The Tribune

THE world is watching the United States at present, as it convulses with protests, riots and looting, all sparked by a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he died.

This incident – a white officer killing a black man – is far from an isolated one. Racism isn’t getting worse, it’s just getting filmed. The convenience of the camera on the phone is letting the world see these incidents – just as it has recorded incidents during the police response to the protests that followed.

Shortly before the death of George Floyd, another video went viral, showing a white woman calling the police in an hysterical tone of voice, saying an African American was present and she needed help. She was not being threatened – and the way George Floyd was treated showed what could have been for the black man she called the police on.

The issues in the US have attracted worldwide attention – as issues in America so often do, dominant as it is in terms of media and social networks. When we feel anger about the injustices there, however, we should feel no less anger about the injustices in our own country.

In Tuesday’s Tribune, columnist Felicity Darville looked to historic issues here at home - the Burma Road Riot in The Bahamas. Today, fellow columnist Alicia Wallace looks at issues here today.

Does racism exist in The Bahamas? Some would say no, given the majority black population and the series of black people in positions of power in the country, all the way up to Prime Minister. But we would be foolish to pretend racism is not a part of our existence here.

When we talk about institutional racism, we talk about a racism that is rooted in the structures of our society. It makes no difference if an individual police officer is white or black if they are following orders that come from a structure that works against black people. Do our structures work that way? Take a look inside the walls of Fox Hill prison and tell us which sector of society is most represented there.

More than that, take a look at the court cases routinely featured in The Tribune, and the series of young black men hauled before the courts. Look further, to the society we have created that leads those men into a life of crime. Are we really so different than the US?

Even recently, take a look at the differences in sentences handed out for curfew violations. Mostly, it’s a fine of $400 or so, unless you’re a young black man selling coconuts and then you get fined $700. And what of the Filipino woman, fined $2,000 for jogging? Was that sentencing equitable compared to other cases?

The Tribune has regularly reported on cases of alleged police brutality – from the case of Osworth Rolle, unlawfully killed by police more than three years ago, to the three people who said they were tortured by police in Eleuthera, and whose complaint to the force was allowed to run out of time without action. Or the officers caught on video here – beating people during Junkanoo on New Year’s Day. We could mention more – the teenager slammed on the ground at Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium, the two young women reportedly assaulted by police in Exuma, the video of an officer slapping a man on a beach, the man limping from custody to an ambulance after allegedly being shocked with a taser and beaten.

We may not have the protests tearing apart the US at present – but we have more than our share of inequality, and plenty of injustice to go with it.

So as we look at what is going wrong elsewhere, we must ask ourselves what we can do to eradicate injustice here too. We have fought some of these same battles in our own past – and the leaders who battle against injustice are renowned in our country. That prompts the same question Felicity Darville posed in her column this week – “Who’s going to fill their shoes?”

THE world is watching the United States at present, as it convulses with protests, riots and looting, all sparked by a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he died.

This incident – a white officer killing a black man – is far from an isolated one. Racism isn’t getting worse, it’s just getting filmed. The convenience of the camera on the phone is letting the world see these incidents – just as it has recorded incidents during the police response to the protests that followed.

Shortly before the death of George Floyd, another video went viral, showing a white woman calling the police in an hysterical tone of voice, saying an African American was present and she needed help. She was not being threatened – and the way George Floyd was treated showed what could have been for the black man she called the police on.

The issues in the US have attracted worldwide attention – as issues in America so often do, dominant as it is in terms of media and social networks. When we feel anger about the injustices there, however, we should feel no less anger about the injustices in our own country.

In Tuesday’s Tribune, columnist Felicity Darville looked to historic issues here at home - the Burma Road Riot in The Bahamas. Today, fellow columnist Alicia Wallace looks at issues here today.

Does racism exist in The Bahamas? Some would say no, given the majority black population and the series of black people in positions of power in the country, all the way up to Prime Minister. But we would be foolish to pretend racism is not a part of our existence here.

When we talk about institutional racism, we talk about a racism that is rooted in the structures of our society. It makes no difference if an individual police officer is white or black if they are following orders that come from a structure that works against black people. Do our structures work that way? Take a look inside the walls of Fox Hill prison and tell us which sector of society is most represented there.

More than that, take a look at the court cases routinely featured in The Tribune, and the series of young black men hauled before the courts. Look further, to the society we have created that leads those men into a life of crime. Are we really so different than the US?

Even recently, take a look at the differences in sentences handed out for curfew violations. Mostly, it’s a fine of $400 or so, unless you’re a young black man selling coconuts and then you get fined $700. And what of the Filipino woman, fined $2,000 for jogging? Was that sentencing equitable compared to other cases?

The Tribune has regularly reported on cases of alleged police brutality – from the case of Osworth Rolle, unlawfully killed by police more than three years ago, to the three people who said they were tortured by police in Eleuthera, and whose complaint to the force was allowed to run out of time without action. Or the officers caught on video here – beating people during Junkanoo on New Year’s Day. We could mention more – the teenager slammed on the ground at Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium, the two young women reportedly assaulted by police in Exuma, the video of an officer slapping a man on a beach, the man limping from custody to an ambulance after allegedly being shocked with a taser and beaten.

We may not have the protests tearing apart the US at present – but we have more than our share of inequality, and plenty of injustice to go with it.

So as we look at what is going wrong elsewhere, we must ask ourselves what we can do to eradicate injustice here too. We have fought some of these same battles in our own past – and the leaders who battle against injustice are renowned in our country. That prompts the same question Felicity Darville posed in her column this week – “Who’s going to fill their shoes?”

An unwelcome guest

As we edge closer to reopening the country and welcoming back visitors, there is one particular arrival that we could do without.

The cane toad has returned to The Bahamas. Invasive. Toxic. Unwanted. A few years ago, in 2013, the toad was spotted and, at the time, seemingly dealt with.

Seemingly, it had disappeared. Now, it is back. Speaking of things that had seemingly disappeared but are now back, Environment Minister Romi Ferreira is ready to take on the toad.

The Bahamas is a wonderful, welcoming place. But this particular visitor can hop off.