Archive for the ‘Race’ Category
Monday, August 6th, 2007 |
Here is what Devant Maharaj said at a recent meeting of the Congress of the People:
‘You are hearing this morning in the paper that Prime Minister Manning wants to buy out Laventille. Our taxpayers’ money would be paying that…footing that bill. And where these people would be coming? I am sure they will be your neighbours, next door in Central. But you have heard about the Prime Minister in his walkabouts in the Central communities talking about mixed communities, up to now he hasn’t defined what that means. But that is the bleak future of doom and gloom that lays before us if the PNM is allowed to come into power .’
This is Gerald Yetming’s response on behalf of the COP:
After discussion with Mr Maharaj, the COP has accepted his clarification that the statement referred on the one hand to a Prime Minister intent on driving wedges into national race relations with his expressed, but unexplained, desire to create ‘mixed communities’, and on the other hand, the clear indication of the PNM’s moves to create vote banks in certain constituencies to secure political victory.
He goes on:
We are assured by Mr Maharaj that his statements referred to a Prime Minister attempting to create racial distrust in order to preserve the life of his political party. We are also assured by Mr Maharaj that his statement referred to the creation of vote-banks to ensure that the PNM can capture seats and maintain State power at any cost.The COP is a national political party with an equal place for every single citizen. This was a founding principle on 10 September 2006 and remains one of our guiding principles today. No form of discrimination will be tolerated by the COP and indeed, Mr Maharaj shares and values that founding principle.
He also includes in the response condemnation of the actions of the PNM towards the people of Lavantille etc - all well and good.
Now I listened to Devant Maharaj’s entire speech on Power 102. Nowhere in that speech. I repeat, nowhere either before or after the comment about “your neighbours in Central” did Mr. Devant Maharaj mention anything about house padding. But hold on, let me back up a bit because I’m sure a lot of you are still stuck on the fact that Devant Maharaj was speaking on a COP platform.
Why in the world is Devant Marahj speaking on a political platform, let alone a platform of the Congress of the People? Of course Devant Maharaj has a right to belong to or associate with any political party or group that he desires. That’s his right as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, but who in their right mind would put Devant Maharaj on a political platform to speak.
Mr. Maharaj has won countless lawsuits against the Government and rightfully so, but he has a tendency to see everything as having racial overtones. In my opinion he should never be allowed to see the top of a podium, let alone given a mike. But here it is Devant Maharaj is speaking on a platform for the Congress of the People - a party that swears to do differently.
And not only did he speak and utter this racial diatribe about people from Lavantille moving into Central Trinidad, people from the COP appear to be not too bothered by it. How else am I to interpret Gerald Yetming saying that “the COP has accepted his clarification that the statement referred on the one hand to a Prime Minister intent on driving wedges into national race relations…?” That seems to me like a little bit of the same old party policy - which is “we don’t criticize or condemn our own” - most recently seen in the PNM’s absolute refusal to do anything whatsoever about the Larry Achong matter and the Camille “I’m a lawyer, but I can’t understand a credit card contract” Robinson-Regis matter.
So to Gerry Yetming, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining. If you want to look like a fool, that’s your prerogative, but don’t expect me to follow.
I don’t want Devant Maharaj to be thrown out the party, but I would settle for him not ever speaking on a Congress of the People platform again.
Posted in COP, Politics, Race | 9 Comments »
Monday, April 9th, 2007 |
Lawyer and newspaper columnist Anand Ramlogan wrote the following piece in yesterday’s Sunday Guardian:
One Indian male to go
Could someone explain why Indian men are so scarce in advertisements? In a country where we’re hardly a minority, the conspicuous absence is glaring and shocking.
Is it that we have no purchasing power and companies can comfortably ignore us with impunity?
This is one of the sorest points with the Indo-Trinidadian community, and it is often used or misused to buttress perceptions of and discussions on discrimination, alienation and marginalisation.
I am sick and fed up of hearing people complain about how interracial or mixed couples are always portrayed by reference to a non-Indian man.
Women of all races (and yes, quite a lot of good-looking Indian ones too boot) are frequently shown as partners or spouses of African, mixed and white men, but it is as if it is a criminal offence to show them in a relationship with an Indian man.
Small wonder it is used as ammunition and evidence by those who believe in sinister conspiracy theories about this being part of the attempt to assimilate or “douglarise” us.
Indian men are relegated to the mandatory rum and roti advertisements or flour and oil. And, of course, the Clico ad about the rural rice farmer “who knows where to go for good financial advice.”
