Dear Editor,
I disagree with Dr Melissa James' opinion in her letter in the Observer of March 28, "Same difference".

If Jamaica has a racial problem, of which I as a proud black Jamaican am totally unaware, this is not due to the few scattered incidents committed by the minority two per cent white Jamaicans. We have to be honest and reasonable here. How much more contempt can the minority white Jamaicans have for black Jamaicans than that which black Jamaicans have toward each other? What harm can they bring to black Jamaicans that black Jamaicans are not inflicting on themselves daily?

It is black Jamaicans bleaching their skin, shooting babies, burning kids alive, hitting and killing a one-legged man from his motor cycle, robbing and killing returning residents, who are responsible for creating the huge national debt due to the lack of vision, and who are responsible for most of the political violence and corruption. All of these, when summed up, have created the antisocial and anti-investment climate and moral decay which makes life unbearable for other black Jamaicans.

Since most of the racial discrimination in Jamaica is due to black self-hate, then Jamaica cannot be used as a comparison to highlight the entrenched problematic black-white race relationship in the US. We cannot blame others for our failures and self-hate. We have to first love and accept ourselves, before others will be able to accept us.

H Rennis
hrennis@yahoo.com