Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 20/Jan 04:46

Still colonised, still grateful for scraps

THE EDITOR: We are far more colonised than we care to admit. I remember working in administration at Petrotrin when a US citizen arrived to access the refinery for a meeting. He was driving on a US driver’s licence long past the lawful period allowed under TT law. I refused to process the request. What followed was instructive. Very senior company officials attempted to override my decision, urging me to “facilitate” the visitor. Fortunately, the then chief security officer, Col Robinson, stood firm and supported the law. The visitor was indignant. It was not merely annoyance, it was entitlement. The unmistakable sense was that his nationality, and perhaps his colour, should override local law. That moment crystallised a truth many of us have experienced quietly: in our own country we are often expected to bend for foreign power, particularly American power. Fast forward to today and the same psychology is on public display. There is widespread euphoria that TT was not suspended or restricted by the US. We celebrate being “spared.” But spared from what, exactly? The erosion of our dignity? The humiliation of being judged worthy or unworthy by another state? The US is a sovereign nation. It guards that sovereignty fiercely and unapologetically. It has shed blood to defend it. It is therefore entirely entitled to decide who may live there, work there, or even visit there. That is not the issue. The issue is our response. While the US asserts its sovereignty without apology, we extend visa-free access to American citizens. At the same time, our nationals must pay exorbitant fees, submit to intrusive screening, and endure a humiliating process simply to request permission to travel. Yet, when we are not sanctioned or restricted, we react with gratitude as if sovereignty is something granted to us rather than something we possess. This is not diplomacy; it is psychological subordination. Remember we were told to be quiet and not criticise the US because we will lose our visa. True independence is not hostility to the US or any other power. It is self-respect. It is the confidence to assert reciprocal arrangements, to enforce our laws without fear, and to reject the idea that validation must come from Washington. Until we stop rejoicing at not being punished, until we stop treating unequal treatment as a privilege, we will remain politically independent but mentally colonised. And that may be the most enduring legacy of empire. DERYCK RICHARDSON via e-mail The post Still colonised, still grateful for scraps appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.