The pot-belly, lethargic stereotype from the countryside features a lot, but it’s bad advertising to show young good looking Indian guys in ads.
We don’t go to gyms or play any sports, and hence don’t look good enough to be associated with any product.
I was thrilled to see Denesh Ramdhin and Ramnaresh Sarwan featuring in a Digicel advertisement, with Chris Gayle on the cover of Air Caribbean’s magazine.
In fact, Digicel’s advertisements have been a breath of fresh air! Digicel seems to have discovered that we exist and have broken with tradition by using Indian men in its ads.
(Mind you, we are yet to feature in any of the ads with sexy girls whispering sweet nothings into the ears of their boyfriends—that might have been pushing it too far!)
No company has given us such prominence in ads before.Thank you, Digicel.
Compare Digicel to bmobile. Imagine the Cricket World Cup advertisement with our prince, Brian Lara, calling friends to play cricket with a youth on the beach does not contain a single Indian in it!
I wonder if bmobile would have ever dared to run such an ad with only Indians in it? If it did, I wonder how the non-Indian community would have felt.
Add this to the on-going bmobile soap opera with Margaret trying to use her hunky neighbour’s phone and all the other ads and you will see that we Indian men are simply not the “smart choice” when it comes to bmobile!
(And no, Spalk does not represent us, he is mixed). To make matters worse, the one Indian artiste bmobile sponsors (Raymond Ramnarine) has done his best to look like Shurwayne Winchester, cane rows and all, because he is in the midst of a grave identity crisis, or thinks he would get further with his crossover music if he dilutes his Indian-ness.
Sadly, he’s probably right.
When an Indian guy does feature in an ad, his role is peripheral and subsidiary. Even when it comes to little children, Indian boys are treated in a similar manner—never the centre of attention with the pretty girl.
I challenge readers to conduct their own informal survey. Even with children, the discrimination is the same: Indian girls, yes, Indian boys no, or, with a minor subsidiary role.
Scotiabank’s advertisement of its sponsorship of West Indies Kiddies cricket barely manages a token reference glimpse of an Indian boy.
Could Scotiabank have ever constructed this ad with a young Indian boy hitting a six and smashing the glass in the bank, only to be comforted by an Indian bank manager? I doubt it.
Only last week, the press published pictures of Nataki Dilchan, a clerk from the House of Representatives, and Joseph Dipnarine, whose daughter was murdered.
It reminded many that non-Indian women do, in fact, choose us as their life partners. No ethnic group has a monopoly on racially-mixed couples.
Why not have some balance and reflect our diverse racial groups?
For those without the capacity to walk around in our shoes and see how nasty it feels to be treated as though we have the plague by the advertising industry, I have composed this poem for you to sing:
If yuh mixed, yuh fixed
If yuh Afro, yuh good to go
If yuh Indian, yuh just not Caribbean.
I’m not a fan of Anand Ramlogan in any way, shape, form or fashion. I think he’s one of those people who looks at the world through jaundiced eyes and then complains that the whole world is yellow. Reading his columns from week to week, I think (in my own personal opinion), reveals a man who is willing to believe the worst about us. However, as with anyone, it’s impossible to be wrong 100% of the time and this may be one of those instances.
There really aren’t any Indian men in advertisements save for a few. Why is that? It’s something that’s really easy to ignore if you’re not looking for it, but broaching the subject makes it inescapably apparent.
I tried hard to think up some ads where Indian males were present, and all I could come up with were the Digicel ads and one Scotiabank ad with a some guys playing cricket. That’s about it. There are Indian women of course, but then again, there have always been Indian women. But why no Indian guys? Are there no handsome ones? Surely, if anything, there are light-skinned Indian men, and we know how advertisers just love the light-skinned people. So why not them?
What Mr. Ramlogan said here is particularly striking:
Compare Digicel to bmobile. Imagine the Cricket World Cup advertisement with our prince, Brian Lara, calling friends to play cricket with a youth on the beach does not contain a single Indian in it!
I wonder if bmobile would have ever dared to run such an ad with only Indians in it? If it did, I wonder how the non-Indian community would have felt.
Can you see that ever happening? A group of Indian men and women on a beach playing cricket? You and I both know that will never happen.
I think that if a visitor were to sit and watch an hour or so of Trinbagonian TV commercials, and maybe sift through a random selection of newspaper ads before going out into public, they’d be in for a big surprise. The discrepancy between what is fed to us and what is true is huge and it’s a little sad to see that.
Of course there could be other factors coming into play rather than just discrimination. It could be an unwillingness to participate, but I think that’s a stretch at best.
