By Johnny Coomansingh
Despite the fact that the people of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) came to these shores on sea-going vessels, it would seem that such a commonality did not make much of a difference. I’m sure that there are records somewhere about who came, why they came, and from whence they came to be living on this twin-island state. Calypsonian, Dr. Leroy Calliste (Black Stalin) metaphorically hinted in his 1979 calypso Caribbean Man that “…dat we all make the same trip on the same ship.” And despite the fact that enshrined in the national anthem of T&T are the words: “Here every creed and race find and equal place,” it is apparent that some of us dwelling in T&T cannot yet fathom the import of this noble statement.
My article for this week concerns the racial antagonism among many citizens living in T&T. This is so, especially in political circles. Annmarie Bissessar in her article, ‘Addressing ethnic imbalances in the public services of plural societies: The case of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago’ published in the International Journal of Public Sector Management (2002), mentioned that “…electoral outcomes have reflected ethnic cleavages.” To talk about, discuss, or describe the racial problems extant on the landscape of T&T is like opening Pandora’s Box. The country’s racial undertones present in churches, schools, workplaces, political parties and even in carnival bands have been festering since time immemorial. In terms of racism, I guess that the people of T&T will adjust to each other maybe in the next junnum (10000 years). Is there any evidence of racism in T&T?
Although he is acclaimed to be the ‘Father of the Nation,’ Dr Eric Eustace Williams, founder of the People’s National Movement (PNM) speech on April 01, 1958, referred to Indo-Trinidadians as the “… hostile recalcitrant minority” because they did not vote for the PNM. In essence, the research shows that Williams indirectly created division between the two major ethnic groups, Afro-Trinidadians and Indo-Trinidadians. A little further down in the history of T&T, Errol Peru, manager of several calypsonians in T&T was concerned or rather bothered by the fact that calypsonians in calypso tents today have been misled into the bashing of one ethnic group (Indo-Trinidadians) in order to get an encore from the crowd.
In my article, ‘The Calypso Artform: a Weapon against Afro-Indo Unity in Trinidad and Tobago’ (2010), published in the Journal of Development Alternatives and Area Studies, Errol Peru in a conversation with a calypsonian stated:
“Errol, there was this Indian man who supported me every year by buying 100 tickets and giving them away to his friends to come to the calypso tent to hear me, but because of the Indian bashing he stopped supporting me. Nobody wants to take their families to the calypso tents to be ridiculed; regardless of what ethnic group you belonged to, including me. Ask any tent owner or manager and they would tell you that the Indo-Trinidadians were the biggest supporters of the calypso tents; they would buy all the front row seats and Johnnie Walker Black and would always invite the calypsonians to meet their families and have a drink with them.”
As we all know, the steelpan instrument is an Afro-centric dynamic. According to J.D. Elder, in his research, From congo drum to steelband : a socio-historical account of the emergence and the evolution of the Trinidad steel orchestra (1969), the steelpan emerged from the Congo drum. Although the Indo-Trinidadian, Dr Jit Samaroo (deceased), was one of the greatest arrangers for the steeplpan in T&T, the race ting in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is everywhere. Samaroo was instrumental in scoring a hattrick with the Amoco Renegades Steel Orchestra winning the National Panorama steelpan event in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
Concerning what I experienced during my research on the steelpan instrument over the period 2003—2005, I penned below in Trini dialect, part of my personal account. This was presented in my book titled: Sweet and Sour Trinidad and Tobago (2010). The first place I visited was the PanTrinbago office in Port of Spain to ‘collect’ information. I thought that since PanTrinbago is the national body for the steelpan that they would be excited to see someone doing research on the steelpan. Guess again!
“The race ting was certainly di spirit dat ah did feel inside the PanTrinbago office in Port of Spain, yes, inside dey had ah “spirit” because even people who recognised mih din even want tuh greet mih.
For the three times I drove from Sangre Grande tuh Port of Spain tuh visit the PanTrinbago office, not one Indo-Trinidadian was seen as an employee of PanTrinbago. If there were any Indo-Trinis around I sure did not see them. It is quite probable that the Indo-Trinidadians are kept at arm’s length or are not qualified to work there. It is possible dat di people doh want ah PanTrinbagosingh corporation. Is not I say dat but some time ago, ah certain prime minister, said that Petrotrin, the state-owned petroleum company, is now Petrosingh because of the amount ah Indo-Trinidadians he saw wukking in di company. Yuh see di “singh” thing relates to East Indian [Indo-Trinidadian].
