Losing our children

THE EDITOR: From its inception, the Trinidad and Tobago labour movement has a track record of division but it was the progressive comrades, who held the ideological position of the class struggle, that kept the movement’s flag flying. Today, however, they have all abandoned that struggle in favour of partisan tribal politics that neutralised the effectiveness of the trade unions in the country to fight exploitation and other industrial injustices. Being caught in this situation also makes it difficult for the leaders to justify to the members, their failure to unite the movement and when they do not have a real message to bring, they do as the politicians do and play the divisive card and make statements conceived to distract.

On Labour Day, 2005, the divided labour movement was again at each other’s throat while completely ignoring a well written newspaper editorial of the day, expressing critical views about the trade union movement that was deserving of a reply to clarify some misconceptions about its leadership. Unfortunately, the dividers had a fixed agenda. However, I found special interest in the PSA’s statement that it had commissioned Professor Ramesh Deosaran “to study the factors responsible for the young African males not realising their full potential” and why they end up at the Youth Training Centre (YTC).

The study may serve a useful purpose if it brings us face to face with reality. I can point to many of my observations over the years but I don’t have the space, so this one will have to suffice. Picture this: Some twenty years ago, I am on a PTSC bus among a dozen or more noisy schoolchildren and other adults like myself. While the young group was keeping up the noisy tempo, there is an African boy destroying the upholstery on the back of a seat with a razor blade. In contrast, there were four Indian boys on the bus, three of them quietly smiling while the other one occupied a seat at the back of the bus reviewing his school work for the next day.

The point I am making is that today’s tragedies of the young black males did not begin four or five years ago. It is the result of many years of neglect since 1956 by the so-called black Governments, the elders, community leaders and successful Africans who never tried to uplift the community from which they came. Today they are trying to correct the wrong with the blame game and the divisive black agenda. It is the responsibility of the Government and civil society as a whole to address the plight of the young African males but it cannot be done by blaming other ethnic communities without fracturing the society. And in our haste to introduce a Trini style “affirmative action,” we must be very careful that we do not take the CEPEP experiment into our universities.

The black activists need to balance history with cultural reform and confront their brothers and sisters and let them know that our culture should not begin and end with steelband, calypso and dance. We cannot ignore our history but we desperately need to give priority to cultural reform that will make an impact on our attitude and lifestyle. If a slave does not stop thinking that he is a slave he will never be free. If we can change the attitude of the adults, our children will no longer be a problem for society.

WYCLIFFE MORRIS
Former Director of Education
NUGFW