Slavery, but make it fashion

There is no excuse. This was what I thought as I stared at my phone screen, looking at the Miss Universe Jamaica contestant, Iana Tickle Garcia’s, culture costume for the 2019 Miss Universe pageant. Garcia was dressed as Annie Palmer. No, let me correct that: she was dressed as ‘The White Witch of Rose Hall’, Annie Palmer. I was lost.

At first, I thought I had missed something: there had to be some underlying reason that justified why she was paying homage to this woman. Surely, the organisers could not have been so tone-deaf. I was further confused when I realised that the costume – white bedazzled dress and feathers – looked more appropriate for a Mardi Gras frontline than a cultural costume about the ‘White Witch’. I mean, where were the whips, chains, hot oil and other torture devices she used on her slaves? Why, out of all of the cultural achievements of this beautiful island, did the organisers decide to dress her as Annie Palmer? 

The question kept spinning in my head. I couldn’t even formulate words: I was stunned. In such a racially-charged world, you would send a Caribbean native on the world stage, dressed as a notorious slaver. I was dumbfounded, but it would seem Miss Universe Jamaica’s team was just plain dumb.

Furthermore, to add insult to injury, the caption for the photo dubbed and scrubbed the story of Annie Palmer as a “…folk legend who ruled her plantation with an iron fist and drove fear in the hearts of her enemies and loved ones alike”. This was an interesting take: they referred to her as the ‘Legend of Rose Hall’, and made her sound like a feminist entrepreneur who ran her plantation in a man’s world of human trafficking. Slavery, but make it fashion. Immediately my ‘foolishness-is-afoot’ senses started to tingle. I realised that the organisers were being extremely selective with the description of Annie Palmer, and others came to the same realisation as well. Simply put, every man, woman and child who has grown up in Jamaica knows about ‘The White Witch of Rose Hall’ and her many ghastly deeds. She was not a legend, and quite frankly, was the opposite of anything we should tie to our culture. Annie Palmer was a murderous, psychotic, slaver who became notorious for how she tortured, raped, and murdered slaves. So, forgive me if I cannot see what in that Miss Universe Jamaica saw as something to present and represent us on the world stage! This wasn’t creative, it was lazy; lazy to the point of being offensive. Any argument to say otherwise would be asinine. 

In my effort to still give them the benefit of the doubt, I convinced myself that there had to be a theme, you know, like the Met Gala. Maybe this one was ‘Villains of The Caribbean’. Therefore, in an effort to excuse this great lapse in sense, I sought to find out the parameters of the competition – just to figure out if it had to be a person. I was unable to find the rules pertaining to the cultural costume competition. However, based on Miss Philippines presenting as a phoenix, and Miss Puerto Rico as a hibiscus whose body suit served both as the national animal and the stem for the hibiscus, I think it’s safe to determine representing a person wasn’t a hard rule. 

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That being said, I can only assume that this costume came about in an effort to promote Iana’s sponsors, Rose Hall Great House, in a clever way. Promote they did; clever it was not. Many will argue that Annie Palmer is not real, that she was fictitious and to that, I say, ‘Ok, but what about a murdering slave owner is there to glamourise, and send to represent us on an international platform?’. Ironically, there simply was no thought outside of capitalist promotion, and getting a return on an investment. I guess we can say that’s very on-brand for the white witch and the history for the great Rose Hall.

I understand they want to step outside the box, that it can’t be hummingbirds and bandana print forever. Unfortunately, the organisers jumped out of the box and into the sugar cane fields. To those who can’t see the issue, I would want you to learn the difference between culture and history. A slave owner is not our culture; chattel slavery is our history and not something that should ever be feathered and sequined. Anti-Semitism is a part of Germany’s history, but Miss Germany wouldn’t go as Hitler, because it’s not their culture. 

What baffles me is that Annie Palmer wasn’t even Jamaican! Let’s be real, Jamaica is not short of actual mythical characters, and even outstanding real-life people to pay homage to. We also boast beautiful flora and fauna – she could’ve easily gone as the lignum vitae tree. But no, we decided to stand on stage in a group of other Caribbean countries – and African nations – who also suffered through slavery and are still feeling the repercussions of its savagery, and present ourselves as the White Witch (sorry legend) of Rose Hall, Annie Palmer. Let that sink in. I mean, Miss Canada presented as a marijuana leaf. Can you imagine? In the year 2019, Canada went as weed and Jamaica went as a slave owner!  Let us not forget that the pageant is at the Tyler Perry Studios in Georgia, United States. Georgia, a state that has its own history of slavery, plantation culture and current racial tensions. My embarrassment knows no bounds. 

Nevertheless, my heart goes out to the actual Miss Universe Jamaica contestant, who probably didn’t have a say in all of this. I can’t imagine my horror if I were asked to walk down a stage dressed in slavery cosplay. The organisers released a statement that they succeeded in generating discussions about this part of our history, and even quoted Marcus Garvey. Nice try. What a piece of slackness! If the caption wasn’t sanitised drivel about Annie Palmer or if the competition wasn’t to promote or pay homage to something, then this statement might have worked. However, Brazil’s costume about the Amazon burning was exactly that, and those speaking for female equality was just that. This Annie Palmer costume wasn’t protesting slavery or her deeds. The job of the costume should never be to promote the sponsor’s business. Can you imagine if her sponsor were National Bakery and they sent her as a bun? Even though that would be better. 

With this year’s costume, we never sought to glorify slavery, nor promote witchcraft or any of the folk tales [sic] Annie Palmer has been accused of, instead, what we sought to do, as have the pantomimes, books and articles written about her, was to just tell the story of another part of Jamaican history without endorsing, glorifying or celebrating her deeds or the atrocities of slavery, and hopefully, the conversations resulting could lead to teachable moments for these same young people we were targeting, especially those who have no interest in history taught the traditional way.

STATEMENT FROM THE MISS UNIVERSE JAMAICA ORGANISATION
POSTED TO THE OFFICIAL MISS UNIVERSE JAMAICA FACEBOOK PAGE

My advice to you, the organisers and sponsors, is to remember that although you are a private franchise, you are still representing the greatest little nation in the world. So, I beg of you if next time you are in doubt or stumped creatively, open up a competition for ideas. If you want to keep the process closed, then for all intents and purposes, just send them out as a bedazzled ackee: we can’t beat you too bad for that.

Chelan Smith is a lifestyle blogger and CEO of boutique marketing agency Chelan Communications. Always ready to share her views on current affairs, she has appeared on several programmes locally and abroad. 

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