Racial Harmony Is A Lie!!

By Kerwin De Matas

In Trinidad the two major ethnic groups are the descendants of the Indian indentured labourers and descendants of the African slaves. Now everything I am going to say, will concern only Trinidad, not Tobago, because after all, I am from Trinidad, I saw what went on there. There is a big lie that I have been participating in for a long time now, and I refuse to continue. After seeing and reading the news from Trinidad on the outside, it seems like everything we have been telling the world was just what we wanted them to believe. What I want to talk about now is just too embarrassing, but it is so true.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning Negotiated With Gangs For " Peace" In Port-Of-Spain

We tell every one that we are a cosmopolitan country, we are a melting pot of religions, cultures, mixed races and their ethnic backgrounds etc. Every Trinidadian seemed proud about that, because after all, that´s all we spoke about. I mean even in our national anthem says, " Every creed and race finds an equal place ", this would be the biggest lie of all I guess.....As a kid growing up I remember very well, even though I wish to forget, about all the racial slurs that our elders used against the people of Indian descent, and I knew very well that it happened the other way around also. Of course there are a lot of other ethnic groups in Trinidad, but I will say with confidence that there is a major problem between the peoples of Indian and African descent on my island. There are many people, including some of my family, that would get upset with me, but with this surge in kidnappings in Trinidad, honesty comes first. My family are a mixed generation of both Indian and African descent, as well as Venezuelan. In my opinion, all of us that were born and grew up on that island are simply Trinidadians, nothing else! But segregation was always there, and until we can admit that and get over all the stupid differences on that island, the racism would just continue. First of all we have to stop calling our selves Indians and Africans, because we are not, we are their descendants, but for all the generations after that were/are Trinidadians!

Ex Prime Minister Basdeo Pandy Arrested On Corruption Charges

I grew up with the side of my family that are black, so it was not uncommon to hear some of my family members with their opinions of the people of Indian descent, it wasn´t all nice.... We would celebrate Carnival together, as well as Phagwar and Divali, these are Hindu festivals, Eid-ul-ftr the Muslim festival and many others, but when we go home the stupid attitude would just continue. I remember very well in one of the elementary schools I attended, the majority was black, only because the majority in that particular neighborhood were black, so it only had to take one kid hassling a Hindu or Muslim kid, and the rest would begin. It wasn´t nice, especially when I remember myself participating in these tauntings, even the rhymes in these tauntings were harsh:

" coolie, coolie come for roti,
all de roti done,
when de nigger pull the trigger,
all the coolie run "

Paying close attention now, to this very offensive word for an unskilled worker who is paid very low wages, especially in parts of Asia, I realize now that we had crossed the line.
Then of course there are some Hindu parents that won't let their kids mix with kids that are black, supposedly, because of them being bad company. Interracial relationships, well let me tell you: in very tight Hindu communities, forget it! I would never forget though, when one time a little girl of Indian decent came into class and no one would sit next to her because she had lice in her hair, but most shocking of all, was when the teacher took the girl by her arms, but in a way one would hold something that smells bad, and took her to the principal´s office.

Drug Trade In Trinidad

Now that was one of the teachers on my shit list anyway, so maybe it was just her that did nonsense like that, so I would just leave it like that. To top this off now, just pay attention to the news and figure out who is kidnapping who, and sometimes opting for murder....If it is difficult to figure out, or the preference is just to ignore it, then I will spell it out for all. When you have a certain group of people of Indian descent along with a certain amount of people of Syrian descent together controlling the drug market in Trinidad, and then there are certain groups of people of African descent wanting to get away from small time pushing, for a bigger spot on the market, but finding it difficult, then it´s obvious: All the build up, of years of racial tension would eventually come to surface! What other way to retaliate then? Very violent kidnappings!! Every one else that are innocent on both sides, are paying the price now. Thank you moms and dads, we surely learned a lot! I guess we have to be honest with our selves first in order to come to a solution.

Gang Members From Trinidad

We have to admit that our nation holds a lot of corrupt police and politicians that have connections to the drug trade, and it is convenient for them to look the other way. Then we have to admit to racism on our island, dividing both sides..... When we can admit to these things, then maybe this big lie that we have built up about our island, would fall away, and then the help from the outside would eventually come to the island to get these crooks out. Hopefully if this comes to pass, all our peoples can get together and try making our existence work for real this time, hopefully....