Hilary Robertson-Hickling
FREEDOM OF SPEECH is highly valued in the western world, but the consequences are frequently underestimated. The furore created by anti-Islamic cartoons originating in Denmark is a case in point. This has resulted in upheavals, destruction of embassies and boycotts of Danish products throughout the Islamic world.
While there are legal constraints throughout the western world which may be applied in situations of defamation and slander, there
is a free for all in terms of issues held sacred by others. Paradoxically the Inquisition and its modern equivalents exiled Europeans to the Americas, sent dissenters to Siberia when their utterances proved heretical to the religious authorities of the day. Witches were regularly burned in the United States of America and subsequently African-Americans were lynched in a similar vein. Freedom of speech is in the mouth and pen of the beholder, the writer and the powerful. In the globalised world we need to consider what we say and how we communicate ideas to those who are different from us, especially when we want them to buy our products.
'BLACKLISTED'
This links in to the ongoing debate in Jamaica about the freedom that performers have to say and sing what they please while seeking the patronage of others with whom they disagree. The debate about homosexuality and violence have caused some of our local artistes to be 'blacklisted' in the very markets where they need to make their living. Jamaicans often feel free to use the 'forty shilling word' and pay the fine. But in the globalised world things are changing and there is greater competition as our performers are realizing. In the most recent debate about the Grammys there is a suggestion that dancehall and reggae should become different genres. Then most of the dancehall artistes have realised that they do not have the requisite number of albums to enter the competition.
There is also a feeling in Jamaica that we can say anything about other people without the benefit of the facts sometimes. The painful aspects of this are clear in the current leadership race, and our radios are awash with this on the daily talk shows. Even the Parliament affords politicians the opportunity to defame the character of others who are defenceless. We need to develop a greater understanding of the consequences of our words, and behave as responsible people. When we realise that the greatest power we have when others seek to defame us is to defend ourselves in the courts and where possible boycott the goods and services that they provide, then we will be effective.
In the face of the racist rhetoric typical of a certain era of American life, Rosa Parks and many others boycotted the buses and took action in their own defence. Freedom of speech is a two-edged sword or a 'Panya machete' it cuts both ways and that lovely Jamaican saying reminds us 'not everything good fe eat good fe talk'. Many Jamaicans were brought up on a steady diet of 'lying lips are an abomination to the Lord' and had their mouths washed with soap for some careless comment.
While I am not proposing a return to those days, I am horrified about the invective hurled by family members at each other, about the way that we routinely curse each other and the vicious comments which we reserve for the one little country that most of us have. Many of those who curse this country do not realise that those countries which they want to enter rarely tolerate the level of abuse from their citizens. Time to think before we speak and remember that as soon as we say it the world has heard it.
Hilary Robertson-Hickling is a lecturer in management studies at the University of the West Indies.