I do not have a clue to why Petrotrin employs so many Indo-Trinis…ah really doh know. Ah have a feeling dat Indo-Trinidadian parents does stimulate (push) dey chirren tuh come first in test. Again, ah just reading wuh di Trinidad Express tell mih. Imagine di majority ah di top 100 SEA (Secondary Entrance Assessment formerly Common Entrance Examinations) students attended Hindu and Presbyterian elementary schools. Guess who come first…ah lil Indian boy…so is more “Singh” for Petrotrin…and dis year 2010, yuh know is ah next lil Indian boy come first in the SEA exams. Di Express ask di boy wuh he does eat. He said that he mudder could cook rice, dhal and curry chicken fuh he every day! Maybe dat is the secret for success. Who knows? Sorry about the digression, now back to PanTrinbago and mih horrors with dem.
PanTrinbago treated me badly, in other words, with scant courtesy, possibly contempt. Dey didn’t even offer mih ah glass ah water. Ah felt as though dat ah was ah intruder, a paltry wretched soul, a beggar. I was told to go sit at some derelict, unkempt table in the hallway and wait. I waited, and waited like the alligator on the riverbank, and yes, the person who attended to me was all too busy.
Eventually, after convincing the officer that I was on their side, he invited me to sit in his office but he was still too busy to really get down tuh di nitty-gritty of the steelpan movement. As ah national, and still a citizen of T&T I was treated as an alien. In other words, it seemed as though I was not ‘the chosen one’ to do such exploits about steelpan. (In their eyes, it could be that I was just ah little coolie bwai, as some people in T&T would refer to Indo-Trinis). In the end, I received very little attention with regard to what I had hoped to accomplish. Nevertheless, I completed my dissertation, and earned my PhD laurel…yes I did, and Kansas State University, in the middle of the USA has it to their credit.
What do you expect? White people have a different approach. Yuh could shoot yuh mouth off…these people gave me a hearing, and assisted me when I was down to nutten…Are they more civil? Maybe? Once upon ah time di Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) in T&T, and all he henchmen and women never wanted tuh gih me anything. The Bible say tuh ask and it will be given, but nah, ah try everything for ah scholarship…ah was never good enough…no, ah lie, too much nepotism and bribery in T&T. I will never forget my experiences in T&T. (Perhaps I must have had the wrong last name, or was too poor to buy whiskey).
Now look at my experience abroad with the White Americans…God Bless America! Dey go tell mih how ah tun mih back on mih country, buh guess why ah writing dis. Trinidad and Tobago must stop di alienation of their sons and daughters. Trinidad and Tobago must love their own. The people in power must play fair. Am I dreaming? Trinidad play fair? Ah writing dis because mih country must know how not tuh treat di next generation. Doh ask mih now how ah get so now. Too late! Ah have di right tuh express mih experiences and dis is as raw as it gets.
As a well-trained, professional cultural geographer, I took record of all what happened tuh mih in T&T in my head and then jotted down mih experiences. Some people in T&T believe that because you look stupid that yuh stupid. I did not wear a silk tie or fancy clothes, an Armani three-piece suit and wing-tipped shoes. I am of the view dat ah was stereotyped and relegated to the class of nincompoops or choopidees.
Just listen tuh dis rel story. Once upon ah time ah did hear about ah fella who used tuh plant watermelons in di Plum Mitan Lagoon in Trinidad. Well dis fella use tuh save up all he money in ah salt bag (hemp or sisal bag). One day he decided tuh visit McEnearney Motors in Port of Spain tuh buy ah tractor. He asked di salesman at di front desk how much for di tractor that he espied and wanted to buy. The salesman brushed him aside because he looked dirty and unkempt kinda like ah vagrant…and yuh know dat vagrants doh buy tractor. Anyway, the fella persisted until he meet up with the rel boss and emptied the bag ah money on di man desk. The watermelon farmer say take yours fuh di tractor and lef di rest fuh mih. Wuh yuh think happen tuh di salesman? They must be din have enough toilet paper fuh dat front desk salesman in di store.
Some people does say dat di USA does use people like we fuh “slave labour,” buh ah doh care. Ah like how dey treat mih. Thank you America! Ah doh care if yuh say dat dey racist. Dem people din play no race card on mih. Even if dey did bad talk mih behind closed doors, dey din show mih no bad face in public…Many ah mih fellow Trinis does jess speculate about di reasons why ah was successful in so many ways in di USA. Leh dem stay dey and speculate…ah have tuh move on with mih life.”
I have no complaints, just observations. Nevertheless, I prefer unity, and my wish for T&T is that all of us would acknowledge the word Tolerance as one of our watchwords. We should also be cognizant of our motto: Together We Aspire. Together We Achieve,’ and rivet in our minds, ‘Here every creed and race find an equal place.’
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