Careful with race drums

Ato Osei

History is a great teacher – but in a society like ours that despises its own history, dangers always loom.

The recent crime surge is reminiscent of the late 80s early 90s and so too the desperate economic challenges many people face. Recent reports bring to our memories a chilling, yet sobering reminder of a dark period of our recent history.

The claims of the East Indian community under attack as real as it may appear to some, is just a reflection of what we are all experiencing. For anyone to feel that they are isolated from the issue of crime reflects a kind of naivety that is unfortunately widespread. When Mother Ella Andall warned of trouble ahead in her classic song Missing Generation few listened. Well, here we are.

In the late 1980s, early 1990s, we found ourselves in a similar crime and economic crisis. The rumours of African men targeting East Indians (particularly women) spread like wildfire. These were promoted by Ms Hulsie Bhaggan (a sitting MP at the time) and certain other politicians. This led to other ridiculous claims and scores fleeing to Canada seeking refugee status. There was even talk about dividing the island of Trinidad in two. Thankfully these insane and misguided attempts fell on barren soil. So, when anything similar manifests we must not only raise the red flags but all available alarms. That the current administration is totally at sea in the midst of the crime tempest is obvious, yet there is not a clearly articulated position by any of the other players on the political field that suggest an understanding of the essence of the crises we face.

In an ethnically mixed country like ours, there would always be cross-racial crimes. To expect anything else would be foolish. Yet the deliberate and organised targeting of any group by another is a potentially explosive issue and the seeds of a race war.

During that infamous period in the 1980s, community watch groups were formed in several parts of the country. Barriers were erected and certain East Indians began policing communities and sought to deny entry to those who didn't look like them. People primarily of Afro or mixed ancestry who lived within these areas were told to be inside by 6 pm or stay out. Imagine that!

Knowing the structure of our communities, one can see the problems such short-sighted and misguided measures would have caused. People were obviously "inconvenienced" and in some cased brutalised. The police did little or nothing. This obviously led to confrontation and in some cases violence.

Later on, a group of men were caught by police in the act of committing crime. On inspection, it was found that the men were in fact East Indians disguised as Afro-Trinis. This suggested a deliberate conspiracy to fuel something sinister.

Nothing ever came of this matter. The community watch groups were disbanded and the politicians continued on their merry way. Some of the refugees eventually quietly returned home and the talk of a separatist state was abandoned. Then came the 1990 (attempted) coup, followed by a regime change. The price of oil subsequently went back up and all was "well again".

To date, there has been no apology by any of these individuals (some still engaged in public life).

We must sympathise with all victims of this crime epidemic regardless of ethnicity and seek meaningful and long-term solutions. As a nation, we must recognise the holistic nature of life itself and the contribution of our current lopsided social arrangements to social degradation and injustice. We must all question our contribution to this state of affairs either by our actions, inaction, or silence.

We must also exercise caution in seeking quick fixes to return to our zones of apparent comfort. Crime as we experience it is a manifestation of a deeper crisis of moral and spiritual decline across all sectors of society. It is a reflection of the systemic failure of our socialising institutions – the church, education system etc. Policing and all the other major measures to date have sought only to address the symptoms of a much deeper problem that engulfs us all.

In our desperation, extreme care must be taken not to facilitate those out there who will use the moment for their hideous agendas.

May we all be divinely protected and may our action be always guided by wisdom.

Ato Osei is a retired school teacher and cultural activist.