Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 02/Jan 04:02

Remembering who we are not in 2026

PAOLO KERNAHAN THIS SEASON, I had a rare outing. Each year at this time there’s a reunion of old bastards at Scotland Bay down the islands. As the boat I was travelling in neared the shore, I spotted two old friends standing in proximity to one another – Richard "Gruff" Griffith and Darragh "Pompadour" Moze. We all have street monikers given our gang histories. I laughed quietly to myself and inwardly muttered, "De Ghost and the Darkness.” That’s because Pompadour is practically fluorescent white, and Gruff is the polar opposite – navy black, as we used to say in our youth. I could think and say such things that would render mere mortals cancellable because in my social circle and others in our orbit, race wasn’t a defining characteristic of our lives. It didn’t shape the way we related to each other and people in this nation with whom we share space, ambitions and hope. Race ribbing amongst ourselves was the norm – you so dark you sweat seow, or you so white you cyar tell when yuh socks end, and you begin – because there were no underlying insecurities or smouldering prejudices. Of course, racism, race bias and classism were inescapable features of the world we navigated as young people. Even so, we mixed freely with one another, moving in and out of ethnic cultures and attitudes effortlessly. We weren’t corrupted by the suspicions, outright bigotry and inherited discriminatory beliefs that threatened to devour the relative harmony and camaraderie that are fundamental to our unique national DNA – what makes us different from so many other places. Truthfully, TT has always existed in two states: a seething cauldron of racial mistrust/discrimination right alongside a lush garden of shared affinity. These states have always clashed for dominance, but the latter generally prevails over the former. That edge, though, is typically marginal. The way we celebrate our culture – Carnival, Divali, Hosay, etc – is universal, except for disinterested parties. Trini foods are ostensibly cultural expressions of the patchwork of heritages stitched together by colonial and early geopolitical forces that both dragged people here and landed others in search of a better life or just a life denied them by their homeland. African, Indian, Chinese, Syrian, Lebanese, Portuguese, French Creole, British – this country was an early, albeit accidental, experiment in multiculturalism. Additionally, many of us are mongrels; a melange of disparate ethnicities through miscegenation, which was illegal in the US just 58 years ago – a nation which so many Trinis slavishly revere and emulate. This has, to a large extent, influenced the way we look and relate to one another. And even though I will never learn to appreciate being called out from across the street, “Ay redman, look it here!” (pointing to a trussed up iguana) I’ve made my peace with it. It’s important to ruminate on why TT was/is special – why these two small pebbles in a big, noisy world can be a beacon of racial and social cohesion. Just look around you, larger nations, older civilisations are in the death embrace of extremism, xenophobia, anti-immigrant hysteria, modern-day pogroms in the glare of social media daylight, and nationalist fervour. The rise of anti-foreigner rhetoric and a far-right party in Japan that’s surfing the crest of a tsunami of toxic nationalism, for example, merely reflect trends in other parts of the globe. Such shifts are led, perhaps most loudly, by the United States but are prevalent across Europe and are making a comeback in several South American countries, clawing desperately for approval from the US. We’re in that fetid barrel of crabs, too. TT is, without a doubt, the most perfectly imperfect society one can imagine. Racism and classism often restrain the ambitions of those with less money and even fewer connections to the engine room that drives success and well-being. Worse still, we are surrounded by venal politicians who weaponise race resentments in the population to advance their objectives. They succeed – the perks, the influence, money and connections – by converting latent mistrust rooted in racist falsehoods and tropes into power. Turning discourse over the coat of arms into a race bogeyman is a classic example. Our politicians have no choice because they lack the raw talent, competence and intellect to earn your ear on the merits of their abilities. Consequently, they mine your weakness to build their strength. Indulgence in race conspiracies, nourishing hate and seeding the air with pollutants of division is weakness. In this New Year, we must remember who we are and reject who we are not. The post Remembering who we are not in 2026 appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.