I do
not want to hammer away at this, but it is a truism that if you protest racism
you are going to upset some racists.
Recently,
an Anguillian radio host took a turn on his radio station against a citizen who
dared to express his opinion of Covid-19 vaccination refusers. The citizen
criticised persons who refuse vaccination, claiming they will hinder the
reopening of the island’s tourism-based economy. The citizen in question is White, and the radio host is Black.
He
urged government that, “When
everyone who wants vaccination gets it, probably in May, we need to open. Do away with the 14-day quarantine. It is not realistic to expect tourists to
endure that. People who choose not to
get vaccinated should stay home and hide out. They should not have the option of hospital
treatment, they should not get to work in tourism, travel, public service, or
any forward-facing job. I do not want to
be held hostage by people who choose to hide from covid. … there
has to be an exit strategy, or we will collapse economically. Government needs to view the requirement for
vaccination as a Health and Safety issue, much like hard hats on a construction
site. If you work in construction, you
wear the required PPE. No-one can tell
the employer they cannot demand PPE. Workers
who refuse get sent home. In any
hospitality related job, workers who refuse vaccination should be sent home.”
So,
the background to this incident is the coronavirus pandemic and the controversy
over both the disease and the cure. The
disease is real, as every virologist and epidemiologist has convincingly explained. In addition to the many preventable deaths,
the crippling, long-term damage to the health of survivors is worrying. It is not just the lungs that are affected. So too are the brain, heart, liver, kidneys,
and blood. Governments all around the
world are working with the World Health Organisation and centres for disease
control to develop mechanisms for preventing and curing the diseases caused by
this virus.
This
has not stopped the many loud and deranged Covid-deniers out there. Most of them are White but some of them Black. Some White ones, like Robert Kennedy Jr are persons
of influence. They are listened to and
believed by Anguillians, among others.
These
vaccination sceptics are busy publishing propaganda against the vaccinations
that are offered against the virus: their
approval was too hurried. They are
unproven treatments. They will inject
poisons into us. They are intended to kill
us off. They are a conspiracy by foreign
billionaires to reduce the earth’s population.
These
messages of disinformation and misinformation by malicious trolls are widely propagated
on Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, and other social media. They have infected the minds of many
otherwise intelligent listeners in Anguilla.
Some have understandably developed unfounded doubts about not just the
existence of the virus but, more worrying, about the safety and effectiveness
of the vaccines.
So,
back to the incident in question. The
radio host ranted on his radio programme for nearly an hour against this “bold
statement made by that man.” He repeatedly
warned the citizen that he had overstepped his bounds. What he wrote was disrespectful to
Anguillians because he was not a “born Anguillian”. His tone was too abrasive. He was being disrespectful to
Anguillians. He had to understand that,
as someone not born here, he could not be allowed to “get in front of
Anguillians.” Ninety percent of the
villas are now owned by White expats.
They have taken over the villa business in Anguilla. They have come to believe that all
Anguillians are inferior to them.
According
to the radio host, the citizen’s real offence was that he was an “expat”, a
White man, lecturing Black Anguillians. The
radio host, while protesting that he was not a racist, that he loved some
Whites who knew their place, proceeded to attack the citizen entirely based on
his colour and place of origin. Where,
he asked, did this expat citizen get the power to be able to speak like this without
fear to born Anguillians? Who, he asked,
emboldened him? Who did he think he was
to speak to Anguillians in this tone of voice?
He threatened ominously that this person ought to be afraid for speaking
out in this way. He needed to apologise
to us for his words and their tone. The
warning of violence was unmistakable to the alert listener.
The
radio host’s entire critique of the citizen was not a reasoned repudiation of
the citizen’s opinion on this public health issue. It was an unspoken but false suggestion that
White people believe in the virus while Black people hold the better view that
the virus is fake and the vaccination dangerous. White people, he implied, conspire to kill
off black people with a dangerous and unproven vaccination. Four hundred years of slavery, he stated, had
alerted Black Anguillians to be alert to the natural race prejudice of White
people and to reject their views. Black
people were justified in refusing to accept the Covid vaccination.
It
was a classic racist rant. I know the
radio host and I do not believe he is racially prejudiced. But he must be careful about how he expresses
himself. Every word appeared designed to
trigger outrage and fear in the Black listener. It was an indulgence in race
blaming, envy, and victimhood. It appeared
designed to stir up listeners to condemn and destroy this stranger in their
midst, this foreigner from afar who had dared to express his opinion about
vaccination deniers. It was a shameful
performance on the part of the radio host.
The
radio host seemed to assume that every Anguillian listening to his rant would
agree with him. It assumed that the
average Anguillian shared his racist views.
I do not accept that Anguillians generally believe themselves, because
of their colour or their place of birth, to be either victims or superior to
anyone else. This is not just a chip on
the shoulder. It is nothing but a
demonstration of a crippling inferiority complex.
Personally,
I believe that any person among us who refuses to take the anti-Covid vaccine
when it is offered is a danger to not just himself. He is a public health risk to the general
population. He should be sanctioned by
law. There should be a fine or imprisonment.
Those
of us of a certain age can remember in the 1950s and 1960s when we were not
allowed on an aeroplane if we could not produce the yellow WHO Smallpox
vaccination certificate. No sensible
person at the time objected to this legal requirement. If we are going to be enclosed in a limited
space with fellow travelers, we should not be made to feel we are being
entombed with them. Once the Covid-19
vaccination campaign has come to an end, airlines and ferries should be obliged
not to accept as a passenger anyone who does not produce a valid vaccination
certificate.
When
we are relaxing with friends around a social meal or a drink in a bar, we are
entitled to feel safe. We should not be
exposed to reckless individuals who care nothing of our health. In the USA, when we try to buy a drink in a
bar, we are asked to show identification to prove we are over twenty-one. We should similarly be required by law to
show our vaccination certificate to prove we are safe to be included in the
clientele.
Anyone
refusing to be vaccinated in Anguilla should be refused entry to ‘planes,
ferries, restaurants and bars. It should
be a prerequisite, an essential qualification, for employment in the tourism
industry. No teacher should be allowed
in school who is not vaccinated.
It
may not yet be politically feasible to make Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory by
law. But every effort should be made to
encourage Anguillians to get vaccinated.
In fact, we need to work hard on vaccinations for disinformation of all
kinds.
