Dear Editor,
I have just returned from an
interesting lecture on ‘Our Right to Know’ at the College of The Bahamas, and was
intrigued by a comment made by one of the panelists, Retired Justice Jeanne
Thompson, who bemoaned the sense of apathy that exists amongst the students at
that institution as well as the complacency that has pervaded the country on
the whole. She was asking, quite rightly: where is our spunk?
As the foremost tertiary
institution in the country, COB has a crucial role to play in molding the young
minds of this country and shaping our future as a nation. It is at institutions
such as these where the younger generation should be encouraged to constantly ‘question
the obvious” (as my late father-in-law, Dr Jackson Burnside, would say) by getting
involved in, and carrying out in-depth research in all aspects of our society
and environment whilst agitating for change.
Ms Thompson spoke about her
social activism in the days of her youth, whilst Sam Duncombe spoke
despairingly about the immense lack of public support for the many causes that
are negatively impacting our country and the generations yet unborn.
So what has changed? The Bahamian
has always been a complacent race of people, not known for radical thinking and
civil unrest, although there are significant points in our history that
demonstrate undeniable spunk that led to positive change: e.g. when the Women’s
Suffrage Movement took off, or when Burma Road happened, when the Mace was
pitched through the window, or when the Unions marched in solidarity against
social injustices.
Where is this passion now? Is it
because we do not have burning issues to unite us, is it because we have lost
our sense of community and therefore are not united in our stance? Are we no
longer developing strong leaders who can unite and ignite the passion in our
causes? Have we lost our powers of observation, questioning and debate? Are we
no longer focused on long range goals of building the country’s future? Are we
content to satisfy our concerns amidst the many radio talk shows and social
media sites? Have these entities diminished our ability to think for ourselves?
Or is it just that we really could care less?
This, in itself, is a topic
worthy of research and debate right there at COB!
Yours sincerely,
Pam Burnside
