Third World; 'Racing for global respect'

By Jessica Hinds

hind0028@algonquincollege.com

“It is disgusting. This is not a Third World country” said John Griffiths, who is from the United Kingdom, in an article published in a newspaper from my home, Barbados.

Griffiths was commenting on an occurrence at a south coast beach in August of 2007. Heavy rains meant the sluice gates that drain a swamp periodically into the ocean during low-traffic hours, had to be opened during Sunday - when the beach is arguably the most populated, leaving the once clear blue waters unappealingly murky and foul.

I found the tourist’s reaction jarring but it again confirmed the feelings I have towards the phrase “Third World” - one which I think is outdated, offensive, and ultimately destructive.

What I felt Griffiths was saying in much less eloquent terms was that his experience in Barbados had been largely positive so far, not “disgusting” enough to be that of a Third World country.

Griffiths was wrong. Barbados has been considered, and is still considered by some a Third World country. Now, it seems to be in that indefinable transitional space, like a student waiting to find out whether they have made it into the next grade.

In most professional settings, the phrase “Third World” has been replaced by “developing country,” but the general population can’t seem to shake their desire to categorize countries like they have just completed a race for global respect.

For those in last place, poverty and the issues that stem from it have become expected, and sadly, for the most part, accepted.

By labelling a country “Third World” people are able to separate themselves from what they consider third class citizens of the global village.

I realize that growing up in one of the most developed of “developing nations” may have somewhat tainted my perspective of the term “Third World,” but it also gives me a unique perception into unfair bias against countries stuck with this vague title.

I am in no way oblivious to the poverty and injustice that is commonplace in the world. I realize that all is not well in countries considered by others to be lowest on the totem pole of development.

However, until negative perceptions about “Third World” countries and the people who come from them begin to change, we remain indefinitely stuck in a clumsily built box. One created for us by people with a limited understanding of the places we simply call “home.”