Would we care if Trayvon Martin had died in Jamaica?

Trayvon Martin Protest – Sanford (Photo credit: werthmedia)

Jamaica has jumped enthusiastically onto the Trayvon Martin bandwagon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m following the story closely as well, and have had several discussions on radio about it. But some Jamaicans have been asking why we are so focused on Trayvon’s story, but you rarely see that level of interest in the many cases of killings in Jamaica – many of which also involve children. Here are a few ideas.

1. It’s much easier to do veranda commentary than it is to jump up from your computer and get involved. Protesting is a hot, sweaty activity that usually involves missing work and risking your face being on national TV or in the newspapers, associated with, gasp, a cause!

 

Witness the poorly supported civil society protest outside the Ministry of National Security to call for better policing. This was shortly after the killings of Immaculate High School student Vanessa Kirkland, which I wrote about here and 13-year old Niketa Cameron, both allegedly by police.Vanessa’s death, in particular, provoked outrage. Should that outrage have translated into support for that protest? Why would Jamaicans who were expressing longing to join a march for Trayvon, not have supported a local protest?

Most local protests, however, are organized by groups like Jamaicans for Justice, which are viewed, at best, with scepticism by many Jamaicans, and at worst, with downright hostility, as I said here. In fact, JFJ has recently written to the papers, trying to change the perception of the group. Is that attitude to the human rights groups a factor? I believe it probably is.

2. The US media cover such stories in a way that the Jamaican newsrooms don’t (can’t?) Blow by blow coverage, digging into everybody’s backgrounds, camping out outside offices and homes, and hours of hours and HOURS of airtime devoted to the story. They bring victims to life. Trayvon sounds like the kid next door, and you are drawn into the story in a way that doesn’t seem to happen often here. Here’s an example. Quick –  what do you know about Niketa Cameron? Probably nothing. I bet her name didn’t even ring a bell.

3. The racial element to this story has proved irresistible. Many, or most of us, have family in the US.

Trayvon Martin Protest – Sanford (Photo credit: werthmedia)

Our fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins and friends are black men living in the States. They could have been Trayvon Martin. That’s certainly what it feels like.

Having said all this, a colleague said to me that she does not believe the cases are comparable. INDECOM, the Independent Commission of Investigations,  investigates police killings in Jamaica and immediately started to probe the killings of Vanessa and Niketa. In other words, the responsible government agency sprang into action, and made this known publicly. On the other hand, she says, in Florida, the authorities failed to act.

She points to the outrage over the case of the Kingston College student allegedly killed by the X-6 driver, and the way the authorities here in Jamaica were forced to react to that public outrage. She argues that if a teenager walking in Cherry Gardens had been killed by a resident on neighbourhood watch patrol, there would have been similar outrage here.

What do you think? Is she right?

Related articles

• Trayvon Martin’s family to attend George Zimmerman’s hearing (clickorlando.com)
• Zimmerman: Trayvon’s Last Words Were ‘OK, You Got It’ (newser.com)

Human Wrongs Groups

human rights (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

I get it. People don’t like Jamaicans for Justice, and a lot of people probably believe the name should be changed to Jamaicans for Injustice. Former controversial cop Reneto Adams wasn’t shy about his dislike of the organisation, which he dubbed, along with like-minded entities (think Amnesty International) as “human wrongs groups.”  He wasn’t alone.

Jamaica has high levels of violent, horrendous crime. Human rights activists have been painted as criminal lovers and defenders of criminals because they dare to take the hugely unpopular position that each and every one of us (including gunmen) should have our human rights respected and should not be abused by agents of the state. Their insistence that force should be a last resort and that the level of police killings in Jamaica is unacceptable makes them targets of hostility.

Photo courtesy of freedigitalimages.net

I get that. I hold no brief for JFJ although I’m sure it sounds like it sometimes, since I feel obligated to correct the wrong and unfair comments made about the group by callers to my programmes.

eg they never speak out when police are killed. NOT TRUE. JFJ issues a statement of condemnation whenever policemen are killed. I know this as a fact.  I see the statements when they come into the newsroom and I see them included in the newscast.

They only take up for criminals (whether alleged, accused or convicted). NOT TRUE. JFJ has, for several years, maintained an active and spirited advocacy on behalf of children in the care of the State that has resulted in the Government of Jamaica being forced to defend itself before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights.

http://www.jamaicansforjustice.org/nmcms.php?snippets=news&p=news_details&id=1488

But I digress. So I get why Jamaicans dislike them. Here’s what I don’t get. JFJ speaks out when they believe there have been human rights abuses by agents of the state. That is the cause which they have chosen. So what’s with this constant call for them to speak out on behalf of victims of crime, incest survivors, children abandoned in the jungle and left to be brought up by Tarzan and Jane, etc etc?

Whether you like their mandate or not, they have chosen it, and they are executing it. If we think those other causes are important, why not take them up ourselves? I am sure Tarzan’s adopted kids would appreciate it.