By Vilette Johnson-Duncan
As a child growing up in the West Indies, I always knew that there were some places I could not go on the beach or in the neighborhood because they were reserved for white people who either lived on or visited the Island as tourists.
I recall seeing some of these tourists with expensive cars and houses, knowing fully well that it would be a cold day in hell before I could afford these things myself. My mouth would drop wide open admiring these individuals. My thought was to steal, but my family would whip me silly if I tried. Family members had the right to whip you if they thought you were doing something wrong, no questions asked.
Some people might ask why I didn’t work for the same things by getting a job. Ever since I could recall, I worked in the fields digging for peanuts or English potatoes. I carried bananas from the field to the plantation. Still all this hard work did not bring me wealth. If I was lucky I made enough money to help my mom buy food.
White people did not work in the field. They owned the field or farm and were often the supervisors, ensuring we worked as quickly and hard as humanly possible. On an island that was predominantly black, the thought often crossed my mind as to how white people owned just about everything except the clothes on my back.
When I left the island at the age of 15 and went to live with my aunt in Florida, things looked somewhat different. Affirmative action was at work in the U.S. although white people still owned the means of production, some black people had better opportunities in the U.S. than those I knew growing up. Affirmative action as a legislation was actually nothing new. It existed after the second World War, giving job preference to veterans returning to their native land, whether or not they were qualified for the job. No one questioned the actions of those in power because the G.I. Bill benefited mostly white males. Now that affirmative action is not for the benefit of white males, everyone is suddenly wondering why it’s still around.
Affirmative action, as it is now, does not guarantee anyone a job. What it is supposed to do is remove barriers that prevent minorities, people with disabilities, women and aboriginal peoples from acquiring jobs. What many fail to realize is that affirmative action is a reaction to the larger issue of racism. But it is a Band-Aid solution that merely skirts the issue with a quick fix. It makes it too easy to attempt to cure the symptom while ignoring the disease.
Leave a Reply