Juliet Cutherbert-Fynn exhibited a lack of class and decorum at Sunday’s JLP Annual Conference.

She did a disservice to her party and made the Prime Minister vulnerable at a time when he is fighting off a resurgent PNP.

Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn was crass and played the race card which diminishes not just her but all Jamaicans.

Jamaica is made up of all ethnicities. Blackness doesn’t give you an automatic determination to be a Jamaican.

She should be censured for going on a national stage and spewing such vile hatred and racist barbs against a man who has dedicated himself to national service.

Mark Golding’s parents were resolute servants to Jamaica, pledging themselves to the betterment of the country. It is a credit to them that their son wants to do his part to make Jamaica better and elevate it from its current position. They were not carpetbaggers, grubby opportunists looking to advance themselves. Cuthbert-Flynn should look into the calibre of the man she denigrated on Sunday.

Political parties should both edit and vet speeches made by people speaking on behalf of them on stage. No one should go up and spout inane nonsense that embarrasses the party.

That’s exactly what Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn did on Sunday, no doubt looking to curry favour and make a name for herself.

Of the Leader of the PNP, Mark Golding, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn had this to say: “He is a man who believes in holding chains around the necks of black people. We have to say no to Markie British because he is a man who loves to show off, love to boast and say he done rich already. We have to say no to the man that is leading the PNP, who love to style black people and call them little boy and little girl.”

This is so racist and horrible and should be called out. 

When one talks of racism in a Jamaican context more often than not it connotes blacks being subjected to it by whites with a colonial subtext in there. But there is racism by blacks against others more so in the game to obtain political power.

I’ve often thought why certain people, particularly those in the business and mercantile class, do not enter politics and utilise their skills for the national good. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn demonstrated why many refrain from entering the political arena. Jamaican politics is unable to attract top-tier talent but rather plodding one-dimensional yeomen who game the system. If Jamaiaca is going to rise to developed status with educated citizens able to grow the economy, it will take talented, well-adjusted and intrepid people to do so, regardless of their colour, creed or religion.

Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn refused to grasp that instead showing how shallow and unedifying she is.

Sure, up on the stage you can take shots at Golding’s policies and his plans for the country but to play the race card and declare that he wants to denigrate and subjugate black people is way out of order. You need to check yourself and you should issue a written apology to Mark Golding – that’s if you have a modicum of decency and intend on being a reputable stateswoman.

What you sought to do on Sunday was stoke race hatred. It was nasty and unbecoming.

But you have done it before saying of Mark Golding, “ He can never be more Jamaican than any black Jamaican. I have more rights to this land where my great great gran chopped sugar cane in St Thomas.”

Here again, she displays her ignorance and lack of education. Is this the kind of person the JLP wants in its party?

So are you saying that blacks are head of the totem pole when it comes to being Jamaican? Isn’t it enough that Mark Golding is Jamaican? Can’t you see that, even through your trammelled racist eyes?

Black people are not indigenous to Jamaica. Sure, they make up 95 per cent of the population but they are not of Jamaica-not in the way Indians are of India or Chinese people are of China going back thousands of years.. Blacks were brought to Jamaica as slaves, slaves of African descent. Other people settled in Jamaica- Chinese, Indian Europeans, and Lebanese. Jamaica is a potpourri of people- “Out Of Many, One People “. You are a parliamentarian yet you do not know your national motto. Perhaps you would be better off cutting cane in St Thomas and forget about your political aspirations – you don’t have the grace, the comportment, the intellect to be a parliamentarian of note.

You should take a leaf out of Juliet Honess’ book. Note how she conducted herself on Sunday. She spoke intelligently and did not opt to go into the gutter as you did. Daryl Vaz, Bobby Montegue, and Chris Tufton all made worthy points and did not besmirch people’s colour or race. You opted to. Why? 

In the U.S. there are racial tensions. We saw it during the election cycle. We don’t need it in Jamaica and we don’t need you being a horrible oik.

You unwittingly put the Prime Minister and former senior leaders in positions where they can be questioned and political capital can be made of their predicament all because you were allowed to bark unmuzzled.

This is Cuthbert-Flynn opening the door for more salvos to be lobbed at her party.

“We have to say no to the PNP tapanaris man and his friend Peter Bunting who is really the leader. They are the same ones who had a company years ago that benefited from the wicked PNP policies and made millions off the backs of Jamaican people. We have to say no to the man who tell us out of his own mouth that him want to run Jamaica for himself and tapanaris friend.”

You have to be careful not to fall on land minds and severe limbs. Mark Golding, the so-called man who wants to chain black people and enrich himself has been vetted and given the all clear with the Integrity Commission. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is currently embroiled in a fight with the Integrity Commission who has not given him the all clear.

FINSAC broke many people in Jamaica and it is a time and situation Jamaica should never return to. Some got absolved of their obligations including both a former JLP Minister of Finance and a former Prime Minister, a Prime Minister who owed some J$450 million for a hotel venture that went awry. 

With your diatribe on Sunday, you left the door open for your political foes to come at your party, all because you ran your mouth off without thinking. Now they can run the tagline “ Guess who benefitted?” It was a self-inflicted wound. 

The Prime Minister’s presentation on Sunday was rather good and he made the point that he didn’t reference the opposition – Performance over propaganda as Daryl Vaz would say. 

Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, you were a fantastic athlete and as such you would know the importance of when to turn it on. The same goes with politics-it’s a matter of technique and know-how. You need to take your notebook and pen and spend some time with your leader Andrew Holness.

By the way, don’t forget to make that apology to Mark Golding. Show that you are a lady of equanimity and propriety.