[By the way [Anthony Morgan], in another University publication you're quoted as saying: "I think the bigger issue is how little we know about the history and historical contributions of Jamaicans." Well, the issue is way bigger than Jamaica; it's a "race" issue, targeting and ridiculing Black people, all of whom are people of African descent, sons and daughters of slaves.] So those students, froshers, "...were just having fun," eh? There was "nò mal-intent?" according to director [Michel Patry]. Surely they could've found another and more interesting and humanly innocuous way to have (even more) fun. The blackface skit is a sad cliché, it's passé, plus it's not funny. Except for [White] people as they seek ways to fulfill their final stage of life: their pursuit of happiness, by any means. It serves us right; it's the 'house divided' maxim. We are fractured from pulling in so many directions. We lack cohesion and the essential elements that hold people together to secure a strong !foundation. We've long cut the ties that bind, so it's very easy for people to have their way with us.
History shows close to two million enslaved Africans were taken to South America. A great number of them were taken to Bahia, Brazil, to work on the sugar cane plantations. [Dionisio] has hope for the future of Brazilian Blacks. "If America can elect a Black president, I know that our time will one day come when a Black Brazilian will look after the wellbeing of his or her people. But at the way things are in Brazil, it is only through education that we will one day be equal to the whites, if you know what I mean." At this point, it sounded as if Dionisio was engaged in a monologue. "But many children dream of one day being like Pele, our greatest football star," he continued as he gazed in the distance, his eyes resting on the humming bird doing battle with the sweet nectar. The mention of Pele changed the contour of his face and I could see the veins in his face clearly showing. "Most of our people have let us down. Most, like Pele, can be considered Black, but we have a saying here that 'You are a Black person with a white soul. We say that of Black leaders and football celebrities who do not support any Black agenda."
