Confronting stereotypes, restoring certain truths

Approximately three years ago a letter written by Dr. Victor Lookloy was published in the Caymanian Compass and it would be instructive of us to revisit it.

Among some of the very important things the author said, is that “Foreign cultures have been allowed to come here and successfully change the accepted pronunciation of the word ‘Cayman’,” and that he “would be hard-put to find another place on this planet where locals also willingly participate in such a cultural coup.”

This leads me to an article recently published in a local magazine, subtitle, titled “Cayman – The Early Years”. It is highly impressionistic, self-indulgent and leaves the reader asking more about the author and his purpose, than of the substance of his writing.

This article was brought to my attention by some aggrieved Caymanians who found it most distasteful and offensive. Perhaps these, my informants may not exactly be the coterie for whom the publication is aimed, or they may never grace its glossy pages but one thing for sure, they know their history and are comfortable with who they are.

In the article the writer expresses “Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Roy McTaggart and Mr. Ormond Panton, both wise and vocal senior members of the community, Cayman had cleverly decided not to follow Jamaica’s turn to independence and had happily remained a British Crown Colony.”

This information is glaringly erroneous and, if allowed to go unchallenged, will in effect give carte blanche authority to alter the records of the history of the Cayman Islands.

Please be instructed accordingly: It was the enlightened, socially conscious and progressive, Mr. Ormond Panton, (now a national hero) who opposed Dr. Roy McTaggart and strove to convince the people of the Cayman Islands that full internal self government with a chief minister was the way forward.

If Panton’s dream had become reality, Cayman would have had full control of its internal affairs, with Jamaica handling foreign affairs and defence; Panton was true to his belief and conviction and in his proposal. As a result, the National Democratic Party’s alignments were thrown into disarray and gave way to a second political party, the Christian Democratic Party.

Our history shows that in an unprecedented and what would later be referred to by Panton as one of the most “undemocratic and dictatorial steps ever taken in the British Commonwealth”, the decision to remain with the British, was decided on the simplistic basis of the volume of applause given to each of the two speakers- Panton for full internal self government and McTaggart for British Crown Colony status. This was the methodology employed by the then Governor of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Sir. Kenneth Blackburne. The notes of the meetings of 17 and 18 January, 1962, are a matter of public record and even the contemporary haut monde should avail themselves to the facts.

In closing, I wish to state publicly that I make no apology if at all I appear a bit mettlesome. My writing is not an attack on any person or entity but rather as Dr. Lookloy, also succinctly and correctly said in the final paragraph of the aforementioned letter, we as a people need to trust our own common sense, we need to validate our culture and our roots, stop pretending that somehow we are different and morally superior to and more holy than our Caribbean neighbours while genuflecting to our various colonisers.

We must confront stereotypes and restore truths.

May God continue to bless the Cayman Islands.

Lorna E. Bush

Founder

Caymanian Empowerment Agency