I’ve become tired of listening to conversations about “dem Indian and dem” or “dem Creole and dem” and ever since I began this blog, I’ve made it a point to call a spade a spade. There is just so much abject stupidity floating around these days and people are unwilling to be honest for fear of letting their race down. After all, what kind of Indian are you if you criticize Indians, or what kind of African are you if you criticize Africans? Surely that makes you a race traitor. And so when I began this blog, I wanted it to represent me and my beliefs as closely as possible. That having all been said, what do I think the reason is for this discrepancy? I think advertisers are pandering to stereotypes and prejudices. Somewhere along the way (or maybe it has always been so) the image of the Indo male became unpalatable to some and advertisers decided to ease our discomfort. And so to advertising agencies, Trinbagonian means “African” and, only coincidentally, light-skinned*. I really want this to be not true, but unfortunately, I don’t get to sit in board rooms and make decisions.
*Yes, the incessant light-skinned fare bothers me almost as much. Not that light-skinned people don’t exist in Trinidad and shouldn’t be represented as such, but dark-skinned people - especially dark-skinned women - do also exist.
Posted in Corporate, Media, Race, Social Issues | 17 Comments »
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 |
SEA Exam Today
Allyuh today is SEA exam. Allyuh have allyuh No. 2 pencils, yuh sharpener, yuh eraser and yuh exam slip? Allyuh eat a good breakfast? Remember not to get too stressed out, eh. Answer the questions as quickly as you can. Make sure to blacken the entire circle on the answer sheet. Do your working on the side. If you don’t know the answer to a question, skip it and come back to it if you have time. Doh feel nervous, yuh know. Make sure to reach on time ok? So make sure to tell mummy or daddy to drop yuh off early. Nice chirren. Don’t worry, after today is play time till you get your results. No more “reaching late for SEA” dreams.
Is it strange that I never forgot my Common Entrance number? Even if I didn’t, my mother saved my slip and has it stashed away somewhere. During the exam it took my shoes off, kicked back and did my exam. I remember the examiners joking with me when it was all done that I took off my shoes and looked so relaxed. I guess that was the only way I knew how to do it. Anybody else mammy still have they Common Entrance slip or is that just me?
Rain & Clouds
Allyuh, I haven’t seen the sun now for almost a week. All we’ve had is rain, rain and more rain along with a helping of black clouds. And it’s only just March. The Bermuda/Bangladesh game could only go about 21 overs a side because of it. Yet it doesn’t look like it’s letting up any time soon. The good thing is that I haven’t heard of any reports of flooding yet.
Basdeo Panday
“The only reason they failed was because they got too greedy. They tried to hang two Indians with the same rope.” Would someone who truly loves Trinidad talk like this? Or is this a self-absorbed, megalomaniac politician trying to seize power at any cost? Who cares if this divides an already polarized society? Who cares about the repercussions?
And I’m not making any judgment here about whether the prosecutions of Mr. Sharma and Mr. Panday were witch hunts. I’m concerned more with the language used by Mr. Panday and the immediate implication of race into this whole matter.
West Indies Vs. Australia
Whether we play them first or last, we have to meet them. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little worried. Watching that game they played against South Africa made me wonder if we have it in us. Of course both Australia and the Windies are capable of playing at a World Class Level, but it has come to the point where Windies’ losses are called slumps and Australian losses are called flukes. It’s a little hard to win against a team that loses once in a blue moon.
Although they’ve moved out of the old Antigua Recreation ground and into the newly built Sir Viv Richards Stadium, will Lara get his old Antiguan luck back? Oh loss ah worried.
Posted in Cricket, Education, PNM, Politics, Race, Sports, UNC | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 |
‘Tis so sad to make familiar mistakes.
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| Harry Mungalsingh (Express Photo) |
He was wrong. He said he was caught up in the heat of the moment (although he was reading from a script at the time) He’s sorry, however. But he was fired (as he should have been). Kudos to the UNC for acting quickly and decisively.
But what got me, is how could a man be so emboldened (to use Dubya’s word) to say what he did? Do people really think and talk like this? Was this a bad joke that Mungalsigh mistook for a good idea.
Although I’m not entirely sure about the topic, this reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a while back. I think he was talking to me about Hinduism and was trying to illustrate to me some Hindu philosophy or something like that. Anyway, he was telling me about a question he had asked his pundit about crime and the answer his pundit gave. The question was, “Since people who commit crime seem to come from certain areas, would it be ethical to seal of their communities and prevent them from mixing with the rest of us?”
“No,” the pundit says, “you can’t do that because blah, blah, blah.”
After he related the pundit’s answer, he smiled gleefully as though he had laid a golden egg right there in front of me.
The reason I use the “blah, blah, blah there is not to disrespect the pundit or his answer, I think I remember it being right and fitting, but to be honest I can’t really remember it because I was still stuck on the question. I sat there thinking, “you’ve had thoughts about walling-off communities? Who are you? Have I really known you for 20 years?”
And so when it comes to Mungalsing, it’s the thought that counts. While the question is disturbing in itself, it’s Mungalsingh’s thoughts I’m troubled by. Who else thinks like this?
Read Atillah Springer’s thoughts on the matter.
Posted in Crime, Personal Story, Race, Social Issues, UNC | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 |
Speaking at the Waterloo High School on Saturday Prime Minister Patrick Manning has stated that the Caroni Lands programme will be expanded to 18,000
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| Basdeo Panday |
lots with the intention of creating mixed communities in Caroni so as to avoid ethnic confrontations that plague other countries around the world.
Now I am all for integration, but I have to worry about a man who proposes a measure that seems so incredibly childish - just make people live together and they’ll start liking each other.
If this government really wanted to avoid ethnic confrontation they could start by avoiding some of the blatant instances of prejudice that have plagued them in the past. For example, how could Mr. Manning reconcile the fact Maha Sabha radio licence debacle with their new stance on integrated communities? I don’t think the Maha Sabha was discriminated against particularly because of race, but because of the character of Sat Maharaj. However, if at all this government is to foster a spirit of integration it must begin by treating all fairly - no matter how retarded their views may be.
Of course this has reignited the topic of race in T&T (like it ever went away) and since race is one of Basdeo Panday’s favourite subject’s hes’ been running with it ever since Manning broached the topic. I do agree with him where he said that although a mixed community is a great idea, it is not something that “should be forced” upon people. You just can’t force people to get along no matter what you try.
But then here comes Bas to inform the world of the racism and discrimination that he and other Indo-Trinidadians experience everyday under the hands of an oppressive government. Citing Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi as examples he remarked that when these gentlemen cried out about the discrimination taking place in their countries no one told them they were wrong or crazy.
This is one of the areas where I have a problem with Bas. Pre-Independence India, 1950s Deep South USA and Apartheid-era South Africa in my view are all completely different to T&T today. Are there really parallels to be drawn between our society and theirs? In those countries and at those times racism was a very tangible thing. There were signs telling you what washrooms you could use, where to sit in a bus and what lines to stand in. You didn’t dare ask for a job in some companies. You didn’t dare go into certain neighbourhoods at any time of the day. Is that anything like Trinbago today?
I’m not stupid. I know that discrimination takes place in every country on the face of the earth and Trinidad is no exception. But can T&T really be compared to these countries the way Kamla and Bas would have us?
I would especially like some of my Indo-Trini readers to help me out on that one.
Posted in PNM, Race, Social Issues, UNC | 10 Comments »
Monday, November 13th, 2006 |
Kamla, Kamla, Kamla, how do I despise thee? Let me count the ways. I really don’t know what to say about this woman anymore, you know.
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| Click to Enlarge |
It bothers me that Kamla Persad Bissessar has little aversion to embarrassing the entire nation for the sake of political leverage.
On Thursday Indian Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat came for an official visit to Trinidad and Tobago and by the time he left Saturday night, he had received an earful from Bissessar about how Indians in Trinidad and Tobago were being politically persecuted.
I mean honestly, how dat reach dey? Despite how much in denial she may be about the Panday affair, and how quick she is to jump the gun with regards to the Chief Justice matter which is still before the courts, how does she justify running to the Vice President of a country that has no and has never had any authority whatsoever in Trinidad and Tobago - a sovereign state?
Obviously as an attorney and a former Attorney General she knows that India has no jurisdiction over Trinidad and that Mr. Shekhawat will under no circumstances get involved in the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, so why even bring it up if not to embarrass the state of Trinidad and Tobago with unproven allegations?
Let’s say for instance that there was in fact political prosecution going on in Trinidad and Tobago, I’m sure that there are international channels reserved for seeking a resolution. How does she rationalize that this is the road that she must travel, that is, to involve the VP of a state that has no real legal or judicial ties to T&T?
So Kamla had to know it was pointless, so why bring it up? What could she realistically hope to accomplish?
I keep finding more and more reasons why I’ll never vote for her…like I needed more.
I hope that everyone had a good weekend, even though the Windies are sucking salt in Pakistan.
