I have made it a habit over the years to not use the “Letters To The Editor” column of newspapers to respond to criticism about me or things I have done, but I felt it was absolutely imperative that I respond to the front-page story in The Punch on April 24, 2003, about me and something that happened more than thirty years ago.
After reading that article, many of my friends here in Grand Bahama, black and white, have mentioned to me that they did not know about that aspect of my life, and one of my white friends even jokingly commented that he did not know that I once was a racist.
It is no secret that in the 1960s, I embraced the philosophy of Malcolm X and the Black Power Movement in the United States and strongly believed at the time that racism in The Bahamas had to be eradicated “by any means necessary,” as Malcolm once said about racism in the United States.
The incident that you wrote about concerning something I did at a concert put on by the marvelously gifted entertainer Nina Simone, who died recently, did indeed happen, but it was far from being an impulsive act by a “star-struck local journalist,” as you suggested in The Punch.
Nina Simone was a remarkable woman. Before she came to The Bahamas, I had met her some time earlier in New York and had told her how much I admired the “protest” songs that were included in her concert repertoire. They were not racist songs, but rather songs whose lyrics denounced that disgraceful period in American history when racism of the most oppressive nature was sanctioned by law in the Southern United States and practiced routinely in other parts of that country.
The same was also true to some degree in The Bahamas. In fact, as late as the early 1960s Blacks were still prohibited from going to the Savoy Theatre on Bay Street and for the most part were treated like second-class citizens in our own country. Personal experiences during that era helped to shape my thinking and galvanised my decision to do whatever was necessary to help change racist attitudes in this country.
I had spoken to Miss Simone earlier during the day of the concert at the Le Cabaret Theatre on Paradise Island that you wrote about, and during our conversation I reminded her about our first meeting some years earlier.
Amazingly, she remembered it very well.
That night at the Le Cabaret concert, I don’t know what those who took objection to songs she sang and remarks she made expected to hear when they decided to attend the show. It was a typical Nina Simone concert and for her to have changed the selection of songs that she chose to sing would have been akin to Bob Marley performing and not singing reggae.
When some members of the audience began to boo and several even walked out, I unhesitatingly made the decision to let my “black sister” know that there were persons in the audience who admired and appreciated her.
Some years later, in the early 1980s when I lived in Washington, D.C., Miss Simone, who I think was living in Switzerland at the time, appeared at the Warner Theatre in D.C. during a concert tour of the United States. I went backstage to see her, and she vividly recalled the events of that night and how appreciative she was of the “trouble” I took to make her feel welcomed.
My views on racism have not changed. I still abhor this insidious, wicked and vile form of human degradation. But we have come a mighty long way in closing the chasm of racial polarisation that existed in this country in the 1960s, and we certainly now have a more racially homogeneous society, although there are still evil persons in this country ﾗ black and white ﾗ who would seek to turn the clock back on the progress that has made and retard future advancement in this direction.
This cannot and must not be allowed to happen.
That is why those who suggest that Brent Symonette should not seek to become leader of the Opposition Free National Movement because he is a white Bahamian are just as guilty of practicing racism today as those racist elements that existed in the now defunct United Bahamian Party in the 1960s.
What’s more, Brent’s father, the late Sir Roland Symonette, was not one of those members of the UBP who were overtly racist; rather, he was a kind and benevolent gentleman whose largesse assisted many Bahamian families Over-The-Hill in becoming homeowners.
This is not meant to be an endorsement of Brent Symonette’s rumoured bid to become FNM leader at his party’s upcoming convention, but if he decides to run, he is qualified in every respect to seek that position, and the colour of his skin should not be a barrier to his ambitions.
Let me quickly add, however, that I think that Tommy Turnquest still offers the best hope as leader of the FNM in its quest to return to power as the government of The Bahamas. I have gotten to know Tommy quite well over the past several years, and he is much smarter and more politically astute than some people give him credit for.
Moreover, the FNM did not lose the last election because Tommy was designated as leader-elect. It would be a far more accurate conclusion to ascribe blame for the shocking defeat of the FNM in the last election to miscalculations made by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, such as the disastrous referendum on equal rights for women that he insisted on having just two months before the general election without fully consulting the Bahamian electorate.
In my view, Tommy deserves to be given the opportunity to prove his worth as leader of the FNM unencumbered by the influence of the former Prime Minister. To paraphrase a terminology used by my good friend P. Anthony White at the end of his columns, I am offering these suggestions “for what they are worth.”
Yours, etc.,
Oswald T. Brown
Letter To The Editor, The Nassau Guardian
