I sit and often wonder about this word, “neutral”. What exactly does it mean? Why do we engage in this thing called neutrality? Is it right to be neutral? Is it wrong to be neutral? Why does one stay neutral in the face of evil? If we claim to be neutral, is there even such a thing as evil? Does neutrality exclude us from an opinion or is it only appropriate when the narrative applies to us.
As we ponder the state of affairs in our blessed land, Dominica, it forces us to search within our souls and find the place where we should have an opinion. At a time when so many injustices are prevalent and can be proven, it takes us to the place where neutrality should be eradicated from our vocabulary.
Take for instance the systematic removal of Dominican doctors with an opposing view of the system – doctors qualified and sometimes with a unique specialty that serve the public, who are currently overlooked and blatantly removed from the health care system by a wicked regime. These are the very same doctors who provide care to each and every citizen without fear or favor. If a leader can be so brutal with those who are tasked with saving lives, who else will he brutalize and victimize?
Yet there are those who sit on the fence and claim neutrality. If you claim to be an independent and free people, then you must stand firmly in the face of injustice and reject it. We must protect what is so dear to us in our young age of 41. We must be good citizens and stand up or speak out against injustice. We cannot wait and only become active when injustice, victimization, and oppression reach at our doorsteps. We must get off the neutral fence, stand on the side that calls out wrong, and join the fight to save Dominica’s democracy.