Posted in Politics, Race, UNC | 12 Comments »
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 |
You know, it was never going to take much for us to crack. Our lives and conversation are centred on race. When election time comes around politicians dutifully court race as a means of securing their precious votes. And so one killing is all it takes in order for the deep seated resentment to explode.
Combine one dead black youth with one licensed firearm-holding, presumably well-off businessman - I assume to be of another race - and well, you’ll either get a Molotov cocktail or a race riot.
And this was the situation on Monday night after 21-year-old Kevin Valley (a cousin of Minister of Trade and Industry Ken Valley) was shot to death allegedly by a businessman in the area. I don’t think anyone knows for sure why he was shot or even why he was outside the home of the shooter, and yet his death has raised the ire of the residents in the area who charge that his killing was unlawful.
There are some alleging that Kevin was there with friends intent to kidnap the son of the businessman with whom he had an argument. Yet there are those who say that Kevin was no criminal. The nagging questions that bother me are: Why was Kevin really there in the first place? Was he or any of his friends armed? Was he causing trouble? And even if he was causing trouble, did it warrant being shot? Did the shooter act too hastily in firing his weapon? Is it possible that the father was provoked enough into pulling the trigger?
Those are the questions that need answering. Riots don’t accomplish much else than to draw the attention of the police away from the investigations into the matter. And of course adding to all the hysteria is Minister Valley lamenting that his cousin was the victim of a crime. The crime has not yet been investigated, the facts have not yet been collected, but instead of appealing for the people’s good sense to prevail Mr. Valley bewails the “crime” that took place. Who has determined that any crime took place Mr. Valley? Armed with as little information as most of the rioters, Mr. Valley flies off the handle and implies that there was a murderer and a victim.
This is the sort of thing that fuels riots. Of course the media has stopped short of describing the events that occurred after the shooting as racially motivated, but it’s a little obvious.
And of course I know that Minister Valley might be saddened at the killing, but still, he’s been in the spotlight for years now and should know better. He should know that there is a process to everything.
In any case I’m hoping against hope that the rioting witnessed in Felicity is not indicative of where we are as a society to where we see race and class in every incident. I’m hoping, but deep down I feel that we’ve only witnessed the first of other incidents like this to come. I’m always afraid for Trinidad when it comes to issues of race. Despite what other may say about how well we get along, I know that in Trinidad and Tobago we have serious issues with race. You can hear it in among your friends, family members and even snippets of conversations you get walking the streets. So don’t be fooled, the potential for something like this to happen has always been there, and from the looks of it, doesn’t need much for it to rear it’s ugly head.
*I feel I need to write something happy now to cancel this post.
Posted in Crime, Politics, Race, Social Issues | 15 Comments »
Monday, October 16th, 2006 |
- Sometimes I have to question Basdeo Panday’s sanity. Speaking at the Felicity Community Centre, Mr. Panday said, “days of the bounty hunter are at hand”. Mr. Panday didn’t mean new legislation mind you, he meant illegal bounty hunting. Saying that it was time for businessmen to protect themselves, they should get together and set up a fund of $20 million called the fund the ‘Fund for Self-Protection’. The fund should be used to “let the kidnappers know that if they kidnap or kill one of our families, the fund will be used to hunt them down until they are caught, no matter how long it will take”.
He added:
“The time has come when we must seek our own protection, we must begin the process of protecting ourselves and since we cannot do it ourselves we must pay for that protection. These killers are doing what they do because they believe they can do it with impunity and get away with it.
“We must let them know that they cannot kidnap or murder our family and get away with it. They must be made to understand that if they interfere with your family they will pay one way or another.”
Is this not a crime? Like this man forget he out on bail or what?
And then he has the audacity to call Winston Dookeran “Duck and Run”. Speaking on a UNC platform he said, “he (Mr. Dookeran) is a harmless, useless duck. You ever see a duck fight? Chicken does fight. Duck doh fight.” Well le me say this: I will eat duck over jailbird any day of the week.
- And creating an even bigger circus of stupidity, here comes attorney-at-law Surendranath Capildeo to say that the prosecution of Panday was a continuation of the victimisation of the local East Indian people. The statement is stupid enough on it’s own, but when you take into account that it was made on the opening night of Divali Nagar - a religious festival - you have to understand why I am a little more than ticked off. How dat reach there? I don’t understand. Talk bout Divali nah, even say you wished the Government poured more money into it. But how he reach there?
In addition to this, Mr. Capildeo told the audience he had pledged a sum of $25,000 to a treasure chest set up to provide funds for the defence lawyers “so that (Basdeo) Panday will not go back to jail”.
