EDITOR, The Tribune.
For the past forty years in this country, the complaints have been that too many teenaged girls were having babies, that they had too many children and that they had them for too many different men who did not contribute to their maintenance and took no part in their upbringing.
Over the past forty years and continuing today, too many of these children born to unwed mothers have become the scourge of criminality, who have clogged and backlogged the court calendar, are seen daily doing the famous “Bank Lane Shuffle” and have caused an overcrowding at the prison in Fox Hill.
The government over the years has thrown millions of taxpayers’ and borrowed dollars at the problem with no clear solution in sight.
These are some of the things highlighted by Richard Lightbourn on the platform at the Free National Movement Convention on Thursday, July 28. However, Mr. Lightbourn’s greatest fault in bringing that message was the fact that he is a white man, the audience was predominantly black, and the majority of Bahamian women are black.
Richard Lightbourn said in the public’s ear what is privately discussed in “polite circles” by people seeking solutions to all the ills plaguing the Bahamian society, including crime, education, health care and unemployment.
He will get no kudos for verbalising what could be a solution to a pressing problem. Instead, we will castigate him because he is white in a majority black nation and we are in the political season. If those statements had come from a prominent black citizen, I’m sure the headlines would be completely different.
I say that Editor, because when a black MP stood on the floor of the House of Assembly and bragged about beating a former girlfriend until his hand hurt, there was laughter from his party colleagues. Asked by the Speaker if he was speaking in jest, the member insisted that he was “dead serious”.
Mr Lightbourn cannot change that he is white nor can he change that sometime in history black people (including Bahamians) were slaves. That is not something for which he needs to apologize or to refrain from speaking out on the ills that threaten to destroy the Bahamian way of life.
ANTHONY CAPRON
Nassau,
August 13, 2016
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 1 month ago
You Sir Anthony Capron, like "Tubes Be Tied" Lightbourn and "Lady Smacker" Miller, are clearly racist to the core. You also exude immaturity too by trying to defend either Lightbourn or Miller for their utterly disgraceful remarks. Your mother clearly never taught you that "closed trap catch no fly" otherwise you would never try to defend the indefensible, whether it be from the mouth of a racist like Lightbourn or a racist like Miller.
themessenger 8 years, 1 month ago
How does a black man supporting the views of a white man make him a racist? Are you suggesting that Capron doesn't like black people? Leslie Millers remarks in parliament were even more disgusting than those of Lightbourne, does that make all those government members who laughed with him racists also? The problems created by births to unwed mothers are obviously more widespread than Lightbourne or Capron could ever have imagined.
sealice 8 years, 1 month ago
didn't make them racists they already are especially fweddy
Greentea 8 years, 1 month ago
Being dumb knows no color. And Lightbourn showed exactly what a dumbazz he is. What he thinks is one thing, not having the wisdom not to say it in a public forum is quite another and that is all on him. Whether he was black, white or otherwise- dumb is dumb. He is a public political figure in political season- any dumb thing anyone with that portfolio- says will be under scrutiny. To zero this down to whiteness is ignorant. It has Nothing to do it. He just happen to say the dumbest thing of them all - offending or seeming to offend for political mileage (sorry I am jaded) plenty people. Sure a lot of criminals come from single parents, but a lot come from two parent households too. We all know 75-80 percent of births in the Bahamas come from unwed mothers- been that way for a long time. But if we were to do a statistical study my guess is the percentage of bad azz children coming from that group and from the two parent group wouldn't be much different- though the raw numbers for the single mamas would be higher. Some of the worse criminals and worse crimes committed in the Bahamas came from two parent households- who took them on vacations and sent them to private school, but sometimes where headed by fathers who beat their wives and molested their children. We need to stop this fake respectability politics. Some of our most prominent citizens and brightest minds including a prime minister were born to single mothers. Rather than stereotyping, maybe politicians need to have some conversations with these women having 10 and 11 children for different men (please try not to become the father of number 11 or 12 as you sympathize) to try and understand where they are coming from, persecute the men and counsel the boys getting 12 year olds pregnant. Donate to the PACE program. Do something but for the sake of the Bahamas, whether you are black white or otherwise stop talking sheet. We cant afford it no mo!
Economist 8 years, 1 month ago
A good quality education is an important thing. It is not just the young girls, but also the young men, who need assistance, not so much financially, but of our, the adults, time.
They need mentoring, and our patience. Too much of our culture is based on a "respect your elders so don't say anything that contradicts us" attitude. We need to change that.
The young need to feel that what they say matters, and that we are listening. Only then are we able to guide them.
Mr. Lightbourn is correct in that we need to prevent young teenage girls getting pregnant again, tube tying is not the answer, but we do need to find a way to convince them to finish their education.
An educated parent (male and female) produces a better educated child. A better educated child stands a better chance of employment and less likely to be making babies that they can neither support, bring up, or educate. Such children will also become a burden on the social services etc. of our country.
SP 8 years, 1 month ago
........................... ANTHONY CAPRON Is Obviously an Uncle Tom Idiot .........................
Least we forget the 45+% like this idiot who wanted to remain in slavery!
Publius 8 years, 1 month ago
And Capron's problem is that he seems to believe women get pregnant on their own over and over again.
Forcing a woman to undergo a surgery to end her ability to bear children is a solution to challenges regarding morality, education and personal responsibility? So what is the consequence for us men? Oh of course, we would then be rewarded, because with a harem of women who can no longer saddle us with our own child, then let the unprotected, reckless sex games we play really begin.
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