Tweet
Michael Manley, the Yard Boy and the Maid
By Carolyn Cooper
“Michael Manley give the Prime Minister work to the yard boy and the yard boy give it to the maid.” Don’t let the language fool you. That’s ‘uptown’ Jamaica speaking. The rise of black, working-class Jamaicans to the highest levels of leadership in this country is not a welcome development for some backward types. In their view, poor black people should know their proper place: in domestic service. PJ and Sister P will forever be seen as ‘yard boy’ and ‘maid’, no matter how much “most honourable” is put in front of them name.
And let me make it quite clear that I’m not ‘dissing’ ‘yard boys’ and ‘maids’ when I analyse the way in which our two working-class, black prime ministers are viewed in some conservative quarters. I understand that ‘yard boy’ and ‘maid’ are intended as insults by the monied class, who seem to believe that when they buy an employee’s time, they are also buying your soul. But they need to understand that the job you do does not define your identity.
Many helpers and gardeners have other lives that their employers know nothing about. They are pastors, deacons, choristers, social workers, bankers, parents, counsellors, administrators, mechanics, teachers, obeah men and women, entrepreneurs and on and on and on.
I know a helper who has a legal taxi on the road. But she continues to do domestic work because it suits her. She works for $2,500 a day, three days a week. That comes up to $387,000 per year, plus holiday bonus. It can put a lot of gas in her car. And it’s much more than what some office workers make.
I value the efficient services of a talented gardener, John Thomas, who has worked with me for some 20 years. We have never had a falling out. Once, when I tried to give him instructions, he airily told me, “I don’t know nothing bout your work and you don’t know nothing bout my work. So mek mi do my work.” I was firmly put in my place and all I could do was laugh in agreement.
John is one of the most intelligent people I know, capable of finding solutions to problems beyond his presumed area of expertise. He says he would have liked to be a lawyer if he had drawn a different card early in life. But when I hear him say “me just love my work,” I tell him that not many lawyers can say that with conviction.
I’ve been equally blessed with an intelligent helper, Joyce Walters, who does not have to be given instructions. She knows what needs to be done and just goes about her business. She is particularly good at washing, starching and ironing my linen clothes. And I don’t mean spray starch, but boiled starch. Joyce does a far better job than any dry cleaning establishment I know, local or foreign.
And she has mastered the art of washing with gloves. Like many a man who claims that condoms reduce sensitivity, she used to believe that gloves would make washing difficult. She now uses gloves to wash her own clothes. I haven’t been able to persuade her as yet that she can sit down and iron, but I’m still trying.
o I have maximum respect for all those gardeners and helpers who make life so much easier for those of us who simply don’t have the time to do our own domestic work and gardening. But I must contest the class prejudice that makes some ‘privileged’ Jamaicans feel that certain class a people mek fi do certain class a work an yard boy and maid must not bright up demself and presume that dem can manage prime minister work.
Class prejudice is at the heart of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ads attacking Sister P. And class prejudice was at the heart of those offensive PNP presidential campaign ads attacking Sister P. Class prejudice cuts across party lines. So does gender prejudice. If you’re working-class and female, it’s double jeopardy.
Incidentally, those people who say they’ve lost respect for Sister P because she didn’t immediately evict from her Cabinet, her out of order rivals in the PNP presidential race, just don’t understand politics. In this case, the sweetest revenge is having your detractors acknowledge you as Prime Minister. It’s much better than getting rid of them. That’s why I think KD Knight resigned. He couldn’t stomach the thought that “the P” was now the PM.
And those people who think KD shouldn’t have come out now in support of Sister P’s campaign, again, just don’t understand politics. You cannot carry malice in this business. You have to know how to flex. Despite KD’s fears that Sister P’s popularity wasn’t enough to pull the party together and guarantee victory at the polls, it is clear that he was wrong. Sister P has demonstrated her capacity to lead her party with authority.
Aspiring Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, clearly would not think that he fits the “yard boy” profile. He is the self-proclaimed driver. He’s in charge, not doing anybody’s dirty work. But I can’t help wondering who is driving the driver. Who is bankrolling the JLP advertising campaign? Is it the same class of people who contemptuously dismiss “yard boys” and “maids” as their social inferiors?
Golding should remember that there’s another pertinent meaning for “driver”. The Dictionary of Jamaican English tells us that a driver is “the man, himself usually a slave, in charge of a gang of slaves”. So who is this (slave) driver really working for? The inheritors of the blood money of plantation slavery?
In his recent post-Dean ad, Golding, in full prime ministerial mode, talked about the resilience of the Jamaican people. But he used the third person, not the first. “They”. Not “we”. Golding distanced himself from the very people he aspired to drive. His language betrayed him.
When the “yard boys” and “maids” go to vote tomorrow, they will decide who can really manage the Prime Minister work. And the children and grandchildren of “yard boys” and “maids” who have now made it into the “respectable” professions have not all forgotten our roots. Many lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects, professors, bankers etcetera, still remember the pain of exclusion: “Nutten black no good”. Old story time.
Many of us will vote in honour of our parents and grandparents – the “yard boys” and “maids” who have made our own success possible. Respect due!
