Duke's dream: Pro-black Government

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke said the time has come for "positive discrimination" towards black people in TT. Duke was speaking on Sunday at a PDP political meeting in Charlotteville, ahead of the final week of campaigning for the August 10 general election.

Saying around the world, Asians, Europeans and Latinos are empowered by their governments, Duke said this was not so in TT under the PNM.

"There are very few places in the world you can find African empowerment, African government and African businesses that are successful. It is happening in Ethiopia – the Ethiopian economy is doing well – and a couple African countries...I, as PDP leader, visualise a Tobago that is predominantly black, where black people are empowered," he said.

Duke said the PNM has done little to elevate black communities. "It was last year at our Emancipation Day that our Prime Minister, Dr Rowley, was asked what are his thoughts on African people. He said the black people in our community are not doing so well...

"When one asks the question that was not asked: 'What have you done for black people?' 'What have you done to empower black people over the four years in our office?'

"The places where there are predominantly black people, nothing has been done. Laventille has been given a swimming pool and a million and one bullets. Beetham has been given nothing but a bad name. Morvant has been given nothing. Tobago has been given nothing. He was right, black people are not doing so well. So why ask us for a second chance?"

Duke said the government should make a concerted effort to empower black people. "At university I studied a master's in employment law, and one of the topics we did was discrimination. Let me just say, there is something called positive discrimination. Positive discrimination is something meted out to people who just can't make the grade.

"If enough black people are not recruited in the police service, they will say a particular percentage of black people must be in the police service. They will spend time training, educating these people, going soft on that particular race, so that race can make it.

"For far too long we have not had positive discrimination. All they are saying is that we can't 't make it, we 're not good enough. We need to have a government that is positively discriminating to its own black people, giving black people the resources that they can reach a particular level in so far as business, training and outlook on life."

Duke said the PDP, whose party colour is black, is a pro-black party. "After the 10th of August, when you have voted for Tashia Grace Burris (Tobago West candidate) and myself (Tobago East), what you will be doing is setting up a black government – people that are pro-black, people that love black, people who are not afraid of black and people who will look out for you as black people. It's time to be black and proud.

"When you go India, Indians are Indian and proud. When you go to Europe, people are European and proud. Nothing is wrong with being black and proud." Duke said black empowerment also meant respecting the language most Tobagonians speak.

"When we get into power we will make the Tobago dialect our first language and English our second language. Since when we have to learn English to get a wuk and everybody understand what you saying? What kind of foolishness I'm hearing, making Tobagonians feel stupid?"

Duke said he initially battled that stigma as Public Services Association president. "Who ent like it, let they get ah interpreter. When you elect me and Tashia, you are electing raw, real Tobagonians. When we go down there, we go down there with Tobago dialect as ah we fuss language. We don't say 'first,' we say 'fuss'...they must respect us for who we are. I am talking black empowerment."

He added, "You need somebody strong enough, somebody dignified enough. Somebody with celebrity status and the might of a leader to go down in Trinidad and represent you, not these two little schoolgirls who all they studying is lipstick and makeup and beat table to appease their masters."

The PNM's candidates for Tobago East and West are former government ministers Ayanna Webster-Roy and Shamfa Cudjoe, respectively.