Councillor Richard Vernon is the deputy mayor of Jamaica’s second city, the famed tourism capital of the Caribbean, Montego Bay. His public comments will, therefore, attract attention, however well-intentioned or asinine they are.

In a recent speech he characterised Jamaicans who “run away” or seek greener pastures abroad as cowards. Not only is this broadside untrue, but it is unjust and certainly unworthy of someone who holds that high office. It is no less an excursion into stupidity, born of one who is not in control of his facts or who is just playing to a gallery in the theatre of the absurd.

Understandably, this has not gone over well with the public, judging from the comments in the media on the matter. Given the hardships that so many face in their own homeland, Jamaicans, from time immemorial, have been migrating, especially to the United States, in search of a better way of life. In recent times this situation has been exacerbated by a murderous criminality that has placed the entire population under siege and in great fear. Despite the obvious economic gains in recent years, many Jamaicans are feeling the real pinch of economic hardship. Many professionals in the middle class and civil servants, especially in the nursing, teaching, and police professions, can hardly make ends meet with the parlous salaries they are paid. It is well known that civil servant salary negotiations are among the most serious events that any Government has to contend with.

Thus, many are looking abroad at what they see as greener pastures to be able to do the basic things, like owning a home, feeding their families, giving their children a good education, and putting a little something aside for when they get older and can no longer work full-time. There are many who would rather stay in Jamaica and achieve these ends if the situation were right, but it is not. Some who eventually get the means to go, often do so with a heavy heart. They go, not because they are unpatriotic, Mayor Vernon, or because they want to work a “quick money”. They do so in response to the necessity imposed upon them.

And when they do go, most do not forget their homeland. Abroad, they work hard, often against great odds — in the snow in winter and harsh heat in the summer months. Many have to contend with racism, especially in the United States. Even well-educated ones find that the ladder of social mobility has too many rungs broken out of it. So many discover, some earlier than others, that the grass or the pasture that they thought was greener on the other side was indeed browner than they anticipated. Some turn “cruffs”, but the vast majority soldier on to fulfil the “smadditization” project made popular by the late Professor Rex Nettleford, and of which they know they are capable.

Many never lose their sense of patriotism or love for their country. In fact, for some, Jamaica is constantly on their minds and they cultivate the deep desire to return home as soon as situations warrant. While they wait on that, they send back billions of dollars to their homeland — to relatives to build their dream home and to invest in enterprises or start new businesses. Some are set upon and have things stolen from them by even their own relatives. Those who want to do business are often frustrated by the bureaucracy and the obvious discrepancies characteristic of doing business in their homeland.

Despite their patriotic loyalty, this is not often rewarded by governments that pay lip service to their contributions or to their patriotic yearnings to contribute. I can say without any fear of contradiction that there are those in the Diaspora who make a greater contribution to their homeland than many who are living on the Rock. They invest millions in enterprises which provide employment and thus a living for many who would not otherwise have a job. Many are engaged in charitable enterprises, however small, because they are driven by a desire to give back, a gratitude that is not often returned to them.

Yet they have to contend with the infelicitous remarks of people like Mayor Vernon and the red eye of envy that they often feel piercing in their backs when they do return home. It is still not a smooth process they encounter when they do decide to come back home. They have to navigate the bureaucracy of customs and often feel penalised for deciding to return. Speak to Percival Latouche of the Jamaica Association for the Resettlement of Returning Residents and others, and they will tell you of the horror stories that returning residents relate of their experience on returning to Jamaica.

It is time that we end this idle talk that pours scorn on people’s desire to seek better abroad. We are living in a globalised world and Jamaicans will always want to experience that world as they seek to make their lives better. So get with the programme.

Although it does contribute to brain drain and the absence of needed professionals and skills to build Jamaica, I believe that it represents a net good for the country for Jamaicans to have this experience, so long as they do not forget the rock from which they have been hewn and the ground from which they have been dug.

People with official responsibility in the society must be more guarded in their public utterances. When they do comment, such comments must not be laden with patent falsehoods. If you do not have the facts, do your research before you speak.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm; Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.