Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange says she is disturbed by the recent conduct of the Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding, following his participation in a dramatisation that involved a chain being placed around the neck of man at a political rally in South St Andrew.

In a statement on Tuesday, September 12, Grange said that she is disappointed with Golding’s conduct who, on the weekend, paraded a Jamaican man of African descent with a large chain around his neck while Golding positioned himself as the architect of the man’s freedom.

“I was horror-struck when I saw Mark Golding pull the man by the large chain around his neck while laughing and having a jolly good time. My heart sank as I remembered the ancestors who were similarly treated as they endured hundreds of years of unspeakable oppression and brutality perpetrated by white colonial enslavers in a long war for our freedom today. All of us have been the beneficiaries of emancipation given to us by the ancestors. We mustn’t take it lightly that today we live the life our African ancestors could only dream of. How could the holder of such a high constitutional office as Leader of the Opposition so disrespect our ancestors who gave their lives so that we could be here today?”

OLIVIA GRANGE

The culture minister added that at a time when we are demanding that enslavers set things right for the hundreds of years of chattel slavery of our African ancestors, we cannot accept this behaviour from the leader of the Opposition.

“Mr Golding’s reprehensible conduct has angered Jamaicans from all walks of life as his performance mirrored a very painful period when our ancestors were chained and pulled by chains about their necks, sometimes before cheering crowds at auctions where they were sold, or as a mere act to fulfil the perverse pleasure of the oppressor. Would the ancestors be pleased with Mark Golding’s behaviour? Would they cheer him? Or would they reject him and condemn his behaviour?” Grange said.

“Mark Golding has made a mockery of the sacrifice of our foreparents. He should at minimum apologise and commit never to disrespect our people again,” she added.

Several other stakeholders and advocacy groups have called for Golding to issue an apology to the Jamaican people.