by Simon
America is rightly proud that its first African-American President elevated the first Hispanic (female) to that country’s highest court. America is an extraordinary country and the Sotomayor appointment was an equally extraordinary moment.
Bahamians should be similarly proud that our first prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, was the son of an immigrant father, as were some of our other modern Founders who were the offspring of at least one foreign-born parent, as is Barack Obama.
•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.
After Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court many Americans gushed: “It could only happen in America.”America is rightly proud that its first African-American President elevated the first Hispanic (female) to that country’s highest court. America is an extraordinary country and the Sotomayor appointment was an equally extraordinary moment.
Bahamians should be similarly proud that our first prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, was the son of an immigrant father, as were some of our other modern Founders who were the offspring of at least one foreign-born parent, as is Barack Obama.
Our recent history of self-rule demonstrates that national origin, ethnicity, race and economic circumstances are not barriers to the highest elected office in the land. Within the horizon of our 50th anniversary of independence it is probable that we may have a female prime minister. Yes, we can.
Such extraordinary events are a human phenomenon, not the singular provenance of any country, including the United States, despite reflexive chants of American exceptionalism, more of which on next week’s Front Porch.
The gains made by African Americans in the attainment of high office following the dismantling of Jim Crow, and reaching a critical tipping point in the election of Barack Obama, illustrates that in certain areas of advancement for various groups, America has sometimes been exceptional.
It has an enviable record of assimilating masses of immigrants -- without whom it would not be the great nation that it is -- including many sons and daughters of the Caribbean who have risen to great prominence in every arena. Yet, America has also sometimes lagged significantly, with some distance to cover.
Paradoxically, while the Sotomayor appointment was extraordinary, it is also instructive that it took America so long to appoint a Hispanic judge, and that of the 111 Supreme Court justices since 1742, only three of them have been women, two have been African American, one has been Hispanic, and there appears to have been no full-born Native American.
ADVANTAGES
Though there are obvious differences between the U.S. federal system and other systems of government, including various types of parliamentary democracy, this does not gainsay the advances many of the latter systems have made in elevating minorities and women to a wealth of positions of national political leadership. Indeed, it speaks to the advantages these systems may have in the social promotion of those often left out of the corridors, front benches and judicial seats of power.
In alphabetical order, here’s a Who’s Who of some of the countries that have already been headed by a female chief executive, in contrast to America, where women are some of the freest in the world: Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Dominica, Germany, Great Britain, Guyana, Iceland, India, Israel, Jamaica, Liberia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Of course, there are a number of other countries that can be added to this list. At home, when Cynthia Pratt acted as prime minister in 2005, our head of state, chief executive and the president of our highest court were all women, the latter individual having served previously as our first female chief justice.
Nancy Pelosi’s election to the Speakership of the lower chamber of the U.S. parliament, the House of Representatives, was an extraordinary event. But not only is it untrue that it could only happen in America, it happened in various countries many years ago, and in some countries, more than once.
The first woman was elected as President of Germany’s [at the time West Germany] lower house, the Bundestag in 1972, followed by another woman in 1988. They are two of only 12 people to have served in that capacity since 1949. Canada elected a female speaker of the House of Commons in 1980, and one of the current deputy speakers is the Hon. Jean Augustine who was born in Grenada.
Various countries, again in contrast to the U.S., have already had a female chief justice, with some of these highest courts populated by several women. The current Chief Justice of Canada is a woman, as are three other members of its nine-member court, the number nine being the same number of seats on the U.S. court.
Canada has had three female heads of state, the first appointed in 1984, with the others having served more recently, including Adrienne Clarkson, a refuge from Asia, and Michaelle Jean, a Haitian refugee. This version of “It could only happen in … ” resulted in two ethnic (and female) minorities becoming Governor General in a predominantly white country.
As exceptional, both are foreign-born citizens who were able to live the Canadian Dream, eventually attaining their adopted country’s highest office. Many little boys or girls from around the world can grow up to be head of state in Canada and perhaps one day, prime minister.
Because of a provision in the U.S. Constitution, were Barack Obama actually foreign-born, there would have been no “yes we can" elect the first African American president in 2008, despite his extraordinary talents and keen intelligence.
India, with its often toxic mixture of religious and caste politics, also wrestles with lingering prejudices in pursuit of equality and opportunity, an ongoing struggle for all highly pluralistic democratic states. Yet, the current Prime Minister of India is a Sikh, somewhat equivalent to a Jewish American becoming the U.S. President, and the current President, the head of state, is a woman.
Since 1950, India has been represented by appointed heads of state who emerged from both the “untouchables” and the Muslim minority. The former were once considered so subhuman that touching someone from that caste provoked severe sanctions, while the latter are still despised by many in the Hindu majority, who view Muslims as un-Indian and undeserving of high office. Sounds familiar!?
VARIATIONS
“It could only happen in America” is different from “Made in America”. All great countries borrow from the patrimony of history to fashion their own unique national experience, which become variations on broader themes with which all peoples and nations wrestle. And in every age there is the need to protect, refine and pass on those traditions which help the human family to flourish and survive.
Likewise, there is the struggle to build a human civilization increasingly committed to progress, justice and care for our shared planet, while dismantling the attitudes and practices, ideologies and systems which do violence to the dignity of the human person and family. This is the civilization movement, the basic vocation of all of us, at once national and global citizens.
