From the Jamaica Observer, about the British moderate-conservative and special adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron on youth and crime: "Addressing journalists at this week's Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange,
Bailey, who described himself as being from 'dirt poor conditions',
emphasised that blacks need to play a leading role in addressing the
challenges that confront them. 'In the context of Britain we have a lot of apologists, so people say
you come from a poor background, it's fine, continue to be poor. I think
our greatest forward step is in us, and if we don't take a stance to
correct some of what's wrong for us, we are not going anywhere,' said
Bailey in a comment rooted in Marcus Garvey's teaching that 'none but
ourselves can free our minds', and which was made even more popular by
reggae icon Bob Marley in his classic, Redemption Song."
More: "Bailey, who is in Jamaica as part of efforts to know the country,
contends that too many blacks allow themselves to wallow in situations
that sometimes result from their own actions. 'We have chosen victim and
we are great victims because you can see us from across the streets.
Poor white communities have exactly the same problems. I grew up among a
bunch of white boys, none of them doing any better than us, and that's
why for me in the context of Britain, it's not actually a colour thing,'
Bailey said as he identified some of the practices that continue to
affect the progress of black people in the UK."
Mr. Bailey continues his comments: "'The kind of conversations we have in our community is how our fathers
have been replaced by welfare. People have made it all right to be
single and be a parent without asking how tough that's going to be. In
every way that you can measure social pain, we are leading. Fifty-eight
per cent of black children in Britain grow up in a single-parent family,
unemployment rate is more than double in our community, our failure in
school is legendary. For me, it's not about being black, the fact that I am black just makes
things clear for me,' said Bailey even as he made an appeal for
Jamaicans to rise above the fray and become associated with success."
Shaun Bailey: "British Blacks Must Place More Emphasis On Individual Responsibility & Accountability"