By Carolyn Cooper
“Michael Manley give the Prime Minister work to the yard boy and the yard boy give it to the maid.” Don’t let the language fool you. That’s ‘uptown’ Jamaica speaking. The rise of black, working-class Jamaicans to the highest levels of leadership in this country is not a welcome development for some backward types. In their view, poor black people should know their proper place: in domestic service. PJ and Sister P will forever be seen as ‘yard boy’ and ‘maid’, no matter how much “most honourable” is put in front of them name.
And let me make it quite clear that I’m not ‘dissing’ ‘yard boys’ and ‘maids’ when I analyse the way in which our two working-class, black prime ministers are viewed in some conservative quarters. I understand that ‘yard boy’ and ‘maid’ are intended as insults by the monied class, who seem to believe that when they buy an employee’s time, they are also buying your soul. But they need to understand that the job you do does not define your identity.
Many helpers and gardeners have other lives that their employers know nothing about. They are pastors, deacons, choristers, social workers, bankers, parents, counsellors, administrators, mechanics, teachers, obeah men and women, entrepreneurs and on and on and on.
I know a helper who has a legal taxi on the road. But she continues to do domestic work because it suits her. She works for $2,500 a day, three days a week. That comes up to $387,000 per year, plus holiday bonus. It can put a lot of gas in her car. And it’s much more than what some office workers make.
I value the efficient services of a talented gardener, John Thomas, who has worked with me for some 20 years. We have never had a falling out. Once, when I tried to give him instructions, he airily told me, “I don’t know nothing bout your work and you don’t know nothing bout my work. So mek mi do my work.” I was firmly put in my place and all I could do was laugh in agreement.
John is one of the most intelligent people I know, capable of finding solutions to problems beyond his presumed area of expertise. He says he would have liked to be a lawyer if he had drawn a different card early in life. But when I hear him say “me just love my work,” I tell him that not many lawyers can say that with conviction.
I’ve been equally blessed with an intelligent helper, Joyce Walters, who does not have to be given instructions. She knows what needs to be done and just goes about her business. She is particularly good at washing, starching and ironing my linen clothes. And I don’t mean spray starch, but boiled starch. Joyce does a far better job than any dry cleaning establishment I know, local or foreign.
And she has mastered the art of washing with gloves. Like many a man who claims that condoms reduce sensitivity, she used to believe that gloves would make washing difficult. She now uses gloves to wash her own clothes. I haven’t been able to persuade her as yet that she can sit down and iron, but I’m still trying.
o I have maximum respect for all those gardeners and helpers who make life so much easier for those of us who simply don’t have the time to do our own domestic work and gardening. But I must contest the class prejudice that makes some ‘privileged’ Jamaicans feel that certain class a people mek fi do certain class a work an yard boy and maid must not bright up demself and presume that dem can manage prime minister work.
Class prejudice is at the heart of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ads attacking Sister P. And class prejudice was at the heart of those offensive PNP presidential campaign ads attacking Sister P. Class prejudice cuts across party lines. So does gender prejudice. If you’re working-class and female, it’s double jeopardy.
Incidentally, those people who say they’ve lost respect for Sister P because she didn’t immediately evict from her Cabinet, her out of order rivals in the PNP presidential race, just don’t understand politics. In this case, the sweetest revenge is having your detractors acknowledge you as Prime Minister. It’s much better than getting rid of them. That’s why I think KD Knight resigned. He couldn’t stomach the thought that “the P” was now the PM.
And those people who think KD shouldn’t have come out now in support of Sister P’s campaign, again, just don’t understand politics. You cannot carry malice in this business. You have to know how to flex. Despite KD’s fears that Sister P’s popularity wasn’t enough to pull the party together and guarantee victory at the polls, it is clear that he was wrong. Sister P has demonstrated her capacity to lead her party with authority.
Aspiring Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, clearly would not think that he fits the “yard boy” profile. He is the self-proclaimed driver. He’s in charge, not doing anybody’s dirty work. But I can’t help wondering who is driving the driver. Who is bankrolling the JLP advertising campaign? Is it the same class of people who contemptuously dismiss “yard boys” and “maids” as their social inferiors?
Golding should remember that there’s another pertinent meaning for “driver”. The Dictionary of Jamaican English tells us that a driver is “the man, himself usually a slave, in charge of a gang of slaves”. So who is this (slave) driver really working for? The inheritors of the blood money of plantation slavery?
In his recent post-Dean ad, Golding, in full prime ministerial mode, talked about the resilience of the Jamaican people. But he used the third person, not the first. “They”. Not “we”. Golding distanced himself from the very people he aspired to drive. His language betrayed him.
When the “yard boys” and “maids” go to vote tomorrow, they will decide who can really manage the Prime Minister work. And the children and grandchildren of “yard boys” and “maids” who have now made it into the “respectable” professions have not all forgotten our roots. Many lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects, professors, bankers etcetera, still remember the pain of exclusion: “Nutten black no good”. Old story time.
Many of us will vote in honour of our parents and grandparents – the “yard boys” and “maids” who have made our own success possible. Respect due!
Not to mention
Comment