by
Ryan Clement, barrister
The Past
DEAR SIR, I had a good day today, I think. I went to see a career advisor who asked me what I wanted to be? I told him if I couldn’t be a footballer, I wanted to be a doctor or lawyer because they’re good jobs. He told me that I had to be very clever to do those and told me about jobs I didn’t ask about. I wondered if he had spoken to Mr G_, my maths teacher, who told me that all I was interested in was football. I was sad because maths was my favourite subject and I thought I was good at it. Last week there were comedians on the television who were referring to people who are like me with horrible names that the audience laughed at. I didn’t find them funny because when I go to school others call me the same names in the playground and laugh. I don’t like that feeling. I feel picked on. There was also a comedy show with the words ‘Love’ and ‘Neighbour’ in its name that showed anything but Love to the Neighbours! And there was Tarzan, who was brought up by an Ape and yet he was seen as braver and wiser than people who looked like me who were not raised by a primate. Maybe Mr G_ and the career adviser watched those programmes, too, and didn’t want me to be disappointed. Didn’t want me to raise my hopes too high, be too ambitious. But what do I know? My best friend, D_, went to see his Gran over the weekend. I wish I could see mine. Why is Nenen in Grenada? How did she get there? Why did mum and dad come here? I guess I’ll find out one day.
The Present
DEAR JUNIOR, it has been a while. Let me update us. We made it neither as a footballer nor as a doctor. But we did make it as a lawyer, a barrister to be precise. In fact, law was our second profession, so we ended up with two! Glad we didn’t let the career advisor’s and Mr G_’s advice define us and determine our destiny. It is ironic we mentioned Mr G_ because we went on to gain a Distinction in Mathematics, the very subject he taught us. Things have changed much since we were young. Today, we advocate equality of opportunity in various forms and on various platforms. Sadly, however, there are still many perceptions to be addressed. Sometimes people aren’t even aware of their adverse treatment of others. Some label this as the effects of unconscious bias. We now have diversity awareness and inclusion as part of our lexicon. The former is a matter of observation. However, the latter is a matter of implementation, on which there is a lot more work to do. We will be pleased and saddened in equal measures to know that we attended 3 universities and gained three degrees, one of which is a Master’s in Law. And yet, we have not once been taught how Nenen or our ancestors got to be in Grenada. In fact, we have never formerly been taught how your uncles, aunts and cousins got to be in Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean. Symbolically, it may appear, the hospital in Chiswick where we were born and our primary school in Fulham no longer exist. They have been replaced by structures deemed more important. It is as if our ancestral history is deemed likewise. Mum and dad came here, worked hard and more than contributed to the economic development of the country in which we were born and educated. Recently, it was announced that how Nenen got to be in Grenada from Africa, why mum and dad came to the UK and their contributions will be taught in some schools as part of their curriculum. Maybe in the future when our children write to us, they will be more enlightened about Nenen, mum and dad through their formal education than we were.
The Future
DEAR DAD, …
Copyright © Ryan Clement 2024
Copyright © Ryan Clement 2021
Ryan Clement 