Colonies in a Nation

We all learn the same national anthem; get the same passport, and are familiar with the same vernacular, but for some reason, there is more racial and geographical division than we can fathom.

From the geographical perspective, Trinidad and Tobago is one nation divided into several colonies.

A nation is fundamentally a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory, which for all intents and purposes, we can agree exists in Trinidad and Tobago.

A colony on the other hand is a group of people of one nationality or race living in a foreign place, which is also an accurate depiction of the situation I see with several communities in Trinidad, and separately, Tobago as a whole.

People from poor or highcrime areas, and to a certain extent, Tobago, are foreigners in their own country because they hardly have the same amount of rights as those who are fortunate enough to have a different address.

Whenever I see the lack of development in rural Tobago, or pass through really poor communities in Trinidad, I am bothered by the fact that a government Minister can rack up a phone bill for $59,000 in four days and place that burden on tax payers in this time of economic difficulty. But when one lacks integrity, such a decision is easy to make.

You see –in an adaptation of what George Orwell stated in Animal Farm– in Trinidad and Tobago, all men are created equal, but some men are more equal than others.

So we treat one section of society as part of the nation and leave those living in their colonies to fend for themselves; and the general Trinbagonian mindset is that however they accomplish that feat is their problem, not ours – they chose that life.

I recently listened to a speech given by Richard Nixon when he was accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention on 8th August 1968, and it almost felt as though he was speaking about Trinidad and Tobago. In the speech, Nixon – who went on to become the 37th POT US – stated the following: “For the past five years we have been deluged by government programs for the unemployed; programs for the cities; programs for the poor. And we have reaped from these programs an ugly harvest of frustration, violence and failure across the land...I say it is time to quit pouring billions of dollars into programs that have failed... Let us increase the wealth of America so that we can provide more generously for the aged; and for the needy; and for all those who cannot help themselves... Instead of government jobs, and government housing, and government welfare, let government use its tax and credit policies to enlist in this battle, the greatest engine of progress ever developed in the history of man— American private enterprise...

“Black Americans, no more than white Americans, they do not want more government programs which perpetuate dependency. They don’t want to be a colony in a nation.

They want the pride, and the self-respect, and the dignity that can only come if they have an equal chance to own their own homes, to own their own businesses, to be managers and executives as well as workers, to have a piece of the action in the exciting ventures of private enterprise.

“I pledge to you tonight that we shall have new programs which will provide that equal chance.” Of course, it is now etched into history that although Nixon talked of inclusion, his use of the Southern Strategy and his war on drugs destroyed the black community even further, but his words are still very relevant in a modern TT society.

Sometimes we forget that the vast majority of people living in poorer communities are also Trinbagonians and not foreigners invading our shores.

The problem with creating these excluded colonies is that they operate outside of the view of the nation’s security forces; hence the high level of unchecked criminality.

Had there been a more inclusive approach towards the colonies within our nation, those residents would not feel so isolated, neglected and ignored and would actually feel more inclined to assist the nation in its fight against crime.

Criminals kill and rob because they view the rest of society the same way society views them – different; “not one of us”, which is why they do not hesitate to take an innocent life for the most minor reason(s).

We should be building a nation instead of constructing colonies, but how can we when colonies bring in the votes? To divide and rule, is their whole plan.

jamille85@ msn.com