Excuse me, Mileidy?

Paolo Kernahan

YOU CAN always count on Trinis to wave their ignorance, xenophobia, racism, inferiority complex, and low intellect like a flagwoman.

A Venezuelan national, Mileidy Materano, won Miss Grand TT, a somewhat obscure beauty pageant. All hell broke loose on the interwebs.

"She don't even speak English."

Of course, the commenter wouldn't get the irony of that post. Few Trinis are comfortable around the language themselves.

"It reeks of colourism. Fair skin, fair hair."

Fair enough. That statement itself reeks of colourism. It betrays a misguided notion that people with lighter skin and "sorf hair" have no true claim to citizenship. They aren't Trinis.

The recently departed Denyse Plummer was arguably more Trini than most. She poured her heart, soul and artistry into songs that resonated with hope for our country. For her sins of enduring optimism, Plummer was pelted with the same racist thinking at Skinner Park in her debut there.

What makes this country unique is the fact that our culture, music, food and – yes – national identity are shaped by a complex mix of ethnicities, religions, customs and beliefs transplanted here. The belief that this country's character is defined largely by one or two dominant races is a quality of delusion worthy of study.

We're surrounded by names, cuisine, public holidays and cultural celebrations woven from the multiple strands of DNA embedded here by a mix of nationalities. Caura and Lopinot, among other communities, were founded on the strength of migrant labour from neighbouring Venezuela.

Cocoa panyol settlers from the mainland brought both their sweat and their food and cultural mores. Christmas without pastelles and parang would be like Carnival without sore feet and credit-card debt.

Hops bread, as Trini as the four-day workweek, was invented by brothers Horatio and John Rapsey, who came here from England. That's right! The hops in your mouth right now was created – by de "white man"!

Venerated Nobel Prize-winning playwright, poet and leviathan of Caribbean literature Derek Walcott was St Lucian by birth. He founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop and was, for years, a towering influence on the artistic life of this country.

TT's best-known adopted son, Peter Minshall, grew up in Trinidad, but is Guyanese-born. Minshall's impact on the Carnival arts is unequalled; his legacy is etched on the soul of this nation.

We are an infinite patchwork of influences that make us one of the most interesting countries in the world.

Many argue that the principal objection to Mileidy Materano's selection comes down to questions of nationality.

Let's call a spade what it is, shall we? It's naked xenophobia with a splash of racism.

We were "united" in our opposition to CoP and Deputy CoP Gibbs and Ewatski, primarily on the grounds of race, not competence. They were chased out of the country.

What are we left with today? Erla.

Practitioners of such abhorrent behaviours are usually riddled with insecurities. Moreover, they don't see themselves as victimisers, but as victims. The people, those "others" against whom they throw stones, either do something to them or take something from them.

There isn't a xenophobe today who can explain how Materano's win affects their lives.

Still, many found the time and passion to voice toxic opinions on a young woman who, for example, has nothing to do with the price of groceries, nor will she break into your home at night and terrorise your family.

There's a reason Trinis are disliked by many of our Caribbean neighbours. Jamaicans, Guyanese, Grenadians and Barbadians are often treated deplorably by our immigration authorities.

Beyond that, Trinis lord this ill-founded sense of superiority over our regional counterparts – perhaps because we've had the benefit of resources they didn't. We don't discriminate in the way we discriminate.

I don't follow beauty pageants, so I have no skin in the game – other than the skin I was born with.

I've said it before, this concept of a nation founded on "every creed and race finds an equal place" has always been nonsense. We're more tolerant than most when it comes to race relations, but tolerance is setting the bar right on the ground.

Given our cosmopolitan mix, we should be more enlightened, but ignorance of our roots sustains an otherism that's playing mas as patriotism.

If Materano is deemed ineligible because of her nationality or has violated any other pageant criteria, that's a matter that solves itself.

Our broad rejection of Materano on the basis of her colour, language and Venezuelan roots is a matter for us.