In my respectful view state funds should not be used to encourage a divided society. You should be free to engage in any lawful activities that celebrates your ancestry, but the rest of the country should not have to pay for it.
Public funds should ONLY be used for celebrations that unite the nation, and I again propose removing the holiday status from all racially divisive days and leaving them up to the participants, while creating a special holiday for ALL of Trinidad & Tobago to enjoy. The first two holidays that should be struck off as national holidays are Indian Arrival Day and Emancipation Day as, while the intentions behind them are noble, they cause an increased retreat into racial division and are not good for social harmony in a plural, multi-ethnic society.
Further, their existence marginalises the 'smaller' races who due to their numbers do not enjoy state sanctioned and publicly funded special days, which flies in the face of the notion of every creed and race finding an equal place.
Phillip Edward Alexander
Social & Political Activist