Celebration or Colonial Construct? The Tenth Debate Returns

As Belize prepares to mark the Battle of St. George’s Caye, an old debate is once again taking center stage: what does the Tenth of September truly represent in Belize’s national story? The celebration once held greater prominence, but after independence, the PUP placed more emphasis on September twenty-first and Belize’s emergence as a sovereign nation. Now, former Prime Minister Right Honorable Said Musa is adding his voice to the discussion. He describes the Tenth as a colonial construct and argues that Belize should stop romanticizing the occasion.

 

Rt. Hon. Said Musa

“The tenth of September historically was our national day. The problem was that it was from the colonial days, the tenth of September was tied to the colonial period and Mr. Price realized that we have to break away from that. And that is why he came and proposed that we have our independence on the twenty-first of September. People came and wanted to know, why did we not stick with the tenth? Because, the tenth is a colonial construct, that is why, plain and simple.”

 

Shane Williams

“Is it time for us to go deeper into the teaching and break away from the romanticism of this national day, that colonial construct?”

 

Rt. Hon. Said Musa

“I think so, because if we don’t, to me, we will very be humbugged, if we are scared of confronting it head on. I think that is the way to go.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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