#BTColumn – Shaping of Caribbean societies (Part 2)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Wayne Campbell

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey,

Racist History of Obeah Laws

The adage belief kills or belief cures is a timely reminder of the persuasion those who are involved in necromancy have over the society.

The strangulation hold on our culture is not unique to Jamaica; it is also quite pervasive across the Caribbean,
all of which were once part of the plantocracy of European colonisation.

Many of the laws that made obeah illegal during slavery were part of ‘slave codes’ and expired when slavery was abolished. However, most Caribbean islands replaced them with other laws criminalising obeah as they became independent.

Trinidad’s Summary Conviction Ordinance of 1868 made obeah punishable with whipping and imprisonment for men and whipping only for women.  Interestingly, the anti-obeah clauses were removed from the law in 2000.   

In Guyana, an ‘Ordinance to repress the commission of Obeah practices’ was passed in 1855, and obeah was incorporated into laws against vagrancy from 1893.

In Barbados, there is no current legal prohibition on the practice of obeah; the 1840 Vagrancy Act that had made it similar to an offence of vagrancy was repealed in 1842.   

In Jamaica, The Obeah Act of 1898 makes it illegal to be a ‘person practising Obeah’, which it defines as: ‘any person who, to effect any fraudulent or unlawful purpose, or for gain, or for the purpose of frightening any person, uses, or pretends to use any occult means, or pretends to possess any supernatural power or knowledge.’ Most of the Obeah Laws authorised flogging for men as a punishment.

Obeah was initially criminalised to protect slavery against uprisings; the current law was made to symbolise Jamaica’s hostility to its African connections and to suppress poor people’s religion.

Obeah was first made illegal in 1760, as part of a sweepingly repressive act passed in the aftermath of Tacky’s Rebellion, the largest uprising of enslaved people in the 18th-century British-colonised Caribbean.

Tacky’s Revolt or Rebellion (1760-1761) is regarded as the most significant British Caribbean slave rebellion in the eighteenth century, and second only to the Haitian Revolution in comparative resistance. It began in Jamaica’s north-central parish of St. Mary.

The law was a direct response to the fact that the rebellion’s leaders were advised by obeah men who attempted to give them courage, solidarity, and spiritual protection.

The call for the Obeah Act to be repelled is often done so given the racist origin of the law. In practice, the law was used almost exclusively against poor Jamaicans, mostly black but also sometimes Indian.

The spiritual guarding of one’s self is not confined to so call guard rings; rosaries are also used in the guarding against evil spirits mainly by those in the upper echelons of society.

This practice stems from the period of enslavement throughout the Caribbean during which Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion of Europe.

In the event that your recollection of history might be a bit unclear; between 1838 and 1917, European governments allowed their planters in the Caribbean to import an estimated 500,000 Indian indentured servants from India to work on their sugar plantations.

The arrival of these indentured labourers was in direct response to a so-called labour shortage emanating from the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies which occurred in 1838.

Popular Culture

Popular culture can be understood as a set of cultural products, practices, beliefs, and objects dominating society.

Popular culture has the ability to influence those individuals it comes across with, and incorporates, various elements of a culture from music to dance, movies, literature, fashion.

It encompasses everything that is believed and consumed by the majority of people in any society.

Popular culture cuts across socio-economic and political lines. Oftentimes we view popular culture negatively however; this is not always the situation.  Socialisation begins with the family.

However, most families are dysfunctional and this adds to the problems the wider society face given the high homicide rates and uncouth behaviour among our people.

The school is expected to continue the process of socialisation; however, the current education system is not impacting a significant number of students, especially our boys.

Contrastingly, it appears that popular culture is impacting our students more so than the education system. Given the inequalities of the education system which have been exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic this is not surprising.

Policy-makers should take into consideration that schools operate on a gendered regime and as such the expectations are different for the sexes.

Understandably, this is problematic for policy- makers as efforts are being made to close the learning gap as well as learning poverty of the current education system.

While it is worrying the society should not be surprised that our students are ‘guarding up’ as they pursue their educational interests. Our students are acting out what they see adults around them do.

The practice of obeah has been glorified in popular culture. Among the popular dancehall songs which address the issue is ‘Guard Up’ by Insideeus and Intence by Yahoo Boyz.

As we celebrate Emancipation Day it is imperative that we are aware of our history as we plan ahead for the future. We must never forget the history of our indigenous peoples who were obliterated due to genocide carried out by Europeans.

As a region we must lend our collective voices for reparations and hold accountable those European powers who carried out crimes against humanity in the Anglophone Caribbean.

Unquestionably, the task for the current generation is to ensure that economic independence is realiased. Emancipation Day should be one of reflection.

A Luta Continua.

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 © #EmancipationDay #Jamaica60 #CARICOM #AnglophoneCaribbean