First of all Basdeo Panday committed a crime. He had over $10m in a foreign bank account that he did not declare to the integrity committee. Some public officials have yet to declare their assets which is just as criminal, however Mr. Panday isn’t absolved through the actions of others. In the eyes of the Law, he tief. The funds in the account will be seized as they are assumed to be obtained through illegal means. By no means is Basdeo Panday an innocent man, despite all those who would like to paint him to be the next Gandhi.
Secondly, why would Surendranath Capildeo assume that all Hindus and for that matter all Indians are supporters of Basdeo Panday or even think of him as innocent? There are Indians and Hindus who believe just as whole-heartedly that Basdeo Panday should be jailed. This is part of what’s wrong with Trinidad - the assumption that all must believe as you believe just because you share the same physical attributes. To stand there on the opening night of Divali Nagar, an occasion that has no political ties whatsoever and espouse a belief that you assume your listeners share is a huge disservice to people and their intellects. And as easy as this “leaders” in society clamp down on independent thought and enforce the tribal vote.
- On the other hand I fully blame Mr. Dookeran for the Budget Debate debacle. Mr. Dookeran is not a rookie by no stretch of the imagination. He should know better than that and he should have been prepared. Mr. Manning is not going to grant any favours to anyone and Dooks should not expect him to. The country lost because the Congress of the People couldn’t get their act together in Parliament and in so doing made the PNM look much better than we all know they are.
I’m glad though that Dooks has accepted responsibility for the debacle. At least he’s a man about it.
- But what trouble is this? Mr. Patrick Manning warning Dooks about corrupt members in his Party? This is the same man who had Eric Williams and Franklin Khan as Ministers in his Cabinet. The same Williams and Khan who now facing the court on bribery charges? You would think that the Government cabinet white as snow. But where these people does come out from boy? Manning alleging corruption. Well yes, I’ve seen it all. And why he so concerned about Dooks? All of a sudden Manning talking about Dooks in his budget wrap up, he talking about Dooks in the PNM 50th anniversary convention. Like Dooks keeping him up at night? If I were Winston Dookeran, I’d feel very special.
Posted in COP, Crime, Politics, Race, UNC | 38 Comments »
Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 |
dom•i•nate - v. (also: dom•i•nat•ed, dom•i•nat•ing, dom•i•nates)
- To control, govern, or rule by superior authority or power.
- To exert a supreme, guiding influence on or over.
There are some people in Trinidad who would say anything that came to mind, be it intelligent or not. And Selwyn Cudjoe is not only a member of that club, he’s president. (Well he’s actually shares the presidency with other member/presidents like Basdeo Panday.)
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| Selwyn Cudjoe |
I’m saying this because I really don’t care very much for Selwyn Cudjoe. I have never, never liked the man. I understand that his organization the National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP) is dedicated to helping people, and I am all for that. I’m in favour of any organization that will help the disadvantaged. However, my problem with Mr. Cudjoe is the manner in which he provides this service. Somehow, Mr. Cudjoe, never fails to surprise me with how foolish he can be.
My recent concern comes from a story in the Express yesterday where Dr. Cudjoe is at his best. Speaking at the NAEAP’s eighth annual Emancipation dinner at the Centre of Excellence, Mr. Cudjoe enlightened the attendees as to the reason behind the “turmoil that we see in our society today”. Said he:
So that all the turmoil that we see in our society today not only represents a relentless struggle on the part of the East Indians to dominate the society; it also suggests that the agents of their group are prepared to utilise any means-be they legal, political, academic or religious-to achieve ethnic dominance that constitutes the essence of the conflict that we see in Trinidad and Tobago today
Let me add to what Dr. Cudjoe said by writing my own speech.
The Indians are attempting to gain dominance over the Africans in Trinidad & Tobago. Africans rise up and combat the Indians who are trying to rule us. It’s because of the Indians that we are experiencing all this turmoil. (How you define the word “turmoil” is entirely up to you. The only guideline is to choose the definition that most aggravates you). If you don’t rise up you (the Africans) will lose what the great afro-Trinidadians have tried for so many years to achieve. Remember Dr. Eric Williams? Do you want to shame him? The poor guy is dead. The Indians are stomping on his grave. Rise up Africans (weeping and self-flagellation). Defeat the Indian dominance! End the turmoil in our land! Beat back the Hun Indians. Beat them back! Control the red brown mennace!
