Post-election race tensions are nothing new in this country. When Basdeo Panday, then the political leader of the United National Congress (UNC), was sworn in as prime minister following the November 6, 1995 elections, racial tension hit new levels on radio talk shows and in public spaces.
A quarter of a century later, social media has become the main platform for these bitter exchanges but the ugliness remains the same.
At the end of a week marked by yet another flare-up of racial discord, it is time for some introspection. Emotions are still raw but what this country urgently needs now is a pathway to reconciliation and healing.
T&T cannot afford to continue down this slippery slope of hate and prejudice. Racism is the major barrier that stands in the way of achieving true nationhood. Harmony and peace are not possible until it is removed from this land.
There have been many periods of discord since that regrettable occasion in late 1995, when hatred and discrimination skewed our national dialogue. As was the case then, the biggest trigger is the outcome of a general election.
These experiences show the dark side of our pluralistic society, where diversity too often yields fragmentation. In a population of 1.4 million, with 35.4 per cent East Indians, 34.2 per cent African, 23 per cent mixed races and 8.4 per cent of other ethnic groups, real unity still eludes us.
Beyond the longstanding political divide, there is a deeper dimension to the current race tensions, dating back to the divisions established between Africans and East Indians in our colonial past. Back then there was little or no mingling between the recently-freed slaves and the indentured labourers and mistrust still lingers all these centuries later.
In a study published in 2o01, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) commissioner and rapporteur on People of African Descent and Against Racial Discrimination, Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, wrote that the subtle persistence of racial profiling and discrimination in T&T and other parts of the Caribbean could be because people have grown to accept it.
“Colour prejudice is perhaps the most under-reported form of discrimination that we have but at the same time, perhaps, it is the most complained about in informal ways,” Antoine wrote.
According to Ms Antoine, while there is an acknowledgement of social and cultural differences among races in the Caribbean, there still was anxiety when it came to a full and deep acceptance of those differences.
She wrote: “While we pat ourselves on the back for being rainbow countries, the reality is that there are still racial tensions in our societies. In more modern times this has manifested itself most prominently in the relations between Indo and African-Caribbean peoples, particularly in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.”
Events over the past few days show the extent to which we have failed to fully embrace those social and cultural differences that make us so unique.
To get to that place, we must follow the lead of Archbishop Jason Gordon and denounce racism. After that, let the healing begin.