I would suggest some folks in this thread pause, read this article, and reflect:
---
http://m.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2015-09-12/heart-darknessHeart of darknessPaolo KernahanPublished: Saturday, September 12, 2015All Indian is scyaaamp and drunkards, black people lazy or dem is bandit, see-reean is bandit in suit, de Whiteman is ah oppressor from colonial days (and should jess hush he mout), chinee only like money and dog.
If we are honest with ourselves, the racial stereotypes listed above are very familiar to us, or have even crossed our own lips at some time or another.
Elections 2015 opened a fissure, exposing the dark heart of racism, prejudice and negativity that pumps hatred through the veins of this nation.
That people were surprised by all the nastiness, points to either a well-nurtured naiveté or garden variety stupidity.
We are masters of pretence, masking our foibles with the pantomime of mirth, conviviality and plastic unity.
I recall my time in the media when every state function was opened with performances by the Shiv Shakti Dancers and the Malick Folk Performers. Representatives of the two major races revelled in cultural expression together on the same stage!
Then, attendees would have to sit down, then stand up, then sit down again as Pundit, Imam, Bahai, Pastor, “Seven-days” delivered interminable blessings.
This flimsy charade neatly encapsulates our attitude towards race relations. We bury our heads (not in the sand though) and pretend that we are a melting pot nation, a diverse mix of races and cultures all living in harmony. This…is…garbage.
Facebook, in the aftermath of the elections, became an environment of unfathomable toxicity.
Even as Dr Keith Rowley delivered a particularly-gracious victory speech, designed to assuage the hostilities of the elections, to wake people to the reality that we must all live and work together, the mob on the ground had different ideas.
Political zealots surged at the fences, hurling putrid abuse at the former Prime Minister, cavalierly condemning this woman as a creature of loose morals, a hyper-charged libido and an agent of iniquity.
For their part, the UNC supporters, wounded in defeat, mounted their own racist offensive. The party’s page was transformed into an unofficial, smouldering hate group.
The comments laid bare a society unbound by conventions of civility and grace.
One common incendiary notion is that “Africans” are intellectually inferior and, as such, are ill-suited to a leadership role in the society.
This warped ideology in turn had the effect of attracting PNM supporters to the page. Spoiling for a fight, they deposited their own racist posts. What was remarkable is that the anti-racists are blind to their own racism.
One post read “all of those nasty comments on the UNC’s Facebook page, the only cure for that is Lanate.”
That person couldn’t appreciate that he was guilty of the same offence the post was meant to repudiate.
Elsewhere, a video surfaced of some men attempting to burn, an apparently fire-proof UNC jersey. The video was peppered with guttural obscenities and racist remarks.
Others, who felt themselves above the fray, also contributed to the noxious atmosphere. It was widely suggested, by many people from whom I expected better, that those who didn’t vote for the PNM, are on the side of immorality. Invoking the name of Jesus (in Jesus name!) as the weak-minded are often wont to do, PNM supporters posit that Dr Keith Rowley’s victory at the polls was somehow ordained by God; he was sent from up above to rid this country of the wicked UNC/Hindu government…In Jesus name, H.I.M.
Thus, you have introduced into the equation the ethos of good versus evil.
No platform for unity can be built on nakedly inferred religious intolerance.
But calls for “unity” among citizens are an illusion.
What we truly want is acquiescence. In 2010 and now, hush yuh mout’ we time now!
Additionally, it was laughable to read puerile quips about East Indians with respect to alcohol. We are in fact a nation of drinkers so that is just the pot calling the kettle Indian.
Quibbling over who drinks more than whom is practised obfuscation.
We blame our politicians for fomenting racial and other varieties of hatred but politicians merely exploit the hate resident in the hearts of our people.
Facebook was a snapshot of a pervasive scourge in society. Anyone who believes that the post-elections vitriol was restricted to social media, is either a fool, a liar or both.
Hatred in the heart is difficult, if not impossible to expunge. Older generations are lost to this pernicious affliction.
We must inoculate our children against the heredity of racial hatred and mistrust.
There ought to be an aggressive and sustained education campaign to teach our children about appreciation for cultural differences.
Modules must be introduced in our schools to programme future generations with an understanding of cultural diversity in T&T.
They must be given the mental software to counteract the hatred encoded in our national DNA.
Many will deny it, but both sides of the political divide were guilty of great atrocities.
Trinis love to say: “One love, we all have to live here.”
Of course, we all have to live together but, as this week aptly demonstrated, we don’t have to like it.
Show Posts
