Ethnic Democracy

Ethnic. This is described as “having a common or national tradition; denoting origin by birth or descent rather than by nationality.” In other words, race and nationality are not necessarily the same (Concise Oxford).

This definition poses the question: How do you maintain your ethnicity (traditions from birth) and be a loyal national in a multi-ethnic society? How different are the goals of the nation from your ethnic traditions? How separate or similar are we? And where and how is harmony maintained? Last week’s colourful Divali celebrations brought some light to my cultural imagination.

While there are many different ethnic groups here, political and cultural competition puts the focus, moreso, on people of African or East Indian descent. With the unheralded “douglas,” they all form over 90 per cent of the population. On witnessing the “lighting up” celebrations, I said to myself with all the day-by-day noise, controversies and tensions between our alive and licking ethnic groups, thank heavens we still have a lively, working democracy. In fact, it is our democracy that allows so much controversy.

From no Indian movies on TV in the 1960s, from one precious half-hour of Sham Mohammed’s music programme, and an Indian melody hour by Pat Mathura on evenings, to today’s ten whole-day Indian music stations, five local Indian TV stations (with Flow it will be 12), five to ten Indian movies in a day, about 15 Indian soap operas too, and some political partisanship with it. All this without fear of being closed down, even when Jaagriti’s Sat Maharaj, IBN’s Inshan Ishmael or Synergy’s Stephan persistently quarrel with the government. Ethnic democracy is alive. By choice, Swaha’s ieTV remains subdued.

Divali expresses the right to freedom of speech, religion and association. Yes, it is in the Constitution, and when any one of these rights is severely offended, the Constitution is awakened for protection. It happened with the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha TV application, with the wearing of the hijab in school, with the Orisha case against TTT. And who knows what will happen to the now “no marriage under 18” law?

But there is economic democracy as well, free-market ethnicity. “You will get it cheaper in Chaguanas,” it is commonly said among the Indian community. Indeed, from Penal, San Fernando, Couva, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, St James to Chaguanas, there is a bustling trade in East Indian wear – for men, women and children. You should see them at Divali, weddings, Ramayans, Eid, Indian Arrival Day. And don’t ask for doubles, roti, Indian concerts (local and imported), chutney soca, pichakaree, etc. I hope Mr Imbert doesn’t hear this.

Some entrepreneurs from India have smelt the ethic flourish here. They pitch camps across the country stuffed with a large variety of ethnic items, especially saris, Nehru jackets, etc. Ethnic democracy is flourishing–freedom of choice. So much so that some African women, while savouring African wear, put on a sari now and again.

Now this is not about ethnic superiority. It is, moreso, about ethnic democracy, economics and choice. It was good business sense that sent the Ansa McAl conglomerate to invest in an “Indian station.” A niche was discovered in the midst of growing media competition. It is good business sense for the mainstream media to publish so many ethnic features – on African, Chinese, First Peoples, Portuguese, Indian, etc.

It was economics that drove ethnic expansion – even when such expansion was once seen by some of these same media as “fracturing, dividing the nation.” An identity of whatever kind is man’s most cherished possession. Without an identity, you are essentially nobody. Being identified as a delinquent is better than having no identity at all. That was James Baldwin’s metaphysics in Nobody Knows My Name.

It is part of the identity crisis of new immigrants. The Middle East wars, the never-ending India-Pakistan border warfare, the tribal wars in Kenya and Uganda, the Myanmar massacre, Black Lives Matter, the Catalonia referendum, the quest by Scotland, Northern Island for same – all are basically struggles for identity, and to be respected. It is a great pity that one man’s struggle for identity has to be at the expense of another man’s identity. That is why it serves all to have the quest for ethnic identity played out in the democratic market-place.