The Tale Of A Pumpkin: The Japanese Who Cried Racism

Just this Saturday, The Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall- A local music competition where contestants are required to perform original dancehall songs, staged its 10th season finale ,showing a less than nail biting clash between the two female finalist-Rankin Pumpkin and Suspense. In the end, Suspense came out the victor and in a facebook post that followed, Rankin Pumpkin expressed that she felt unfairly treated throughout the competition, even accusing a judge, fellow competitors and some members of the Jamaican public of being racist towards her. She wrote, “[The] judge saying that this Japanese lady if she went to the final he will quit the job. Some time when I am singing he push finger in his ears, some time turned his back on me…He also publicly said he wish, I drop off from the competition.” She was referring to judge Skatta Burrell, she also alleged that she received death threats and other malicious remarks from audience members.

Now Jamaicans are known to be very harsh when sharing their opinions and have not (nor do they plan to) mastered the art of sugar coating; it would be easy to mistake us for heartless, mean individuals and it’s quite hard to explain to a non-native that our bluntness and straight to the point persona is anything other than malevolent. It was evident that many persons were distraught over the fact that the Japanese artist made it so far in the competition, as many thought of her performances to be mediocre and uninteresting and in expressing this, came across as crude and hurtful- but should this be interpreted as racism? In a time where the word is so loosely thrown about and carries such heavy meaning, should the term be used in this instance in a country where its a cultural norm to tease and mock everything and everyone, where we have no problem with calling an amputee One-y, Limpy and Stumpy and every person with Asian descent Missa Chin without malicious intent? Was Rankin Pumpkin treated unfairly ? Should there be a rule that states, “Our jeering and mocking of others should not exceed Jamaican nationals”

Feel free to watch the final episode here: