History can't be changed to suit politics
tribune242.com editorial:
A CALLER to the Krissy Love radio talk show last week - in a discussion as to whether the image of Sir Stafford Sands should be on our $10 bill - said that to understand Sir Stafford one would have to understand the times in which he lived.
"Sir Stafford Sands was a creature of his times," said the caller. "It was the times in which he lived that made him think the way he did and do the things that he did." In his opinion Bahamians were not sufficiently mature to accept that position, but in fact that is the way all history should be understood -- in its own context, in its own time. To do otherwise would distort the facts.
The times in which Sir Stafford lived were times of racial prejudice.
A person of colour could not go to such public places as theatres, hotels, restaurants or even Bay Street barbers who cut only the white man's hair. Sir Stafford bought into the idea introduced to these islands in an earlier generation by American hotelier Henry Flagler, who in 1898 built the British Colonial Hotel (then a wooden building) and convinced the Bahamian power structure of those days that white Americans, particularly those from the south, would not frequent the islands if there was a mixing of the races.
And so to protect the tourist industry that he had taken from a short term winter resort to a year-round money spinner, Sir Stafford was intent on keeping the hotels, and any area that a visitor might frequent, exclusive.
This was a matter over which Sir Stafford and Sir Etienne Dupuch -- who in 1956 was threatened with arrest on the floor of the House when he introduced a Resolution to break down racial discrimination in public places -- battled for most of their political lives. Eventually Sir Stafford saw the light, but as Sir Etienne was to write of his friend on his death, it was too late when the scales fell from his eyes.
"If you want to see a monument to the business genius of a man...look around you in the colony today," Sir Etienne wrote in 1972. "Still... he was not a wise man in the all-important area of human relations. The time came when Stafford saw the light. But it was too late..." However, it was not too late for these two strong men in their personal relations. They each respected the other, and in the end the two arch enemies closed their lives, the closest of friends.
Sir Stafford was an enigma. There were those who called him a racist. There were others, mostly persons of colour, who would resent such a suggestion. There were two sides to the man.
One caller to the Krissy Love show was one of the many who could say with all sincerity: "I don't think he was that much of a racist. He was good for black people." She said her aunt was a nanny for Sir Stafford's daughter, and she as a child wore many of his daughter's hand-me-downs. "He was good to us, we were so poor."
There was another, a constituent in his City district, who told of his concern for his constituents who had outside toilets and how he gave them money to improve their situation.
In 1940, said another caller, "our economy was rock bottom -- there was nothing in this country, there was no way out for us." She said Sir Stafford took his own money and went around the world to build the country's tourist industry and because he was white he was able to bring people in. He took the police band on his trips with him. "They were all blacks," she said, "he ensured that they had good rooms in hotels, he ensured they were treated with respect and he joined them in their rooms. His own money paid for these trips."
She told how he took care of the entertainers and how he made certain that such Over the Hill nightclubs as the Cat and Fiddle and Silver Slipper prospered.
Troubadour Nat Saunders was on the show and admitted that as far as entertainers were concerned the UBP government was better for them than their own black government. On another occasion and in a different context, entertainer Leroy "Duke" Hanna said: "Sir Stafford Sands projected us, all of us, the great bands headed by people like Freddie Munnings Sr, the musicians, the dancers, the singers, the showmen...Sir Stafford made sure we were there on every tourist campaign trip. Culture was tops and well appreciated under Sir Stafford and his colleagues. But it just started dying after 1967..."
Yes, it started dying as the race card was being played loud and clear to create hatred and suspicion for the purpose of dividing Bahamians and winning elections.
Today, the PLP and those tainted with their racial hatreds have come, in the words of Mark Antony at the bier of Julius Caesar, not to praise him, but to inter the good that he has done in this country with his bones, so that whatever evil they might have perceived in him can grow, prosper and be enshrined for posterity. However, Sir Stafford touched and uplifted so many Bahamian lives that we do not think that Fred Mitchell and his ilk will be able to strike him from the $10 bill in the future.
As one caller told Krissy Love, Bahamians have to learn they cannot change their history to accommodate their political agenda. And, what we must also remember: The history of the Bahamas did not start in 1967. Many sacrifices were made by many Bahamians before then to make the successes of 1967 possible.
May 13, 2010
tribune242
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label Sir Stafford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sir Stafford. Show all posts
Friday, May 14, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Sir Stafford Sands image on The Bahamas' $10 banknote... debate rages on
Sir Stafford Sands on $10 debate rages on
tribune242:
THE DEBATE continued earlier this week over the government's decision to return the image of Sir Stafford Sands to the Bahamas' $10 banknote, replacing the image of Queen Elizabeth II.
On ZNS' Issues of the Day radio programme hosted by Krissy Love, callers voiced their support and condemnation of the government's idea as the show engaged in a wider discussion on race relations in the Bahamas.