While America has contributed significantly to human civilization and is a remarkable country, its citizens might want to pause and survey the contributions of others, before making grandiose claims about its exceptionalism.
Next week’s Front Porch will explore the contributions of various nations and systems to the movement for greater human civilization, including those of parliamentary democracies, of which many Bahamians are unaware, often mesmerized by an American political system with great strengths, but also various limitations.
Such extraordinary events are a human phenomenon, not the singular provenance of any country, including the United States, despite reflexive chants of American exceptionalism, more of which on next week’s Front Porch.
The gains made by African Americans in the attainment of high office following the dismantling of Jim Crow, and reaching a critical tipping point in the election of Barack Obama, illustrates that in certain areas of advancement for various groups, America has sometimes been exceptional.
It has an enviable record of assimilating masses of immigrants -- without whom it would not be the great nation that it is -- including many sons and daughters of the Caribbean who have risen to great prominence in every arena. Yet, America has also sometimes lagged significantly, with some distance to cover.
Paradoxically, while the Sotomayor appointment was extraordinary, it is also instructive that it took America so long to appoint a Hispanic judge, and that of the 111 Supreme Court justices since 1742, only three of them have been women, two have been African American, one has been Hispanic, and there appears to have been no full-born Native American.
ADVANTAGES
Though there are obvious differences between the U.S. federal system and other systems of government, including various types of parliamentary democracy, this does not gainsay the advances many of the latter systems have made in elevating minorities and women to a wealth of positions of national political leadership. Indeed, it speaks to the advantages these systems may have in the social promotion of those often left out of the corridors, front benches and judicial seats of power.
In alphabetical order, here’s a Who’s Who of some of the countries that have already been headed by a female chief executive, in contrast to America, where women are some of the freest in the world: Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Dominica, Germany, Great Britain, Guyana, Iceland, India, Israel, Jamaica, Liberia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Of course, there are a number of other countries that can be added to this list. At home, when Cynthia Pratt acted as prime minister in 2005, our head of state, chief executive and the president of our highest court were all women, the latter individual having served previously as our first female chief justice.
Nancy Pelosi’s election to the Speakership of the lower chamber of the U.S. parliament, the House of Representatives, was an extraordinary event. But not only is it untrue that it could only happen in America, it happened in various countries many years ago, and in some countries, more than once.
The first woman was elected as President of Germany’s [at the time West Germany] lower house, the Bundestag in 1972, followed by another woman in 1988. They are two of only 12 people to have served in that capacity since 1949. Canada elected a female speaker of the House of Commons in 1980, and one of the current deputy speakers is the Hon. Jean Augustine who was born in Grenada.
Various countries, again in contrast to the U.S., have already had a female chief justice, with some of these highest courts populated by several women. The current Chief Justice of Canada is a woman, as are three other members of its nine-member court, the number nine being the same number of seats on the U.S. court.
Canada has had three female heads of state, the first appointed in 1984, with the others having served more recently, including Adrienne Clarkson, a refuge from Asia, and Michaelle Jean, a Haitian refugee. This version of “It could only happen in … ” resulted in two ethnic (and female) minorities becoming Governor General in a predominantly white country.
As exceptional, both are foreign-born citizens who were able to live the Canadian Dream, eventually attaining their adopted country’s highest office. Many little boys or girls from around the world can grow up to be head of state in Canada and perhaps one day, prime minister.
Because of a provision in the U.S. Constitution, were Barack Obama actually foreign-born, there would have been no “yes we can" elect the first African American president in 2008, despite his extraordinary talents and keen intelligence.
India, with its often toxic mixture of religious and caste politics, also wrestles with lingering prejudices in pursuit of equality and opportunity, an ongoing struggle for all highly pluralistic democratic states. Yet, the current Prime Minister of India is a Sikh, somewhat equivalent to a Jewish American becoming the U.S. President, and the current President, the head of state, is a woman.
Since 1950, India has been represented by appointed heads of state who emerged from both the “untouchables” and the Muslim minority. The former were once considered so subhuman that touching someone from that caste provoked severe sanctions, while the latter are still despised by many in the Hindu majority, who view Muslims as un-Indian and undeserving of high office. Sounds familiar!?
VARIATIONS
“It could only happen in America” is different from “Made in America”. All great countries borrow from the patrimony of history to fashion their own unique national experience, which become variations on broader themes with which all peoples and nations wrestle. And in every age there is the need to protect, refine and pass on those traditions which help the human family to flourish and survive.
Likewise, there is the struggle to build a human civilization increasingly committed to progress, justice and care for our shared planet, while dismantling the attitudes and practices, ideologies and systems which do violence to the dignity of the human person and family. This is the civilization movement, the basic vocation of all of us, at once national and global citizens.
While America has contributed significantly to human civilization and is a remarkable country, its citizens might want to pause and survey the contributions of others, before making grandiose claims about its exceptionalism.
Next week’s Front Porch will explore the contributions of various nations and systems to the movement for greater human civilization, including those of parliamentary democracies, of which many Bahamians are unaware, often mesmerized by an American political system with great strengths, but also various limitations.
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