Dear Editor,
I attended the assembly of the Sacred Heart School the other day and I was very upset to see the (white) principal of the Sacred Heart School dressed in African clothing, which to me is cultural appropriation because she has always been very ignorant to other cultures, making bad jokes about Jamaican accents and Surinamese culture and looking down on anyone who is not white.
The principal announced in the assembly that five members of staff will be “leaving”. So, picture her, in African wear, making a mockery of the ethnic group and now saying goodbye to five black staff members who are not continuing with the school, because of her. She has chosen to not renew contracts or to force these people out of their jobs by cutting them out and blocking them from doing their work. This is where “it wasn’t me, it was the board” comes in.
The staff leaving are black-Caribbean people with many years of service who are loved and appreciated by the community. The principal has made it known that these people will be replaced by white staff. This is the same principal, when downsizing started at the school, assured the new white teachers that their jobs are safe, even though these people are very weak in their jobs and even though they said it was a “last in, first out” approach to terminating staff, because performance doesn’t matter, only race.
I am writing this because there is no hope. With a board that is not working, people like this principal are left to do whatever they want, because they are good at covering things up and making things look good on paper.
It is not fair that this is happening to innocent, hardworking people. Last time I checked, slavery was done, but it seems that the Dutch people that come to Saba hold on to that slavery mindset.
What were we celebrating on Monday, because are we really emancipated or not?
Concerned citizen.
Name withheld at author’s request.