Why does it have to be that East Indians are trying to “dominate” the country? Can’t it be that two sets of people who have differing ideas on how the Government should be run, who are both trying to grab power? There are people in this country who were fitted with blinders from birth and have gone through their entire lives wearing them. When necessary, and due to the progression of age, they get re-fitted. They live out their lives paranoid, and hateful. They don’t want unity. They want indignant loyalty. They prefer to rend than to join. They want to divide and rule. And these are the people who are most dangerous.
Dr. Cudjoe is not a fool. (Well it depends on who you ask I guess). He knows why he chose the words he did. Standing at a podium on the anniversary of Emancipation, he informs the emancipated listeners of a covert plan to re-dominate them. (Read: revisit the days of Massa and slave). Dr. Cudjoe is aware of the kinds of passions he’ll awaken in alluding to afro-Trinidadians being “dominated”. Dr. Cudjoe is by no means “empowering” afro-Trinidadians, but in fact fitting them with their own blinders.
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During World War II, the U.S. Government issued scores of propaganda posters in order to rouse the public into backing the war. While propaganda for the current war in Iraq is rife, the type of posters produced then, will today never see the light of day. The Germans (a.k.a. the Huns) and the Japanese were depicted as brutal, almost non-human adversaries. These inflammatory depictions had its aim: to drum up as much fear and righteous anger as possible. The foes were going to take over their lives after all. They were going to steal their freedom and rape their women. If you were not for the war, you were for the enemy, and by extrapolation, a traitor.
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And while the aim of the U.S. Government is different from the aim of Dr. Cudjoe and those of his ilk, the method is the same. Convince the masses that there is imminent danger from people who are different from them. Convince them that it imperative for them to band together and to unite to deal the enemy a fatal blow. Do you think it’s that different? It much more similar than some may admit. It’s all about wining a war for your minds. People like Mr. Panday and Mr. Sat Maharaj do it too. They convince you that you have to pick sides or you will lose your freedom. Under the guise of emancipating, leaders like them re-enslave their follower with fear and suspicion. Do they really care about Trinidad & Tobago? I’m yet to be convinced. If, however, you would read between their lines, you’ll discover that neither should you.
Posted in PNM, Politics, Race, Social Issues | 3 Comments »
Saturday, July 22nd, 2006 |
I warn you, this post is very long, which is a good reason why I shouldn’t hold stuff in. That having been said, start with the quote below.
So I was perusing the UNC website yesterday morning for two reasons. I wanted to research a sneaking suspicion I had, and also I wanted a glimpse of what UNC supporters were thinking. I do have a friend who’s a supporter, but two weeks ago I decided he was a complete idiot. It’s not that I don’t respect another man’s opinion, but he has changed considerably from when we were in secondary school together and….well, that’s another story altogether.
Needless to say, I needed a fresh serving of opinion. So I checked in on the message boards to
Black Caucus That statement with that kind of sentiment does not bear repeating by any respected individual save for the purpose of condemning it. Mr. Ramsaran was not condemning it, instead he gave it a voice. He didn’t dismiss it as racist or offensive, but he gave it legs.
see what the web-savvy people were thinking and my, my, my. By the way, the PNM website doesn’t have a message board (at least not one that I could locate) so I couldn’t pull it up for comparison. The UNC board, however really makes you sit up straight when you take in how foolish people can be towards race and politics. Take for example the quote I screen-captured from one of the threads. The post, submitted by someone under the name “YuhCyahSee”, quite reprehensibly refers to afro-Trinidadians as “stupid creoles”. Isn’t it possible for someone to support their party without referring to people as “stupid creoles”? I imagine that the UNC website has webmasters and the message board has moderators. Yet this post has been up since April 24th of this year.
I didn’t stay very much longer on the site because things like that get me riled up. I begin questioning why people are so stupid and I can never so much as surmise a guess. It doesn’t have much to do with my post today, so I’m going to leave this here and go on to why I really went on the UNC website.
A while back, former UNC minister Manohar Ramsaran made an absolutely ridiculous statement concerning the alleged “black caucus” that was ruling the UNC. In his statement he referred to Jack Warner as the one who was the main financier of the party and also to Daphne Phillip who moved the motion to discipline UNC political leader Winston Dookeran. These facts, he stated, were evidence of that “black caucus” within the party that was “calling the shots”.
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| Manohar Ramsaran |
Now Mr. Ramsaran has apologised for the statement, but at the same time insisted that he was only repeating what he had heard others say. Granted he heard it somewhere else, but his stupidity came in repeating it. That statement with that kind of sentiment does not bear repeating by any respected individual save for the purpose of condemning it. Mr. Ramsaran was not condemning it, instead he gave it a voice. He didn’t dismiss it as racist or offensive, but he gave it legs. I believe without a doubt that Mr. Ramsaran knew it was inflammatory. And he would not have repeated it himself had he not thought there was some truth to it.
