The Editor, Sir:

With February here, the time of year when we celebrate Black History, I consider it an opportune time to express my displeasure in how we have come to embrace the act of bleaching as a norm in Jamaica.

It is ironic in a country where even a mere child utters 'black is beauty', that at least two out of every 10 persons encountered are polished with bleaching cream.

The question then is: How many of us really appreciate our blackness? When we say we are proud to be black, is it just mere talk?

'Saviour of the darkness'

Despite the misconception of many, this phenomenon is not unique to people of a certain social class. It is rather appalling that many professionals have gravitated to the 'saviour of the darkness'.

What message then are we sending to our children? It is quite usual for Black History Month celebrations to go on in schools around this time of the year. It is rather difficult for us to preach black pride to our children when some educators and parents have also been trapped in the web of bleaching.

As a people, have we taken the true meaning out of black history? Are we just going through the motions ritually each year in our celebrations?

Take veil from eyes

It is a matter of disdain that many years after we have received freedom, the term black is tantamount to ugly for some Jamaicans. For many, both terms have been joined together in 'unholy matrimony ' and are inseparable.

Jamaicans need to make a concerted effort to take the veil from their eyes and begin to truly appreciate their blackness.

If Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey and Rosa Parks were able to see the level of self-depreciation that some Jamaicans still display, they would turn on their bellies in their graves.

It is of paramount importance that we remind ourselves that 'to be black no longer means to be at the back'.

I am, etc.,

MARY ANN LEAMY

Clonmel District

Clonmel P O, St Mary.