LETTERS Black on white
Sir: I am writing to your newspaper to make a very angry protest about a leading article featured in your paper on 8 Novem- ber 1986. Title 'How to stop a plague'. The section that I wish to complain about is the part where you talked about Aids having its origins in sub-Saharan Africa. I would be interested to know where and when you carried out the research which lead you to this conclusion. Perhaps you should also read the leaflet that I am enclosing which nullifies your claims regarding this matter. You then went on in the third column of your article to talk about West Indians. You made some allegations about West Indian men and West Indian families which I feel are an intolerable insult to my race. I say race rather than West Indians because I do not consider any of the present day inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands to be West Indian.
Let me explain what I mean. I want to take you back through history and inform you that the Indians who inhabited the Caribbean are nearly all dead and des- troyed because Europeans destroyed them in order to steal their lands. Then I want to tell you that the black people now living in the West Indies and Europe are the dispos- sessed Africans whom your race brutal- ised, dehumanised and used as breeding animals when it suited your economic Purposes. See Roots by Alex Hayley. You may also want to read about Sir John Hawkins who came to civilise and Christ- ianise Africans in the Elizabethan era. Well we are now just putting in to practice what your race came to our continent to teach us.
Just in case your being only a descendant of the people guilty of the most inhuman and horrendous crime against humanity have forgotten, I am referring to slavery where your race kidnapped mine from the. African continent and scattered us all over the world to be used and abused to enable Your race to make money. There are many books which document this historical evi- dence and I suggest that before you go around slandering my race, you examine the white race's history of murder and robbery world wide. You may recall that during the slavery period slaves were not allowed to marry and were used to breed so that your ancestors could make lots of money. This was when you destroyed our family life by selling men, women and children like cattle. Let me take this °PPertunity to remind you that at that time your ancestors thought it was ideal for our men to breed with as many women as possible.
You may like to cast your mind over the African continent where arranged mar- riages were the order .of the day for our race before the white race started to destroy people of colour. Now let me tell you that I am showing your article to everyone that I know. I have sent copies to the Caribbean embassies, several council- lors, so I do hope that you will be hearing a great deal about this matter.
Could I suggest that you study your history where you will learn that your race is responsible for the present state of the so-called West Indian community. Any psychologist will tell you that once a people are conditioned a certain way they need to be re-conditioned in order to change their behaviour, so let me suggest that if you are interested in changes in our community that you start to print the truth of how Africans come to be West Indians. Then perhaps my race can start the re-building of our lives based on the African value system and not those which your race has taught us. Thank you for your time.
Yours in anger and disgust, Mary Gordon
Peckham Rye Day Nursery, Bellenden Road, London SE15
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