#BTColumn – Ugly features of the by-election

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by John Goddard

Twenty-four of my years as a teacher were spent at the St. George Secondary School, and I taught hundreds of children from both St. George North and South.

I also met several parents and found them to be decent, industrious people whom I respected greatly.

It is, therefore, of great concern to me that some of the offerings emanating from political platforms have been offensive to the residents of the St. George North Constituency.

Much has already been said about Mr Delisle Bradshaw’s disrespectful suggestion that cricketers and, by extension, other sportsmen are not particularly intelligent, and therefore, have no place in an elevated career like politics.

The attempts by Ms Toni Moore’s campaign manager Dwight Sutherland and the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley to do damage control fell way short of the mark, and, indeed, might have added insult to injury.

We then had the Minister of Education’s boast about her pedigree and that of the BLP’s candidate.

What was Ms Bradshaw implying about the status of Mr Reifer and the majority of working class St. George North residents?

This talk of pedigree coming from persons who are only a few generations away from slavery would be laughable were the speaker not someone holding a senior cabinet position, and who should, therefore, know better.

It was also disappointing to see the Prime Minister, in her attempt to discredit Mr Reifer, demonstrating what she saw as his need to read even his name from paper.

If a party has a good candidate, there is no need for the party’s leader to attempt to belittle an opponent.

There is room in politics for humour and even jabs at rivals, but constant attacks on another candidate’s intelligence are beyond the pale.

By the way, as far as I am aware, Mr Reifer is a graduate of the Lodge School, an institution with which I have had some association.

Did he not have to pass the highly touted 11+ examination to gain entrance to that school?

He may not be an orator, but I can think of only a handful of good speakers in the present House of Assembly.

I was shocked to see primary school pupils in uniform being lined up for a photo-op with leading politicians and the candidate of the ruling party.

Our innocent pre-teens should not be used to gain political mileage. Did the principal and teachers of the school sanction this, or did they have no choice?

Finally, as Mr Emmanuel Joseph admitted, the ill-advised debates started wrong when they were announced by the Prime Minister who is the leader of one of the parties contesting the by-election. I was not surprised that the effort on Thursday night turned out to be a debacle and comedy show.

I wish to repeat that the St. George North folk deserve better treatment.

John Goddard is a retired, but always an educator.