Deconstructing A Culture of Hate

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”- Nelson Mandela. Historically, Caribbean governments have been reluctant to extend human rights to specific subgroups in their populations. These vulnerable and underserved communities continue to be second-hand citizens in the countries of their birth. The concept of human rights tends to make some of us uncomfortable if granted to others. Too many of us who are learned continue to view human rights through very narrow lenses. This myopic perspective leaves Jamaica lagging behind the developed world regarding social justice and human rights. This fear is often as a result of the Caribbean’s Judea Christian background as well as a culture steeped in homophobia. Feathers were recently ruffled at a declaration by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that Jamaica is considering legislation regarding "hate speech". As a consequence a number of religious and civil groups asked the prime minister for clarity on his announcement. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, spoke at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, last week, said the country will, among other things, have to address the issue of hate speech in response to the chronic levels of violence in the country. "Many of you in the Diaspora live in societies where speech that deliberately targets violence at a group or a person is treated within law; in Jamaica there is really no such thing. We have to consider that…These are things that we are studying, but, as a democracy, they will have to go through a process of social discourse so that we can treat with it,” Holness said as he urged Jamaicans in the Diaspora to share their expertise and advice with family and friends at home on the importance of controlling violence. Viewpoints. Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice, Mickel Jackson voiced concern about the potential impact of any such legislation on freedom of speech. President of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance Alvin Bailey said the suggestion was highly suspect. "We don't have anti-Semitism, we don't have racial discrimination, and we don't even have overt classism present in Jamaica, or anything that would cause us concern about hate speech. The only thing on the agenda is the seeming cry of the LGBTQ community for us to give recognition to their increasing prominence and to their practices." Bailey added that some clergymen could also find themselves on the wrong side of the law for speaking out against certain types of behaviour in the society. Senior pastor of Hope Gospel Assembly and one of the country's foremost church leaders, Reverend Dr Peter Garth told a local newspaper that church leaders will be calling on the prime minister to explain his statement in detail. "We don't believe in hate speech. There are some things that are right, and some things that are wrong, and if the Bible says some things are wrong, we will say that it is wrong. If that is regarded as hate speech then a lot of us will end up in prison. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston, Kenneth Richards, called for clarity, noting the possibility of such legislation infringing on religious freedoms. On the other hand, Anglican priest, Father Sean Major Campbell supports the move. He says there is a need for laws which can help reduce the level of violence faced by the country. There are those in the society who will argue that this controversy is Much Ado About Nothing. Too many in the society are uncomfortable discussing human rights and this undoubtedly has contributed to the controversy in the Caribbean concerning the Samoa Agreement. The United Nations (UN) defines human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. Samoa Agreement. The Samoa Agreement, which will govern trade and aid arrangements between Europe and its former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP) for the next 20 years, has divided the Caribbean with some countries either signing on to it while others have not. The Agreement has raised concerns, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, that it will be used by the European Union (EU) to impose values and ideologies that are contrary to Caribbean culture and traditions. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Port of Spain, Jason Gordon, has criticized it saying that while it is “written as a trade agreement, anyone who signs the agreement will have abortion legislation in their countries. They will have to impose abortion legislation, transgender, LBGTQ, comprehensive sex education, and a whole range of values because of the signing of that document.” St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados have already signed, while Dominica indicated that they will be doing so. The Jamaican Government on Thursday, December 14, 2023 signed the Samoa Agreement at the headquarters of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) in Brussels, Belgium. Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, The Bahamas and Grenada have not signed. Grenada has made it clear that it is no rush to subscribe to the agreement. The Samoa agreement is the overarching framework for the European Union (EU) relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The Samoa Agreement, which succeeds and replicates many provisions of the 22-year old Cotonou Agreement, aims to strengthen technical cooperation between the EU and its Member States, and the Member States and Regions of the OACPS. The six priority areas of the Samoa Agreement are: democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security and migration and mobility. On 15 November 2023 the partnership between the European Union (EU) and its 27 Member States, and most of the 79 Member States of the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) was solidified with the signing of the Samoa Agreement in Apia, Samoa. The historic signing ceremony a first to be held in the Pacific was attended by more than 250 delegates from across the four continents. The EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states represent over 1.5 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations. Clarification. Since the public uproar that followed his pronouncement regarding his stance on hate speech Prime Minister Andrew Holness sought to clarify what he meant. Holness said that while the term ‘hate speech’ was used originally to deal with racism and discrimination of ethnic groups, it has evolved to mean any speech that is going to be considered as a violent threat to any ethic group or social grouping. “For Jamaica, we do have laws on our books that deal with incitement, that deal with threats, and so forth. My intention was to kind of guide the conversation around, how is violent language not just inciting but normalizing the use of violence towards each other?” Holness said this was something the country needs to look at in an era where persons can hide behind fake social media profiles and issue threats and make people feel unsafe. “So really what I’m targeting and what I would want us to talk about is not necessarily hate speech as Europeans may have used it in their jurisdiction, but for our problems that we have, and that’s what I want us to focus on.” Holness indicated that legislation might not be required to achieve the goal. Defining Hate Speech. Hate speech laws are a relatively modern phenomenon that appeared in Europe in the wake of World War II. The idea behind such laws was to curb the kinds of anti-Semitic and racist propaganda that gave rise to the Holocaust. The Council of Europe states that Hate speech is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has far-reaching and dangerous consequences for human rights, rule of law in democratic societies. Preventing and combating online hate speech poses specific challenges. Hate Speech not only affects the dignity and human rights of the individual directly targeted, but also of persons belonging to the same minority or group as those directly targeted. The Council of Europe adds hate speech leads to dangerous divisions in society as a whole, affects the participation and inclusion of all those targeted by it and threatens democracy. The targets of hate speech become increasingly excluded from society, forced out of the public debate and silenced. History shows that hate speech has also been intentionally used to mobilize groups and societies against each other in order to provoke violent escalation, hate crime, war and genocide. In common language, “hate speech” refers to offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender) and that may threaten social peace. The United Nations (UN) Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech defines hate speech as…“any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.” However, to date there is no universal definition of hate speech under international human rights law. The fact is Jamaica has a huge crime problem. Jamaica is one of the countries with the highest homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, the number of people murdered in Jamaica amounted to 1,498 in 2022, slightly up from 1,474 murders in 2021. Statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force showed that 1,323 murders occurred in 2020. While in 2019, 1,339 murders occurred. The number of homicides for 2018 stood at 1287 while in 2017, there were 1647 murders in Jamaica. As the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) look towards the next twenty years under the Samao Agreement it is important that member States take effective and sustainable measures to prevent and combat hate speech. It is also critical as well that the ACP governments do much more in terms of educating their populace on the principles of the Samoa Agreement. In the words of Simone de Beauvoir, to live knowing our freedom and without violating the freedom of others is called living. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #hatespeech #humanrights