Social and Political commentator Keith Joseph has labelled the government’s love box initiative as ‘plantation love boxes’ as evidence of his thesis that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a plantation society.
“It seems that our country, St. Vincent and the Grenadines has become transfixed on allowing itself to become once more a plantation. This time, it appears to be a plantation for Ralph Gonsalves and his minions”.
He stated that the country has become a glorified plantation 600 years remove. Central Kingstown MP, Hon. St. Clair Leacock was credited with coining the idea often stating: ‘Ralph Gonsalves, we are not on your plantation’.
Keith Joseph in his weekly Just another Look program said “those most loyal to the owners and controllers of the plantation are the ones who would become house slaves. They are the ones who will get the jobs.”.
“They are the ones who will benefit financially from the quality of the jobs they get. And in return, what is required of them is the same blind loyalty. They become the gatekeepers of the plantation”.
“It is the reason why people have become scared of speaking for so long in St. Vincent and the Grenadines because they felt that walls have ears. Anything you say, by way of a criticism will soon enough return to the ears of the leadership of the plantation owners and controllers”.
The ULP critic noted that this has been articulated in the ‘Own the campaign and Own the jobs’ rhetoric of the governing party.
“The one good thing that the plantation owners and controllers have been able to do from conquest has always been to divide and rule the people that they control”.
“They make people dislike each other. They divide families. In fact, they destroyed families. And they still are today. In the same household, people are pitted against each other because of the tribalistic nature of the politics. They alone must eat the fruits of labour. They don’t care if their brother, sister, mother or father don’t get”.
1 Comment
He is of course absolutely correct in his analysis.
But he forget to mention own the police and own the judiciary, so I will mention planter Ralphs further ownership.
Many Vincentians today are a dishonor for their ancesters, some of those whose ancesters were slaves are an absolute disgrace.