One caller, identified as Eric said that Sir Stafford should not have been taken off the $10 bill in the first place by the PLP as he did more for the Bahamas in tourism than any other one person.
Another caller said that he did not see why the debate is continuing to be waged as Sir Stafford clearly had done much for the Bahamas.
Early in the week, opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell condemned the FNM's decision to return the image of Sir Stafford to the $10 bill after it has been taken off during the PLP administration.
Although generally recognised as the "principal architect" of the modern Bahamas economy, Mr Mitchell said that if the PLP were to regain the government in 2012, this decision would be one that would be reversed once again.
"I think it's an inappropriate tempting of fate in the face of the earlier dispute, and my position is the same; he should not be on the $10 bill, and that it should be removed if there is an opportunity for the PLP to do so at some future point," the Fox Hill MP said.
However, another caller on Issues of the Day said that if persons have contributed to the building of the nation - post 1973 -- they should be the ones who are considered for being placed on the nation's currency.
"Now as far as it pertains to Sir Stafford and his legacy to the entire Bahamas, his contribution is massive. So if they want to erect a bust of him over at the Treasury Department, the Central Bank, or the Ministry of Tourism, or whatever other areas where he played a significant role; name buildings after him," he said.
Another caller, identified as Pauper said that Bahamians need to mature and understand that while Sir Stafford was not a perfect man, he, like Sir Lynden Pindling, had made a tremendous contribution to the Bahamas and should be honoured as such.
"I think we need to grow up and be politically more mature. I don't know the reason, Krissy, like you said why they took him off the bill. I didn't have a problem when they put him on it. See. Krissy, I understand this to be us celebrating the good about Sir Stafford Sands.
"Sir Stafford Sands wasn't perfect. Sir Lynden wasn't perfect, but he is still on the dollar bill.
"So let's celebrate, grow up and be mature.
"Don't worry about all the bad things that Sir Stafford Sands did, and how the majority of us might be black and some of them was white. Let's think about the good that Sir Stafford do and the good what Sir Lynden do. That is why we put them there," he said.
The well-known caller continued to plead for Bahamians to move away from the black and white issue as the racism "baggage" needs to be dropped so that the populace can be "mentally freed."
May 07, 2010
tribune242
tribune242:
THE DEBATE continued earlier this week over the government's decision to return the image of Sir Stafford Sands to the Bahamas' $10 banknote, replacing the image of Queen Elizabeth II.
On ZNS' Issues of the Day radio programme hosted by Krissy Love, callers voiced their support and condemnation of the government's idea as the show engaged in a wider discussion on race relations in the Bahamas.
One caller, identified as Eric said that Sir Stafford should not have been taken off the $10 bill in the first place by the PLP as he did more for the Bahamas in tourism than any other one person.
Another caller said that he did not see why the debate is continuing to be waged as Sir Stafford clearly had done much for the Bahamas.
Early in the week, opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell condemned the FNM's decision to return the image of Sir Stafford to the $10 bill after it has been taken off during the PLP administration.
Although generally recognised as the "principal architect" of the modern Bahamas economy, Mr Mitchell said that if the PLP were to regain the government in 2012, this decision would be one that would be reversed once again.
"I think it's an inappropriate tempting of fate in the face of the earlier dispute, and my position is the same; he should not be on the $10 bill, and that it should be removed if there is an opportunity for the PLP to do so at some future point," the Fox Hill MP said.
However, another caller on Issues of the Day said that if persons have contributed to the building of the nation - post 1973 -- they should be the ones who are considered for being placed on the nation's currency.
"Now as far as it pertains to Sir Stafford and his legacy to the entire Bahamas, his contribution is massive. So if they want to erect a bust of him over at the Treasury Department, the Central Bank, or the Ministry of Tourism, or whatever other areas where he played a significant role; name buildings after him," he said.
Another caller, identified as Pauper said that Bahamians need to mature and understand that while Sir Stafford was not a perfect man, he, like Sir Lynden Pindling, had made a tremendous contribution to the Bahamas and should be honoured as such.
"I think we need to grow up and be politically more mature. I don't know the reason, Krissy, like you said why they took him off the bill. I didn't have a problem when they put him on it. See. Krissy, I understand this to be us celebrating the good about Sir Stafford Sands.
"Sir Stafford Sands wasn't perfect. Sir Lynden wasn't perfect, but he is still on the dollar bill.
"So let's celebrate, grow up and be mature.
"Don't worry about all the bad things that Sir Stafford Sands did, and how the majority of us might be black and some of them was white. Let's think about the good that Sir Stafford do and the good what Sir Lynden do. That is why we put them there," he said.
The well-known caller continued to plead for Bahamians to move away from the black and white issue as the racism "baggage" needs to be dropped so that the populace can be "mentally freed."
May 07, 2010
tribune242
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