Now you might think that this is all old news, but the reason I am rehashing all of this is because of this Express news story yesterday in which Kamla is quoted as saying that it was the aim of the UNC all along to have Panday return to an active role in the UNC i.e. reclaim the role of party chairman.
Panday the DestroyerIt was Mr. Panday himself who destroyed the UNC. It was his undisclosed London bank account that caused the debacle. In the body of one man lay both creator and destroyer of the UNC.
This is why the UNC with its current makeup of Jack Warner and Kamla Persad Bissessar worries me. Mr. Panday is damaged goods. He’s a politician who could have done great things for his country but instead wound up with a conviction for corruption. At the trial, he offered nothing but shoddy excuses. He was subsequently jailed and fined pending an appeal.
Mr. Panday has nothing more to give to this country except a bad name. But this is the man that Kamla & Co. want to put back into a position of power. And to all those who will say “oh, well, it’s the PNM conspiracy, and they persecuted him”. Give me a break. While they were over zealous in prosecuting him, they didn’t make him sign a false declaration. Maybe some are gullible enough to believe that the money was a gift from Mr. Duprey, but not I. Denial isn’t a river in Africa. If you want to be honest and if you want to cut the bullshit, it wasn’t Mr. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who betrayed the UNC, it was Mr. Panday himself. It was his undisclosed London bank account that caused the debacle. In the body of one man lay both creator and destroyer of the UNC.
Then, what disdain could you have for the people of this country that you take that same washed up tainted politician, dust him off and then put him back into a position of power? It blows my mind to see what passes for politics in this country.
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| Basdeo Panday |
Is that really the best they can do? To give to us a corrupt politician and Mr. Twist-Mouth Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj? People like this will never survive in American politics. They’ll be chewed up and spit out for lack of credibility. But here for some reason they thrive. It’s shameful actually. But who’s the real victim here? It’s T&T.
The reason I brought up both Mr. Ramsaran and Mr. Panday was to compare the two incidents as perceived by the UNC. In Mr. Ramsaran’s case, his statement brought swift reprimand from the executive. The UNC issued a statement saying :
The UNC wishes to stress that there has never been such a sinister block within the party. In fact, both the UNC’s stated policy and track record of performance indicate a recognition and utilisation of human resources based on skill, talent and other valued merits, and not on ethnicity or any other subjective or discriminatory factors. Indeed, the UNC is the only genuine rainbow party in Trinidad and Tobago, truly reflective and appreciative of the diversity and miscellany of our blessed nation.
I wonder how YuhCyahSee feels about that statement. In addition, they said:
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| Click to view on its Original Web Page |
Unless you’re three years old, don’t be fooled by this condemnation of Mr. Ramsaran. I wonder if in the eyes of the current UNC, Mr. Ramsaran’s only sin is that he is a supporter of Mr. Dookeran. Had he been their supporter, do you think a statement like that would have received such a public and harsh reprimand? In Trinidad, political parties have a strong tradition of looking the other way when it comes to in-party sins and the UNC is no different. What else could explain the phenomenon that Mr. Panday has been tried, convicted and sentenced for effectively lying about a foreign account and yet did not receive a similar reprimand from the UNC hierarchy?
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| Kamla Persad-Bissessar |
Not only did he not receive a reprimand, but nowhere on the entire site is there even a mention that Mr. Panday has had legal trouble of any sort except for the comments of laymen on the message boards. So in case you’re not keeping score: talking about the “black caucus” - bad, lying about a London bank account - bravo and may I add, encore.
If it happens that Franklin Khan and Eric Williams are also convicted, don’t expect a public reprimand either. They won’t be lambasted unless they’re deemed “rouge PNMites”. But the Kamlas and Warners of the world undoubtedly think they impress us when they criticize “the racist”. Kamla, do you want to impress us? Criticize Basdeo Panday for lying about a bank account. Do you want to show us that you are a fearless leader? Tell us that Mr. Panday, because of his long association with politics and having been Prime Minister, “ought to know much better”. Do you want to demonstrate that you’ll be tough on crime? Then condemn crime - even if it’s among your own ranks. Because everything else - including all those meaningless reprimands - is just smoke, mirrors and mamaguy.
Posted in Crime, PNM, Politics, Race, UNC | 2 Comments »
