Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has "sounded a word of caution" to Bahamians against "racist and jingoistic" behavior on social media amid various posts concerning a rumor that the government had agreed to grant the Chinese 500 citizenship approvals as a part of a new Baha Mar deal.
Prime Minister Perry Christie quickly dismissed the rumors, saying, "Bahamian citizenship is not for sale at any time, at any price to anybody."
Yesterday, Mitchell called out Bahamians on social media for "irresponsible and offensive" behavior. He said racism and jingoism appear to be seeping into the dialogue and public discourse as many Bahamians, largely driven by social media, sought to attack the investment because the investors are Chinese.
"On social media, the Bahamian national anthem was desecrated by being sung in mock Chinese; the Bahamian flag [was] desecrated by overlaying a Chinese flag; the prime minister's statement on the budget yesterday turned into mock Chinese; the Bahamian national currency [was] photo shopped and defaced by replacing the queen with a Chinese national figure; a [photo of] Buddha was photo shopped over the Queen Victoria Statue in Rawson Square, [the inference being] that Chinese are being endowed with hegemonic powers in The Bahamas," he said.
"This type of propaganda is not amusing.
It is patently offensive and irresponsible." Mitchell said people of African descent and the diaspora have suffered similar indignity and disrespect for years.
He said that kind of behavior should not be shown from a country like The Bahamas and for many reasons.
"No nation, but particularly one of majority African ancestry where they have had to fight and continue to fight every day for their human dignity to be recognized, should be engaging in this kind of dog whistling and borderline race baiting for the fun of it.
"It is unbecoming of us as a country.
"Bahamians need only look at the personal attacks on the heritage of America's first African-American president to understand that this fight for dignity by the African Diaspora continues today.
"Our country's image abroad as a place for investment and in tourism cannot develop the reputation of being racists or jingoists." Mitchell said it was okay to disagree with policies, decisions and results of the Baha Mar investment without going down "that unseemly road".
He encouraged Bahamians to be responsible and look at the facts as he said, "the Baha Mar project did not fail because it was a Chinese investment".
"Our country, both duly elected governments by the Bahamian people, went to the China Export Import Bank and supported a private developer to build Baha Mar.
"Our leaders, both from the Free National Movement (FNM) and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), represented that it was in our national interest to do so and it was a transaction done on commercial terms and approved unanimously in the House of Assembly.
"The China Export Import Bank has not as far as we know reneged on any aspect of the arrangements. "The record shows that the developer so managed his investment, resulting in his inability to pay his bills and the property was placed into receivership, not by the Cabinet but by and under the supervision of the Bahamas Supreme Court.
"No amount of Facebook or social media propaganda and rewriting of history can change that." Mitchell said it is further concerning that a front organization on Facebook calling itself Baha Mar citizens seems to be fueling the anti-Chinese fervor as a cover for the defaults of the developer. He appealed to "better nature on this score" as he said the country's international reputation and vital interests are at stake.
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