Racialism must be avoided at all costs

If our first Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, was alive today he would have been saddened by the state of affairs as far as race is concerned. The arrests that have been made during the state of emergency (SoE) have raised a national debate on race. In his fight for racial equality, Martin Luther King Jr expressed in his world renowned “I Have a Dream” speech the hope that people “will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.” These words resonate throughout our society now more than ever. To this end I hope that the power to arrest during the present SoE is not abused but that valid information and evidence are first gathered. The view that arrests are being made on the basis of race is dangerous and can have serious effects. This must be investigated and if proven right the officers in question should face the law and if proven wrong then closure would be achieved in the minds of the citizens who share this concern.

Arrests should not be tainted with underlying biases but transparency should still be maintained. In my view racism is unacceptable and racialism or outright racial discrimination is just below the level of human thinking in a sovereign democratic state. We who say things to fuel this debate are not standing up for one’s race but are instead contributing to the breakdown of the fabric of our society. Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian who fought for equality, Nelson Mandela is an African who fought for equality, and Martin Luther King Jr (a student of Gandhi’s philosophy) was assassinated for inciting unity and desegregation in the USA. They would all agree that racialism leads to serious chaos and must be avoided at all costs.

Anderson Alexis
New Grant