Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
by Michael Callender
It has become fashionable across Barbados every day for someone somewhere to write an epitaph for our democracy. So, I ask myself, when did democracy in Barbados die?
Some people may be driven by fear and rhetoric to arrive at the assumption but protecting our democracy requires more than just fright and outrage, we must first ensure that we can overcome our deep-seated divisions and unite as one people to move the nation forward.
During our five decades as a sovereign nation, we have witnessed authoritarians and dictators multiply across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Central and Latin America.
Even here in our own backyard in the English-speaking Caribbean we saw democracies toddled and wobbled, but the region did not fall into a state of perpetual political chaos except for that one brief period in Grenada.
Though it may be true that people are seriously weighing the possibility and contemplating the consequences of the collapse of democratic institutions in their
respective countries.
Fortunately for us here we do not see the same problems on the horizon because successive administrations have maintained national and social safety measures that build on the political stability within the state to preserve our Western style of democracy. That trend is destined to continue well into the foreseeable future, and the evidence is there for all of us to examine.
Our Constitution, our national belief in freedom and equality, our historically robust religious beliefs, our high levels of education, and our diversified private sector have all been active and alive for 56 long years, and as I write there is not one scintilla of evidence that will lead any of us to conclude that democracy is under threat. So, once again I ask, in which year did democracy die in Barbados?
Once we can find a common justification for denying individual, religious, sexual, and gender equality, marriage equality, and a woman’s right to choose; labouring under the dubious presumption that our society will be a better place if none of these ills were present while at the same time, we fail to envision a country where the rights of all citizens are equal. It is then we will truly find ourselves just one small step away from the erosion of the democratic values which we all cherish dearly.
When did democracy die?
Certain groups and individuals labour under the dubious supposition that some rights must be curtailed in order for us to be a better society.
Once we find a common justification for denying religious and individual rights, sexual, and gender equality, marriage equality, and a woman’s right to choose we will find ourselves standing with one foot on the banana peel.
Any government or institution that fails to acknowledge that equal citizenship stature of men and women is a violation of fundamental human rights is a government or institution that is willing to chip away at democracy.
Discrimination on the basis of any of the above mentioned is truly one small step towards the erosion of democratic values we all cherish. One of the paramount destinies and missions of any government is to protect the equality of all of its citizens regardless of religious, sexual, or gender identification.
