Many workers feel that Bahamian culture is not respected in the way that it should be ﾖ that there is a strong lack of identity and Bahamians donﾴt know who they are.
Our music is not played enough; we are not proud of our dialect or the way we speak; we are more receptive to the American rap and disco music than our own.
This attitude towards culture can be described as a potential cultural nationalism, which is mostly a reaction to the way in which colonialism negates the cultural process of our people. Today, we are a nation and the concerns about culture seem to be taking more national character than before.
While some of the questions raised about culture are legitimate, nevertheless, they are deficient in dealing with the broad question of culture in the Bahamas. It is a good thing to be concerned about oneﾴs culture; however, our concerns cannot be separated from socio-economic realities, which reflect culture in all of its dimensions. In this country the productive mode is very backward, but it also reflects the low level of culture as well. This low level of productive mode and culture are the direct result of colonial and imperialist subjections. Any people whose talents and possibilities are not harnessed in a creative way, lacking meaningful practice in industry or made to feel inferior about its own history, will feel unsure about themselves, therefore, in an attempt to find their own sense of worth they will become very clannish, overly chauvinistic and insular about culture.
Culture is a universal phenomenon and not the property or monopoly of any particular group. As long as man exists on this planet earth, he will make culture. Manﾴs achievements in his struggle against nature are reflected in the sciences, art and technology, and all of this is culture. However, as man makes culture as we are making culture in the Bahamas, it must be realized that whatever its forms or content culture has its negative as well as positive conditions, a universal as well as a particular significance.
The sweetheart system is a part of our culture, however, it results in gross exploitation of the Bahamian female and this practice needs to be criticized and changed. It is not the intent of those who practice the sweetheart thing to be diabolical or exploitative, however, such a male chauvinist practice is so much a part of our ego identity that the question of right or wrong scarcely fazes us.
It is in the nature of the current economic system in the Bahamas to foster cultural forms, which result in exploitation. Amilcar Cabral in “Return to the Source” teaches us that “Culture is simultaneously the fruit of a people history and a determinant of history, by the positive or negative influence which it exerts on the evolution of relationships between man and his environment, among men or groups of man within a society as well as among different societies”. Manﾴs struggle against oppression challenges the worst in all culture and seeks to synthesize those practice which strengthen the collective and it opens us up to a broader international culture.
Building a high level of culture on a mass level in the Bahamas can only be achieved when culture has a humanitarian and a universal end, and this must include the ending of oppression and all forms of exploitations. Our struggles should broaden us out to the experiences of others, and provide the basis for a systematic understanding of the dynamics of social change. How do certain forms hold the masses down and what forms can advance them? How do the neo-colonial education and legal structures enhance cultural alienation among the masses and keep them down, and what structural forms are necessary to deal with their social emancipation?
The low level of culture in the Bahamas is criticized not to make the Bahamian feel bad because he knows very little about classical or jazz music, or very little of the various art forms ﾖ what must be criticized is the indifference to know about those cultural forms which are a part of international culture that could help to develop our own. Junkanoo and Goombay are proof enough that our people are capable of creativity, however, without a broader international cultural perspective our own cultural forms will become stuck in the mud, losing their local as well as international appeal.
We are not suggesting that European culture becomes the criteria by which all cultures are judged. Culture of all groups should be promoted in society in an atmosphere of cultural pluaralism. Culture should be universal ﾖ ballet, opera, music of all types, creative dancing, instrumentation, art, etc. should be open to all, regardless of economic status.
Educational forms, which are still part of colonial brain washing which promote class privilege and elitism and de-emphasize pride and self-respect in the masses, should be done away with. In our society rampant with class contradictions the best of culture is mostly accessible to the elite.
In an atmosphere where culture is accessible to all, our creative juices will flow thus stimulating our people to reach a rich and high level of culture.
Culture of any meaning cannot be made by people sitting down (particularly people with no background) and saying lets make culture; Lets write 50 songs; lets pain a picture that is different. This mechanical and mediocre approach has produced too much junk in the Bahamas already. Of course we must start where we are, but we must insist on standards and not get embarrassed because of our own cultural backwardness. The kind of mediocrity accepted from persons whose scanty knowledge or ability are not worthy of attention, should not be encouraged by institutions like our televisions and radio stations. Too many musicians who know very little about their craft are presented as stars. For the public sake these people should be taught to master an area.
In our quest to improve our culture on a mass level, this issue should not be how we differ from everyone else but how our little drops of humanity unite us with men and women all over the world who desire peace and prosperity for all.
Charles Fawkes, The Bahama Journal
Charles Fawkes is President of the National Consumers Association, Consumer Columnist for the Nassau Guardian and organizer for the Commonwealth Group of Unions, Editor of the Headline News, The ConsumerGuard and The Workersﾴ Vanguard. He can be contacted at his office in the House of Labour. His email address is fawkesmore@mail1.coralwave.com.
