Amendment XV

On a very clear day in Jamaica, my father and I left his house in Kingston for a walk down to Manor Park Plaza. I was about 7 at the time. My father lived in what was at the time an affluent neighborhood in Kingston, with a house and guest house originally built by his father that was situated on 5 acres of prime land just below Stoney Hills. We had only travelled a few feet out of our front gate when a green Land Rover jeep carrying approximately six men (4 armed with M-16 rifles) stopped beside us. Most boys growing up in Jamaica at that time aspired to be two things - a fireman, policeman, or soldier - and we were all familiar with the vehicles utilized by those professionals. I instantly knew these men were policemen. Though I didn't know the technical meaning of their stances, it occurred to me that these officers were holding their weapons in such a way that it could be deployed swiftly (a position known as the low-ready where the weapon is not directed at a threat but is can be raised to instantly engage a target). One stood up, looked my father in the face and said rather angrily, "JLP or PNP?" My father, without hesitation, instantly replied, "JLP man!" These six armed men stared at him for a few seconds and then roared off.

Now, at the time I wasn't exactly a master of the Jamaican political system. I knew there were two political parties, the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labor Party, and I knew that the Prime Minister at the time was Edward Seaga, a member of the JLP. That bit of knowledge was the farthest thing on my mind, because despite having a profound respect for public servants and in particular police officers at the time, there was one thing that was very clear to me on that clear and warm morning - we were in danger. It might have been the guns, it may have been the tone of the one guy who spoke, but I knew within seconds of the encounter that our lives were in danger. I also knew one other thing; my father spoke the truth. I knew for a fact that he supported the JLP at that time, and I also knew that we lived in an area that was overwhelmingly loyal to the opposition PNP. In the face of grave danger, when he knew his life was on the line and that the men standing before him likely supported the other party, my father stood his ground and voiced his support for the party that had earned his vote.

I've never forgotten that moment, and I didn't forget it this morning as I cast my vote in Virginia. I owe it to my son to continue to exercise a right secured for me through the blood of so many of my people.