(Jamaica Observer) Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange on Tuesday reprimanded Opposition Leader Mark Golding for his involvement in a slavery skit mounted at the People’s National Party (PNP) St Andrew Southern constituency conference on Sunday, describing it as disrespectful of the country’s ancestors and an affront to the entire nation.
“Mr Golding’s reprehensible conduct has angered Jamaicans from all walks of life as his performance mirrored a very painful period when our ancestors were chained and pulled by chains about their necks, sometimes before cheering crowds at auctions where they were sold or as a mere act to fulfil the perverse pleasure of the oppressor,” Grange said in a statement.
Golding and the PNP have been attracting flak for the skit which saw a male PNP supporter holding a padlocked chain around his neck and telling the party’s General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell that he was being held in bondage by Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Campbell, prancing back and forth on the stage, is heard announcing that Golding has the key to release the man out of bondage, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Golding then appears on stage with a key, unlocks the padlock after which he and the chained man unwrap the chain and hold it aloft.
