the US legalize ganja for medical and recreational use, seen UK laws allow for medical marijuana or cannabis oil and Canada have formally legalized both the medical and recreational use of ganja.

Even Denmark which still pretends that marijuana is illegal tolerates its recreational use and openly allows ganja for medical use by prescription.

Self-help begins at home

Again, this not about us but about nations bent on making ganja a source of revenue, estimated in the billions of dollars. They are already investing in massive plots of lands for increased production and external supply on a scale large enough for stock market deals.

Meanwhile, Mexicans, Jamaicans and people of colour are still the ones treated like pot-dealing criminals. We need real vision for these facts are real and history has a way of making the ignorant pay the price for others.

Gone are the days when we believed human rights mattered and some great rescuer would heed our cries of distress.

We now live in a real world of external madness with France’s riots, Mideast unrest, US shutdowns, UK’s Brexit and Russia’s supersonic bomb threats. This is no longer a game of prayer and pretence where blind leads blind and God looks after lunatics and children.

We are no longer ‘Nature’s Little Secret’ and we must now help ourselves or perish for if Irma could find us then any demon can.

The time has arrived for leaders who know where we came from, how we got here, where we are, where we would like to go and how best to get there.

As voters, we should be fully aware of our importance and realize that the wellbeing of ourselves and children depend a lot more on love and a lot less on hate.

This is no time for Leaders who would say and do anything to get elected as a prop for others and bench warmer for the council and it would be wrong for us to keep on making the same mistakes just to hear ourselves complain.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of BVI News.