REWRITING MAJORITY RULE DAY
The PLP enshrined in legislation the celebration of 10 January 1967 as Majority Rule Day. It became a public holiday after almost twenty years of argument for it by a group led by Senator Fred Mitchell and Fr. Sebastian Campbell called the National Heroes Day Committee. After we got the holiday, the question was how would it be celebrated?
Some people started sulking that it was just a PLP victory day and they would not participate. This year for the second year in row, the FNM is the Government and they have held a national service. This year again it was a forty five minute service with ruthless Roman Catholic efficiency at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral. This year, the PLP told its supporters to show up at the church. They then gathered with Dame Marguerite Pindling around the mausoleum of the late Sir Lynden Pindling to mark the day.
The PLP made a decision that this was a holiday that we put in law. The PLP decided that the FNM must be put to the test and made to celebrate and mark it as a national holiday. At the same time, the PLP must be sure that it tells its story and not allow the FNM to try and rewrite history.
We must be careful when you have the Prime Minister Hubert Minnis who has an affinity for hanging out with Uncle Toms when he said that Majority Rule Day does not belong to any one party. This is an attempt to say that it also belongs to the FNM. Except that this is not true. It does belong to the PLP. It was the PLP that brought Majority Rule to the country.
The FNM is a party infested with the United Bahamian Party’s rump. They have the son of the former Premier Sir Roland Symonette in their midst. His father fought against every progressive change including the vote for women. Yet the FNM has named Sir Roland Symonette a National Hero debasing the National Honours. It is quite a shame.
This year Ministers and MPs and Senators and going out into the schools to talk about Majority Rule Day. You have to ask yourself what is this new found zeal to talk about majority rule. They are seeking to rewrite the narrative to tell these young Black kids: see we are not anti-Black at all. We are for you. It is all a lie.
The PLP must find a way to stop this counter narrative and get the story of how Majority Rule came about. It came about because of the leadership of the PLP.
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